The NeuroRight Arcades (2022), Roel Heremans
EXHIBITION: Door Open Space
Thu May 30 – Sun June 2
In the future, neuro-wearables and brain-computer-interfaces (BCIs) will create a host of new and interesting possibilities, obtaining direct information from our brains and influencing our thoughts and feelings. But what happens when companies or governments use these technologies for purposes we do not necessarily agree with or cross certain boundaries?
Existing social and ethical frameworks have yet to answer this. Researchers of the NeuroRights Initiative have taken the first step in protecting our brains from external influences and want companies and governments to commit to these rights:
Mental Privacy: Nothing or nobody may look into your ‘head’ unless you consent.
Personal Identity: Nothing or nobody may change your self-image, you have control over your mental and physical integrity.
Free Will: Nothing or nobody may influence or limit your free will.
Equal Access to Mental Augmentation: Everyone should have fair access to any device that makes us more intelligent.
Protection against Algorithmic Bias: Nothing or nobody may be subjected to prejudice or discrimination based on their specific profile.
With the NeuroRight Arcades, Roel Heremans wants to make these NeuroRights more tangible and help you understand how intrinsically important they are. After finishing the game, you can download a printout of your brainwaves. At the moment you become aware of your own rights, you may get the strange feeling that the Arcades may have done exactly what they warned you about…
About the artist
Roel Heremans orchestrates immersive installations and sonorous, philosophical works that probe the ethical implications of emerging technologies. His signature approach is to craft audio fragments that ignite visitors’ imagination and guide them through interactive installations and immersive group experiences. In these environments, visitors are exposed to their bio data, blurring the boundaries between collective performances and individual reactions as they morph into actors, witnesses, performers, and reenactors of mental and physical processes.
Co-production: Ars Electronica Futurelab, C-TAKT Pelt, Werktank Leuven, De Kunstenwerkplaats Brussels
Arcade design: C-Takt, Rudi van de Kerkhof | Logo design: Johannes Pöll, Nicolas Naveau & Sander Heremans | BCI software: Yuhan Zhang, Thai Duong Truong & Maarten Francq | Narrating voice: Richard Wells | Neurological advice: Chie Nakatani and Cees van Leeuwen | Interactive design: Tyrell | Artistic advice: Hideaki Ogawa, Angela de Weijer, Emanuele Dainotti, Evan Cole
With the support of Flanders, State of the Art
Photo by Rachel Gruijters