Announcing Design Informatics Autumn-Winter Research Seminar Series

We are delighted to announce our upcoming research seminars, open to anyone, and taking place in Inspace, at the Institute for Design Informatics and kicking off later this month on Thursday the 24^th of September.

This series runs bi-weekly and is in-person only, so save the dates below and don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to hear from and meet Design Informatics invited guest speakers from near and far, hosted by members of our research community.

This talks series takes place in Inspace, Design Informatics’ public facing venue, and will be recorded where possible, so if you are not able to make the talk do keep an eye out for recordings which will be published after the event. Details of new speakers and recordings will be released on this webpage across the series, so do check back regularly for updates.

Seminars usually feature works-in-progress or new projects exploring design, data and technology from different perspectives. We encourage speakers to share new methods and techniques that use data in design/creative processes in innovative ways, and/or look at the agency, autonomy and power of data in how we design systems and experience the world.

This upcoming series brings together international, national and local practitioners and researchers, creating an open environment for anyone to get involved in current research discussion and debate. Topics coming up span a variety of interests and fields including; composed introspection, neurotechnology and interactive systems, justice-led conservation technologies, information and graphic data visualization.

We are delighted to announce Roel Heremans, Transdigital Artist and Entrepreneur as our first speaker. Alongside this first talk, we would like to invite you to an introduction and welcome from Design Informatics directors John Vines and Frauke Zellar, launching this series and taking place at 15:30 on 24^th of September.

This series will take place Sept– Dec 2026, more speakers to be announced soon:
Thurs 24 Sep, 2026 / Roel Heremans / Introspection, Neurotechnology and Interactive Systems
Thurs 8 Oct, 2026 / Speaker to be announced soon…
Thurs 22 Oct, 2026 / Speaker to be announced soon…
Thurs 5 Nov, 2026 / Speakers to be announced late September… / 2026 Festival of Social Science Panel Event
Thurs 19 Nov, 2026 / Joycelyn Longdon / Justice-led Conservation Technology
Thurs 3 Dec, 2026 / Ricardo Vega-Mora / Information and graphic data visualization

We look forward to seeing you there!

Seminar Speakers

Roel Heremans
Transdigital Artist and Entrepreneur
Talk title: Introspection, Neurotechnology and Interactive Systems
Talk host: Anna Talley
Date: Thurs 24 Sep, 2026
Time: 15:30-17:00 (this first talk will feature a welcome from Institute Directors)
Location: Inspace, 1 Crichton St, EH8 9AB
Inspace AccessAble

About the Institute for Design Informatics

In the Institute for Design Informatics, we fuse design and creative methodologies with data, data science and data-driven technologies. We create prototypes and experiences that make real to people the ideas that underpin the data society, and aim to ensure that new technologies sustain and enhance human values.

Morphological Murmurations: Guided Lunchtime Tour

Join the Artist, Theodore Koterwas, for a Guided Lunchtime Tour of Morphological Murmurations immersive installation.

Morphological Murmurations

A multisensory installation engaging audiences kinaesthetically with language

Guided Lunchtime Tour

Join the Artist, Theodore Koterwas, for a Guided Lunchtime Tour of Morphological Murmurations immersive installation. This is a one off chance to explore the installation and hear directly from Koterwas about the inspiration and process behind the work. Don’t miss this opportunity to pop along to interact with the work and hear more about the themes and topics it invites you to explore.

Date: Thurs 27 Aug, 2026
Times: 13:00-14:00 (1hr) | Free/Ticketed
Location: Inspace, 1 Crichton St, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB
Audience: General public
Venue Access features: Accessible toilets, Assistance dogs welcome, Baby changing facilities, Seating, Step-free access, Wheelchair accessible

This event has limited capacity and so registration is preferred. Drop-ins are welcome, but participants with tickets are guaranteed entry. If you have any enquiries about the events and venues, please contact event organisers at designinformatics@ed.ac.uk

Venue Access Info

Please note this event will be photographed by Design Informatics – Photographs will be used for future marketing, promotional, reporting and archival purposes. If you would prefer not to be photographed, please let us know at the event.

