Understanding our surroundings begins with conscious awareness. As such, using technical aids to sharpen and broaden our senses is important, enabling us to better focus on a complex, constantly changing environment.

When collecting information and sending that information to the brain, our senses play a key role. A singular sense may easily mislead us, however, when our senses work together, our brain can process information and associate that information with past experiences.

Our course will introduce students to methods and exercises designed to heighten and amplify the senses in a playful way, allowing students to more accurately and comprehensively observe their environment to devise solutions to meet current challenges.

The objective is to convey skills and abilities that - when working on future projects - can be applied in a direct or modified form. This applies to both acquired skills as well as the instruments and tools created to improve and enhance sensory perception.

We will also aim to:

• consciously learn more about perception as the key to an expanded reality space.
• acquire the ability to express perceptions and present these in story form
• train the senses - and our sense of perception - to give us a more accurate assessment of the situation and oneself. Define phenomena and problems in an effort to become better prepared when facing uncertain future scenarios and global challenges.

• conduct hands-on exercises (backed by theoretical elements) in an effort to hone the individual senses
• require project work that will culminate in a final presentation in the form of a small exhibition.
• collaborate with experts in an interdisciplinary manner to provide students new approaches and ways of thinking.
• learn outside of the classroom by, for example, taking a shared soundwalk, to introduce students to the fascinating world of electromagnetic vibrations and encourage interaction.

Using a hands-on, project-based and interdisciplinary approach, students can actively experience the course content and hone their perceptive skills. The course material is a combination of theory and learning real-world applications.

Course Instructors: Jeanette Müller, Margit Busch, Martina R. Fröschl, Stefan Resch, Paul Divjak, Sebastijan Gečs, Michael Bachhofer