On April 23, 2024, the first talk event “Creative Futurists Dialogues 001: Toward Cross-border Future Co-creation” was held by the Creative Futurists Initiative, a social cooperative course for cross-border future co-creation, at Room 92B, Building 2, Faculty of Engineering, Hongo Campus, the University of Tokyo.

Creative Futurists Initiative is a social collaboration course established in December 2023. In this course, students mainly from the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies and employees of Sony Group Inc. are engaged in the development of practical research activities with the aim of raising and solving social issues through both a critical analytical approach and a creative approach through art, design, and science. The first talk event featured a lecture by the faculty member in charge, Professor Yasuaki Kakehi, and a dialogue moderated by Ms. Asako Tomura of Sony Group Inc. After a talk on value creation through cross-disciplinary collaboration and human resources leading to cross-border future co-creation, participants engaged in dialogue with each other and asked questions of the professor.

In his lecture, Professor Kakehi introduced examples of value creation through collaboration that he had experienced in the past. In “Journey on the Tongue,” co-created with food artist Ayako Suwa and sound artist evala, installation work was created in which a candy-like device was placed in the mouth and vibrations and sounds spread inside the head, giving the sensation of “eating a presence.” In this work, an experience was realized that presented a new way to interact with the senses. For this work, artists with different personalities cultivated their senses by discussing the similarities and differences among their ideas. Thus, the installation came into being through a varied process of prototyping and finding additional collaborators as they honed into a common focus.

The Audio Game Center, which was exhibited at Ginza Sony Park, was a project dealing with audio games primarily for people with visual impairments. It included horror games, racing games, and fighting games played through sound. The experience was presented as an arcade without screens. The activity was given additional impetus by an encounter with a university student who creates audio games. In this way, he said that he is focusing on new value produced in the process of co-creation, since previous projects have also produced new value by involving other people in collaboration.

In the later part of the event, a variety of questions were raised about crossing borders between disciplines. Questions were raised about why it is important to cross borders, why it is difficult to do so, and what kind of attitude one should adopt when doing so. In response to these questions, the two speakers agreed about the need to question what is taken for granted, to look at the current situation from a new perspective, and to adopt this attitude consciously. They also mentioned the importance of change in order to remain the same and retain continuity. During the Q&A session, the discussion was very active, with participants offering their opinions and comments and asking new questions.

This course aims to encourage artists themselves to think critically from their own perspectives and connect them to creative activities while maintaining their own sense of ownership. It turned into a very lively two-hours of discussion with high expectations for future activities. We look forward to the future development of the Creative Futurists Initiative as a valuable opportunity for professionals and students from different fields to exchange ideas.

Text：Mai Kagawa（Doctoral student）
English proofreading: David Buist (Project Senior Specialist)

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Creative Futurists Initiative

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