I’m excited to introduce the Soft Technologies Lab at the National University of Singapore! @softtechnologies (.stl@NUS )
We are seeking new members — PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and designers/ engineers in 2025 & 2026, who are nimble to cross disciplines and well-equipped to push the boundaries between soft matter, the internet-of-things, and their human and nature-centric applications. 🧶🦾🧵
In the spirit of ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence, or “calm and seamless” technology, the group will design and develop intelligent textiles and soft systems across scales to reimagine and shape future objects, interactions, and environments.
Closing dates for NUS PhD applications: 15 January (August intake) and 1 July (January intake). Postdoc applications: rolling basis until positions are filled. Check the link in profile, contact me for further info, and please share this to your networks!
#NUS #DesignEngineering
In the midst of CHI, surrounded by the organic curves and mosaics, stunning works of Miró and Gaudí around the beautiful sunlit-ease Barcelona, painting : sculptural, dreamscapes : physical.
In pictures: Fundacio Joan Miro, Parc Guell, Casa Battlo, Mies van der Rohe, El Raval. #barcelona
We brought baristas in
to run the first ever Coffee Rave in NUS.
Spinning before grinding 🎛️☕️🪩
Thanks to @nus.idclub !
Mijin Choi, Stella Gao for the pics
My first visit to ITB in Bandung, Indonesia! representing NUS and the Division of Industrial Design with Prof. Cees de Bont. A beautiful campus in a vibrant city with lush greenery and cool air. ITB as an institution structurally resembles so much of NUS College of Design and Engineering.
We had the opportunity to meet with the Dean, Vice Dean, and PIs from the Faculty of Arts and Design, Faculty of Industrial Engineering, and the School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics to explore various student and research programs. Thank you to Dr. @pranandaluffiansyah (FSRD), Prof Yul Yunazwin (FTI), Prof. M. Zuhri (STEI) and many others for hosting us!
It’s wonderful to connect NUS and ITB, strengthening ties between Indonesia and Singapore and building strong university networks across Southeast Asia.
@did.nus@nus.cde.sg@fsrd_itb@stei.itb@itb1920
Our 3rd edition of PechaKucha @ Arts x Tech Lab: Kinetics: Forces & Feedback went down last Friday, 27 March.
This round was themed around kinetics,with our guest programmer Irmandy Wicaksono @irmandyw bringing together speakers Chok Si Xuan @sixuannn , Ruobing & Sai @wang_ruobing@sai_studios , Shaoyu Cai, and Yang Jie @yj.sg to share on movement, systems, and interaction from different angles.
A big thank you to everyone who showed up and made the night what it was!
📸 Swipe for a few highlights. Photo credits to Kee Ya Ting @thekytstudio
Organised by @tusitala.sg
With support from @creativetechsg
Guest programmed by @irmandyw
This programme is supported by the National Arts Council’s Arts x Tech Lab initiative @nacsingapore
#singapore #creativetechnology #pechakucha #recap
PechaKucha @ Arts x Tech Lab–Kinetics: Forces & Feedback Speakers Line-up
Happening on 27 Mar, Friday at 7pm, Irmandy Wicaksono has curated 4 presentations tackling different perspectives on how the invisible forces of our lives play a role in art and technology. Join Chok Si Xuan @sixuannn , Ruobing & Sai @wang_ruobing@sai_studios , Shaoyu Cai, and Yang Jie @yj.sg as they take the stage to share their practices and ideas.
Read on for a short summary of each speaker’s presentation.
Material Memories–Within this presentation, Si Xuan shares about her foray into the quality of memory in humans and non-humans, what that might look like and how it shapes our worldview.
Slow Motion: Moving with the Everyday–Slow Motion: Moving with the Everyday looks into how artistic practice can attune to the rhythms of everyday life through slow processes, material engagement, and attentive movement.
Multi-sensory Interfaces for XR–This talk presents research on mobile and wearable multisensory interfaces that deliver physical sensations, particularly haptic feedback, to enhance interaction, perception, and user experience across integrated physical and virtual environments.
