Updated: 1997.09.06

sensorium was conceived as the Japan Theme Pavilion site for the 1996 Internet World Exposition (IWE '96). IWE'96 was established by Karl Malamud of the USA and is the world's leading Internet expo. Jun Murai of WIDE (Widely Integrated Distributed Environment) Project and Joichi Ito of Ecosys were the producers in Japan. sensorium was supported in part by contributions from various corporations exhibiting in the Japan zone. When IWE'96 closed on December 31, sensorium staff expressed the desire to continue developing the site on a voluntary basis and upon receiving approval from the Japan IWE '96 Committee began renovation in late January 1997. In cooperation with WIDE project and with assistance from many others, sensorium made its come back in late May as a part of SFC at www.sensorium.org. In June, sensorium received the Ars Electronica Prix'97 Golden Nica Award for the net category. Upon invitation to exhibit at the Ars Electronica Festival held in Linz, Austria in September, we have developed three new projects.

Q: Who is behind sensorium?

Our dozens of Tokyo-based staff form working teams that vary by project and phase. Project Taos, of which producer Shinichi Takemura is president, is sensorium's official base In the spring of 1995, when it was decided to proceed with the theme pavilion, the IWE '96 Committee concluded that "as the Internet is a collective of individuals, the pavilion should be properly created by individuals." In summer 1995, the committee contacted Shinichi Takemura and asked Project Taos to submit a plan for the pavilion. The plan was approved and the committee commissioned Project Taos to create the contents. Taos assembled a freelance staff with a range of skills, and thus the present group of core members was formed. Many sensorium staff members work outside of Web design as writers, consultants, graphic designers and musicians. They participate in sensorium in addition to their primary work and personal lives. *Project Taos Inc. is a group of various professionals led by Shinichi Takemura, an anthropologist and associate professor of Tohoku University of Arts and Design. Project Taos' scope of work ranges from regional planning to product development covering design and production operations and corporate consulting. It is located in Minami Aoyama, Tokyo.

Q: What is sensorium's theme?

sensorium's fundamental thematic concept is to expand the possibilities of the Internet as a tool to sense the world. sensorium members also share the common desire to make a positive contribution to the developmental process of the Internet as a form of media. The concept is best understood by experiencing the projects themselves. :-) *For those interested in reading further about the concept, please refer to the text of an article written by Shinichi Takemura in early 1996.