The new collaboration programme between Tokyo Institute of Technology and London University of the Arts Central Saint Martins (CSM) continued with the 4th session of our “Hybrid Innovation” programme for selected members of participating companies on Tuesday, 30th November 2021.
Session 4 welcomed Prof. Masahiko Hara, a researcher in nanotechnology, who conducted a thought experiment on how to solve problems by following the movement of an amoeba.
In today’s age of overflowing and increasingly complex information, events are occurring every day that exceed the amount of information that can be handled by computers. Under such circumstances, many problems have emerged that cannot be dealt with by scientific thinking, which is based on the principle of ‘certainty’ that ‘mistakes cannot be made’. The ability to deal with uncertain events is the key to Hybrid Innovation. We deciphered this mechanism from the movements of the amoeba, a primitive organism, and explored and discussed ways to use it in practice with the participating companies.
The Hybrid Innovation program uses translation-based communication methods to explore approaches to unknown areas to find new possibilities that can be hard to develop within a single industry.
In this program, companies embody the process to Hybrid Innovation. This merges “multi-communication” to transcend disciplinary boundary, promote the fusion of knowledge and change mindsets. The programme also aims stimulate innovative strategies in each participating company.
Activity period: October 2021 to April 2022
PROGRAMME CONTENT: Seminars, workshops, manufacturing, experiments, creative community activities, etc. that flexibly use face-to-face and online. A final symposium – open to participating companies and the public – is scheduled for April 2022.
Creating the Future “Hybrid Innovation”, Session 2
The second session of our Hybrid Innovation programme for industry was attended on Tuesday 26th October 2021 by selected members of the participating companies. This series of events led by scholars from Tokyo Tech and Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London, UK) explore a new approach to business innovation, developed by the two institutions to respond to complex challenges faced by 21st c. society. Following an introduction session on the need for methodological transdisciplinarity and openness, the second event covered the need to build teams and organisational cultures that can enable Hybrid Innovation. Dr Tuukka Toivonen, Course Leader of MA Innovation Management at CSM, gave an inspiring talk and led a team-building exercise to develop ideas and assimilate key concepts.
The social, environmental and economic problems facing contemporary society require new approaches built on the power of transdisciplinarity. In this context, companies can increase resilience and creativity by constructing diverse teams and using communication strategies to turn ideas into reality. An interactive exercise based on real-case scenarios provided the context for simulation and discussion between lecturers and participants.
The session was held at the STADHI office at Nohara Lab, Tokyo Tech, with participants joining both in person and online. In line with all events in the programme, a Miro board was used to facilitate interactions and collate all information related to the session.
By inviting experts in their respective fields – engineers and scientists from Tokyo Institute of Technology, artists and designers from CSM – the programme offers participating companies a broader perspective to discuss ways to integrate different fields. Future events will continue continue the exchange between Tokyo Tech, CSM and the participating companies to develop new possibilities for innovation that are not achievable through scientific thinking alone, and to continue research that will feed future industrial and social development.
The Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London (CSM) held the first session of the new collaborative programme Creating the Future “Hybrid Innovation” on Tuesday 12 October 2021.
In this program, we invite companies to embody the process of “Hybrid Innovation”, i.e. multi-communication, to transcend the boundaries of each company and to learn how to “fuse knowledge” and change ideas. We hope that the participation in this programme will lead to the promotion of innovative practices in the companies.
By inviting experts in their fields – engineers and scientists from Tokyo Institute of Technology, artists and designers from CSM – we give participating companies a broader perspective and advocate a methodology of interdisciplinary fusion. We are also building new ways of collaboration, such as interactive discussions that can be joined online or face-to-face, in order to respond to post-Covid working conditions.
The program is organized by 5 members of Nohara Lab at Tokyo Tech including designers and engineers, and aims to establish a uniform methodology that can be used in future Hybrid Innovation with more than 20 participants. Through this program, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, CSM and the participating companies work together to develop new possibilities for innovation that have not been seen with scientific thinking alone, and to continue research that will feed future industrial and social development.
Period of activity: October 2021 – April 2022
Content of the programme: seminars, workshops, making, experiments and creative community activities using flexible face-to-face and online formats. There will also be a final symposium (open to participating companies and the public).
PROGRAMME CONTENT: Seminars, workshops, manufacturing, experiments, creative community activities, etc. that flexibly use face-to-face and online. A final symposium – open to participating companies and the public – is scheduled for April 2022.
This article introduces the programme “Hybrid Innovation” Creating the Future: Transcending Boundaries through Multi-Communication, a new collaboration between Tokyo Tech and Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London (scroll down for English text).
A new collaboration was launched between the Tokyo Institute of Technology, a leading science and technology university, and Central Saint Martins (CSM), University of the Arts London, a world leader in art and design. The fusion of science and art can create a great wave of innovation in society and industry, beyond research and education. Following this approach, we have been engaging in various unique activities. → READ Prof. Nohara’s interview “Encouraging technological innovation through ‘translation'”: Tokyo Tech’s surprising research: a new discipline that enables the fusion of science and art, on Toyo Keizai ONLINE 2021.1.16 (in Japanese).
Our Science & Art Lab “Creative Flow” started in 2009. We have been running joint workshops on “Concept Designing” in collaboration with Musashino Art University and promoted dialogue between science and art in the Creative Café series. Collaboration between students and researchers from both disciplines has been shown to improve soft skills such as creativity, team management, communication, and problem-solving.
In 2017, the Tokyo Institute of Technology and CSM teamed up again to further promote the integration of knowledge across disciplines through speculative and interdisciplinary research activities such as: “the Experiment” Symposium (2017), the research project “Existential Wearables: what are we going to wear in Tokyo in 10 years’ time?” (2018), the joint workshop “Becoming Hybrid” (2019), and the design workshop “Hacking Hearts” (2019) about biotechnological research on the heart. This collaboration is recognized as a WRHI Satellite Lab at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, a centre for interdisciplinary research and creative practice between science and art.
At the point of contact between science & technology and art/design, we find ourselves bound by assumptions and habits as we encounter “others” who are different from us. We recognize alternative language cultures, ways of thinking and values. By leaving a comfort zone that is protected by homogeneous culture and placing ourselves in an interdisciplinary space, we can translate ourselves and embody a shift in thinking. Against this backdrop, we are implementing a program for companies that integrates human resources and information from different fields.
In a time of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity), we cannot face future challenges with a fresh perspective if we remain complacent in existing fields and rely only on formulaic, conventional thinking. Innovation must be implemented in a social sense, not only in a technological sense. This requires innovation in our way of thinking. What is needed is a roadmap to think flexibly and overcome the segmentation of knowledge.
In this program, participating companies will experience a “Hybrid Innovation” process to establish a culture and methodology for creating innovation and transforming ideas. They will work with a diverse range of staff from Tokyo Tech and CSM, including scientists, engineers, artists, designers and philosophers, to provide a range of dynamic activities that connect science, technology and art. The participants will experience a multi-communication space and discussion where ideas reflect values, feelings and psychology without being bound by existing frameworks, and will gain insights for planning and executing strategies for creating unique innovation in their companies.
Program period: October 2022 – April 2023 (pre-season event in August/September 2022)
Application period: June 1, 2022 – September 15, 2022
Program contents: Seminars, workshops, manufacturing, experiments, and creative community activities that will be carried out flexibly face-to-face and/or online. The program will be concluded with a final symposium (limited to participating companies and open to the public).
