Join us in creating a new kind of things
This year, we invite you to help shape a new kind of things: things that care. Things that care for local communities and for the planet as a whole.
That matters more than ever. At a time when connected things are even used as weapons in hybrid wars, we want to show that a different path is possible. Since 2014, ThingsCon has been a community of designers and makers working toward responsible IoT and beyond. We believe in what connected things and physical AI can do, but at a different scale and starting from a different place. Small AI. Slow things. Things that look after their surroundings instead of taking from them.
What does it mean for a thing to care, and how do we get there? Our tools are design, prototyping and making, and we use them together. On 11 December we want to open that conversation and build community with things.*
First names, more to be announced
Morning keynote: Vera van der Burg
Vera is an artist, designer and researcher working where AI meets craft. She developed Reflective AI — a design method that approaches image-based AI models not as optimising machines but as a material for reflection. Read more.
Workshops and sessions
Design physical AI to rebuild the village with Joanna Montgomery (Littleriot)
AI in the commons, creating different infrastructures, curated by Martijn de Waal (Civic Interaction Design, HvA)
Living with menstrual cycles: material speculations on everyday care with Yixun Li (University of Edinburgh)
Smart homes that care about privacy and autonomy with Albrecht Kurze (TU Chemnitz)
Start Making Sense: the politics of smart doorbells: with Arthur De Jaeger, Kaitlyn Smith and Laurens Kolks (EUR)
Prototyping things that care with Phil van Allen
At the exhibition
The best student projects from the Master Digital Design (AUAS)
A caring toaster by Kate Thaus (RMIT)
Memory Ball by Muskan Jain
Interaction with AI Loom by Maksim Luhouski (Piet Zwart Institute)
PhotoThings by Thomas Dylan (Northumbria University)
Solar Chimes by Angella Mackey
From Text-to-Clay by Vera van der Burg
More to be announced! Keep an eye on the developing program
Make Edgy Things
While the workshops run (11:00–16:00), we’re holding a make-a-thon with Cities of Things. We’ll build edgy things (things with edge AI that have some agency) that care for their community, and vibe-code a prototype together. Check out more
Get your tickets, Early bird ends 11 November
Early bird tickets are €90, students pay €50 and the regular price is €145.
*PS; we are finalizing the program with a few more sessions. Let us know if that should be yours.