Artist

Theodore Koterwas is an artist, designer and musician is an artist working with data, physical phenomena and the human body to make things resonate. He seeks to draw critical attention to aspects of daily experience that go unnoticed but profoundly impact on how we understand each other, technology and the environment. His multidisciplinary practice produces art installations, performances, museum exhibitions, and software applications for public engagement, creative collaboration, and teaching and learning. His AI-generated interactive video installation “The Nth Wave” was shortlisted for the 2021 Lumen Prize for Art and Technology, and his voice-cloning installation “all the boys ate a fish” was a finalist in 2024.

His practice-based research and teaching explores multi-sensory physical interactions with artificial intelligence—examining how these interactions shape our self-understanding and our ability to perceive, empathise, and communicate with “others,” both human and non-human. This work encompasses distributed cognition, non-rational ways of experiencing and knowing, the uncanny, and agency and creativity in non-humans.

Data Protection Statement

How we use and store your data – In providing this information, you are giving explicit consent for us to use your data in our programme and event monitoring, reporting and evaluation processes. The data is managed confidentially. Your data will be collected and held by the Institute for Design Informatics, University of Edinburgh (who operate Inspace), it will also be shared with event partners and organisations for this event/talk (e.g. Theodore Koterwas). Your data will only be reported or published in anonymous aggregated forms and will always be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and therefore also in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Data retention period – We will hold this information for a maximum period of 5 years from the date of the event, after which it will be disposed of. Please read the University’s privacy and Data Protection notice (https://data-protection.ed.ac.uk/notice) for further information.
Opt out – If you do not wish to share your information, or would like to modify your consent to collection and processing of personal information, please email us at: designinformatics@ed.ac.uk

If you have any enquiries about Inspace programming and the venue, please contact us at designinformatics@ed.ac.uk.

Supported by

Morphological Murmurations

A multisensory installation engaging audiences kinaesthetically with language, forming this year’s Edinburgh College of Art exhibition highlight for the 2026 Edinburgh Art Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Morphological Murmurations

A multisensory installation engaging audiences kinaesthetically with language

Morphological Murmurations is a multisensory installation engaging audiences kinaesthetically with language, embodied communication, neurodivergence, artificial intelligence (AI) and models of animal behaviour. The artwork places visitors within the space of a Large Language Model, an AI system designed to understand and analyze human language, where a flock of artificial agents respond to their movements, visually and sonically activating words. This is language, not assembled through computational logic, but through patterns of bodies working together. Through the intuition of movement, muscle memory and spatial awareness, the visitor explores the environment of a putative “other mind” (the LLM) through an alternative model of how embodied minds (birds) coordinate movement and create meaning with their bodies.

Daily Performance

Morphological Murmurations installation features a daily durational performance by Theodore Koterwas. This durational performance uses hand written words, to translate a live data feed from the installation, reflecting on the embodied nature of language and the hidden labour of AI. Visit the exhibition from 12:00 to experience this evolving work.

The duration of the performance varies each day but will be a minimum of 1 hour, so come along earlier to ensure you don’t miss it. This also takes place outdoors so in the case of bad weather the performance on that day may be cancelled.

Morphological Murmurations is led by Theodore Koterwas, in collaboration with Stephanie Lamprea, with the opening performance featuring short performances by Koterwas and Lamprea.

Image Credit: Morphological Murmurations, © Theodore Koterwas 2025

Exhibition details

Dates: Wed-Sun, 26 -30 Aug, 2026
Times: 10:00 – 17:00 Daily | Free/Drop-in
Relaxed viewing: 10:00 – 13:00, Thurs 27
Relaxed exhibition viewing time provides accessible, sensory-friendly version of the installation with reduced capacity, lowered sound levels, and increased lighting, designed for neurodiverse individuals or anyone seeking a calmer experience.

Location: Inspace, 1 Crichton St, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB
Audience: General public
Venue Access features: Accessible toilets, Assistance dogs welcome, Baby changing facilities, Seating, Step-free access, Wheelchair accessible

Interaction guidance: The main installation in this exhibition includes audience participation, with audience members required to walk or move around to activate and engage with the installation. Other exhibits in the space are avialble to view, no physical interaction is required.

Sensory Notice: Outside of the main installation there is a designated quiet area built in on the upper level of the venue, intended as a more relaxed display space, this is accessible throughout the full duration of this exhibition.

English Language: The audio and visuals of this artwork are based on english language so an undersntading of english is essential to full experiencing this exhibition.

