The pilot project “Malmö New Media Living Lab” was a small scale living lab where new media services and products were co-created with a particular focus on audience participation and user-generated content. Visitors at the media and performance center INKONST, which houses activities that include, film, performance, theater, concerts, and clubs, was engaged in developing, experimenting with and evaluating new media formats, services and products, together with re­searchers, students, artists and professional new media producers. The project was ranging from short student assignment to longer activities involving several professional and non-professional partners. The method for developing new media experiences and practices focused on engaging grassroots enthusiast, building upon their needs and trying out concepts developed in a real setting. The aim of the project was also to connect producers and consumers so that they could gain insight into each other's practices.

The lab was run by the School of Arts and Communication (K3), Malmö University in collaboration with the cultural organization INKONST, the hip-hop movement RGRA, Ericsson Consumer Lab, Do-Fi, Good World AB, Informator AB, Scandvision Communication AB, Sveriges Television AB (SVT), The Astonishing Tribe AB (TAT), Unsworn Industries, Minc and Media Mötesplats Malmö.

Starting autumn 2009, and based on experience from the pilot, the media institute MEDEA at Malmö University will launch three Living Labs for co-production and social innovation in the city of Malmö. The city may be characterized by multi ethnicity, cultural production, youth culture and new media industry. This is also the rational behind the content orientation and cultural and geographic position for the three suggested Living Labs. They are:

“The Neighbourhood” positioned in contentious multi ethnic Rosengård and focusing on changes in urban space, collaborative services and social media.

“The Stage” is situated in the vibrant club, music, theatre and sub-culture environment around Möllevångstorget and focusing on cultural production and cross media.

“The Factory” will be located at the skateboard arena Stapelbäddsparken in Västra Hamnen, in the heart of the new media cluster in the city, focusing innovation strategies where users can develop fully functional prototypes in an open source and mixed-media environment.

The Labs will be funded with support from the KK-foundation and EU structural funds.

Some examples of previous experiments from Malmö New Media Living Lab

Barcode Beats

Barcode Beats is a musical instrument that converts barcodes into unique sound loops that can be combined to create music. The instrument was developed by interaction design students at K3 in collaboration with RGRA (adjusted to their preference to hip hop music). The instrument was tried out by RGRA at Malmö's biggest grocery store resulting in an impressive live performance.

Barcode Beats video.

Barcode Beats webpage

Barcode Beats is developed by: Vanessa Carpenter, Daniel Brynolf, Henrik Svarrer Larsen, Mads Høbye

The Audio-visual re-mix sampler

The Audio-visual re-mix sampler came out of a student-driven project exploring how a world music TV-program produced by Good World and SVT could be re-mixed by visitors at the release party for the TV-program. The audio-visual re-mix sampler was developed, which uses short clips from the TV-show that are assigned to keys on a MIDI keyboard, allowing visitors to engage in an interactive and playful audio-visual re-mixing of the TV-show.

Collaborators: SVT, Good World, INKONST, Malmö University

Video 1

Video 2

Developed by: Tobias Lilja, Adam Politanski

Graphics by: Camilla Garay

Hip-hop Bluetooth Bus

The Street Lab is a group of second-generation teen­age immigrants that are members of the hip-hop move­ment RGRA (aka The Face and Voice of the Street). The Street Lab focuses on developing new ways for producing, spreading and consuming grassroots-productions. Do-Fi, the Street Lab and Malmö University researchers have experiments with spreading RGRA's music on local busses via Bluetooth. Investigations are also conducted around how RGRA can produce mobile street news for mobile consumption.

Collaborators Bluetooth bus: RGRA, Do-Fi, Skånetrafiken, Veolia and Malmö University

Video: Hip-hop Bluetooth Bus

Ideá developed by: RGRA and K3

Mens & Ladies Room Mixup

LED-Matrix displays showing male/female signs are mounted on the toilet doors at Inkonst. Every seventh time someone open the toilet door, or switch the manual control, the signs are switched! The interactive signal system creats a lot of chaos at Inkonst but also provide excuses for strangers (male/female) to chat about the confusing situation.

Video Mens & Ladies Room Mixup

developed by: Vanessa Carpenter, Daniel Brynolf, Jonas Eriksson,, Mads Høbye, Nicolas Padfield

The Rappalizer

The Rappalizer , a student-driven project, explores how audience participation can en­hance improvised rap battles. Building upon the Do-Fi devel­oped Blue Wall, which arranges images in a graphically interest­ing way sent via Bluetooth, the students developed the product so rap battle audiences can con­tribute images that the rappers free-style over as they challenge each other.

Collaborators: RGRA, Do-Fi, INKONST, Malmö University.

Developed by: Patrik Wells, Wayne Coughlan, Hamish Chilton, Leanda Trautman, Brent Swanepoel

www.inkonst.com