Some projects of the University of Barcelona participate in the CCCB exhibition “HUMANS+. The future of our species”

Howard Schatz. <i>Portraits of Aimee Mullins</i>, 2007.
Howard Schatz. Portraits of Aimee Mullins, 2007.
Research
(05/10/2015)

The Bosch i Gimpera Foundation of the University of Barcelona collaborates in the exhibition "HUMANS+. The future of our species", which can be visited at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) from 6 October 2014 to 10 April 2016. The exhibition includes the installation The Virtual Island, a virtual reality project developed by the research group EventLab for Neuroscience and Technology of the University of Barcelona and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS). Moreover, within the series Start-ups and Spin-offs. University and Enterprise, three innovative business initiatives of the University of Barcelona are presented.

Howard Schatz. <i>Portraits of Aimee Mullins</i>, 2007.
Howard Schatz. Portraits of Aimee Mullins, 2007.
Research
05/10/2015

The Bosch i Gimpera Foundation of the University of Barcelona collaborates in the exhibition "HUMANS+. The future of our species", which can be visited at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) from 6 October 2014 to 10 April 2016. The exhibition includes the installation The Virtual Island, a virtual reality project developed by the research group EventLab for Neuroscience and Technology of the University of Barcelona and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS). Moreover, within the series Start-ups and Spin-offs. University and Enterprise, three innovative business initiatives of the University of Barcelona are presented.

With works by about fifty artists and pioneering research proposals, "HUMAN+. The future of our species" explores, for example, what will it feel like to be a human a hundred years from now. The exhibition questions if, despite technological capabilities increasing at a rapid pace, we should continue embracing modifications to our minds, bodies and daily lives or there are boundaries we shouldnʼt overstep. All these resources lead to large-scale cultural changes that raise ethical questions regarding the appropriation of life and the alteration of identity. What are the scientific limits, and where do the moral and legal boundaries lie in these possible transformations of the species?

By means of a virtual reality head-mounted display and a movement monitoring system, The Virtual Island allows visitors enjoying an immersive experience: they are on a virtual island where they interact with other human beings and virtual representations. The main objective of the installation is to provide an alternative experience of virtual life that will offer visitors a new perspective of their own real life. The EventLab for Neuroscience and Technology focuses its research activity on computer virtual environments and its applications to psychology and neuroscience. It is a pioneering research centre led by Mel Slater and Maria V. Sánchez-Vives, professors at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Barcelona.

The exhibition includes an integrated activity space: the Beta Station. It hosts the presentation of three innovative business initiatives of the University of Barcelona included in the series Start-ups i Spin-offs. University and Enterprise. Initiatives have to do with biotech companies and business models linked with any of the aspects that the exhibition illustrates.

On 17 December, the research group Barcelona Perceptual Computing Lab of the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Barcelona —together with the research group Brain, Behaviour and Cognition of the Terrassa Health Consortium— present the project Re-memory. Entrenament cognitiu basat en records digitals per exercitar la memòria (Re-memory. Memory training based on digital records), centred on the use of life logging technologies to stimulate autobiographical memory. It is an intelligent system based on autobiographical experimentation that produces a positive impact on cognition and improves memory and functionality in people with cognitive decline.

On 10 March 2016, the spin-off of the University of Barcelona Phyture Biotech presents the technological platform Plant Cell Biofactories™ by means of the activity Cèl·lules totipotents vegetals: cap a una nova cosmètica (Plant totipotent cells: towards new cosmetics). It enables to work with plants in a very innovative way and exploit plant actives to the maximum.

Finally, on 7 April 2016, the spin-off of the University of Barcelona endoASIC Technologies, which develops and commercialises chips integrated in diagnostic endoscopic and clinical screening capsules of gastrointestinal cancer, presents the activity De lʼesòfag al recte. Viatge al centre del cos (From the esophagus to the rectum. Journey to the centre of the body). From a technological and medical perspective, the activity approaches visitors to explore gastrointestinal tract to diagnose and treat digestive diseases.