If you have any enquiries about the events and venue, please email event organisers at designinformatics@ed.ac.uk

Event Programme

Morphological Murmurations: Guided Lunchtime Tour

13:00-14:00, THURS 27 AUG, 2026 [FREE/TICKETED]
Read more: Morphological Murmurations: Guided Lunchtime Tour
Morphological Murmurations Preview, Performance and Panel

18:00 / 20:00, TUE 25 AUG, 2026 [Free/Ticketed]
Read more: Morphological Murmurations Preview, Performance and Panel

Supported by

Morphological Murmurations is led by Theodore Koterwas, in collaboration with Stephanie Lamprea. This exhibition programme is supported by Inspace and the Institute for Design Informatics and is the Edinburgh College of Art feature for the 2026 Edinburgh Art Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Design Informatics

Website: designinformatics.org

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Twitter: @DesignInf

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Inspace

Website: inspace.ed.ac.uk

Instagram: inspaceedinburgh

Twitter: @InspaceEd

Morphological Murmurations Preview, Performance and Panel

Join us at Inspace to celebrate the opening of Morphological Murmurations a new multisensory installation engaging audiences kinaesthetically with language, forming this year’s Edinburgh College of Art exhibition highlight for the 2026 Edinburgh Art Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

EXHIBITION PREVIEW, PERFORMANCE AND PANEL

Join us at Inspace for this preview event to celebrate the opening of Morphological Murmurations a new multisensory installation, engaging audiences kinaesthetically with language, forming this year’s Edinburgh College of Art exhibition highlight for the 2026 Edinburgh Art Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

This preview event will begin launching a daily performance by Theodore Koterwas, which will run from 12:00 daily throughout the exhibition. This durational performance uses hand written words to translate a live data feed from the installation, reflecting on the embodied nature of language and the hidden labour of AI. This opening live performance will feature Soprano Stephanie Lamprea who has collaborated with Koterwas for this new and expanded version of Morphological Murmurations.

This will be followed by a combined panel discussion, with invited guest speaker and chair Caterina Moruzzi, audience Q&A, and drinks reception. Come along to discover how artists are creatively and critically engaging with artificial intelligence (AI), specifically Large Language Models, through voice, movement and audio-visual technology.

Date: Tues 25 August 2026
Time: 18:00-20:00 | Free/Ticketed
Location: Inspace, 1 Crichton St, Newington, Edinburgh EH8 9AB [Fringe Venue 574]

Performers: Theodore Koterwas and Stephanie Lamprea,
Speakers to be announced soon

Inspace Access Info

Fringe Venue 574

Artists and Speakers

Colombian-American soprano Stephanie Lamprea is an architect of new sounds and expressions as a performer, recitalist, curator, composer, and improviser, specializing in contemporary-classical repertoire. Trained as an operatic coloratura, Stephanie uses her voice as a mechanism of avant-garde performance art, creating “maniacal shifts of vocal production and character… like an icepick through the skull” (composer Jason Eckardt). She has been praised by Opera News Magazine for “her iconoclasm and fearless commitment to new sounds” and for her “impressive display of extended vocal techniques, in the honorable tradition of such forward-looking artists as Bethany Beardslee, Cathy Berberian and Joan La Barbara.”

She has performed as a soloist at Roulette Intermedium (New York City), Constellation Chicago, Sound Scotland, Kings Place (London), Southbank Centre (London), the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the National Concert Hall (Dublin), the Centre for Contemporary Art (Glasgow), the Hidden Door Festival (Edinburgh), and the Casa da Música (Porto). She has collaborated with leading new music ensembles and bands including the Riot Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, the City of London Sinfonia, Sō Percussion, and Post Coal Prom Queen.

Caterina Moruzzi is a Chancellor’s Fellow in Design Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, where her research sits at the intersection of philosophy, creativity, and artificial intelligence. Trained as both a philosopher and a classical pianist, she brings an unusual perspective to questions about what it means to create. As BRAID Research Fellow, she leads CREA-TEC (Cultivating Responsible Engagement with AI Technology to Empower Creatives), a fellowship conducted in collaboration with Adobe that investigates how generative AI is reshaping creative practices. She leads the research cluster Creativity, AI, and the Human at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, which brings together over 120 members from academia, industry, and the arts. Her work has been published in various academic journals and conferences across philosophy, the arts, and Human-Computer Interaction, and featured on the BBC, Science, and Nature.