Masak Masak: Experiments in Moving Objects and Performing Machines–The element of play and experimentation in the speaker’s practice of making kinetic objects, from where he started, to where he wants and hopes to take it.
Organised by @tusitala.sg
Guest programmed by @irmandyw
This programme is supported by the National Arts Council’s Arts x Tech Lab initiative @nacsingapore
Register for your slot through the link in bio 🔗
#creativetech #singapore #singaporeartsweek #art #tech
Ever considered the invisible forces that shape how we live everyday?
Guest programmer, Irmandy Wicaksono @irmandyw brings together artists and technologists to examine how gravitational, mechanical, and environmental forces enact upon objects, environments, and collective experience in 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴: 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 & 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. Through practices grounded in haptics and kinetics, the speakers explore movement not as something merely observed, but as something inhabited and completed through human experience.
🗓 27 March, Friday, 7.30pm-9.00pm
📍 Arts x Tech Lab, Aliwal Arts Centre #02-05
Registration is from 7.00pm-7.30pm. Light refreshments will be provided before the session.
Please come on time. Late entry will be managed at suitable intervals between speakers.
Stay tuned to see the upcoming line-up of speakers, and register for your seat through the link in bio 🔗
Organised by @tusitala.sg
Guest programmed by @irmandyw
This programme is supported by the National Arts Council’s Arts x Tech Lab initiative @nacsingapore
#creativetech #singapore #events #community
A week and end of the year, full of celebrations, reflections, inspo, and action with this wholesome bunch, in a place I grow more and more attached to with every return.
Always good to be back home! This time for b2b weddings 🕊️🏝️ #SuZen #balidays
These past few weeks have been nothing but energizing, full of threads and meaningful exchanges in Singapore for me and the Soft Technologies Lab! 🧵
From giving a talk and engaging in a discussion on the intersection of art and technology, research and practice at the @ntu_adm , sharing our work in smart textiles for biomechanics, health monitoring, and activity recognition at the Wearable Technology Workshop (organized by the Biomedical Engineering Society and @nus.ihealthtech ), to welcoming the new Director of MIT Museum, Dr. Michael J. Gorman in Singapore, it’s great to be connected with so many colleagues working in these fields and looking forward to opportunities and collaborations ahead for @softtechnologies !
@nus_singapore@nus.cde.sg
In my very first semester at NUS, I had the chance to teach “Soft Devices”: a Design Platform studio for 2nd- and 3rd-year undergraduate Industrial Design students exploring the intersection of textiles, computing, and electronics. In just 10 weeks, they crafted a range of artifacts integrated with textile sensors and actuators, engaged with hardware systems, debugging, and programming fearlessly, and presented thoughtful work, challenging the notion beyond smart textiles and soft robotics for wearables to objects and environments.
The showcase featured projects that were interactive, experimental, and practical in different ways, reflecting our spirit in materiality, fabrication, and critical design inquiry. Looking forward to seeing how these projects propagate explorations between art, design, and tech in DID and NUS. 🧶
@softtechnologies@did.nus@nus.cde.sg
An incredible week in Finland ❄️ exploring Aalto’s studio that champions care and human-centric design, Suroonen’s Futuro House, hiking with the reindeers at Nuuksio, visiting the Otaniemi campus with its full-fledged textile research and facilities, to embracing the sauna culture.
It was a blast to be back and be a part of the ACM Ubicomp/ISWC Organizing Committee this year, to witness Simon Geist’s live performance merging robotics and music, run Intelligent Soft Wearables Workshop, and share our Ferromagnetic Textiles for Spacesuits project at DesignX. I also joined the panelists at the Doctoral Colloquium, sharing thoughts on life after the PhD. Grateful to finish off the conference with our team receiving the Best Design Award in the Functional Category. See you next year in Shanghai! 🇨🇳
@softtechnologies@ubicomp_conference@iswc_net
