Lab

Lab

Science and technology at the service of art and design

Ohme Lab is an independent research and development center which, since 2021, has been offering design, prototyping, realization, and technical repair services to artists, designers and the creative industries, particularly in the digital, kinetic, and electronic arts sectors. 

Ohme Lab is developing into a technical co-creation platform integrating our engineers, artists and the university community. The Lab also initiates ambitious technological developments for certain Ohme Studio co-productions.

One of the strengths of our structure, which straddles the worlds of art and engineering, is our ability to develop a common language that facilitates communication between individuals with very different backgrounds, as well as to effectively translate the needs of an artist into technical specifications, and vice versa.

In a nutshell, at Ohme Lab, we offer our technical-scientific-artistic skills to help you use interdisciplinarity as a driver for creativity, to translate your artistic needs into technical specifications, to transform your ideas into concrete and functional prototypes.

We support your work with guidance, advice or implementation...

Ohme Lab’s technical offer can, for example, help you design and manufacture electronic, mechanical and lighting systems, with or without embedded intelligence. We also have at our disposal manufacturing tools such as CNC milling, 3D-printing and laser-cutting to help you build small-scale installations and objects or prototype things rapidly.

But most importantly, thanks to our wide competences and scientific networks, we can help you think about the conceptualization of your artistic project or provide you with relevant advice in diversified fields such as chemistry, mathematics, neurosciences, etc – you name it.

... by providing you with our in-house engineering skills ...

Electronic & electrical design

  • We create custom digital and analog electronics, as well as hardware design
  • i.e. Printed circuit board (PCB) design, troubleshooting, wireless communications, power electronics, etc

Digital manufacturing techniques

  • Using the latest digital tools and techniques, we transforms designs into tangible products with speed and precision
  • i.e. 3D printing, CNC milling, laser cutting, etc

Woodworking (in collaboration with Aiko Design)

  • Using traditional and modern techniques, we create a wide range of objects and installations, from funriture and sculpture to architectural and scenographic elements.
  • i.e. Wooden structure, furniture, art installations, scenography, etc

Material sciences & chemistry

  • Benefit from our deep understanding of material properties, chemical processes, and physical behavior of materials
  • i.e. Microscopic footage, analysis methods, materials selection and guidance, etc

Design of structure & mechanical parts

  • We engineer precision machines with a deep understanding of the mechanics of materials and structural analysis
  • i.e. Design of mechanisms, electrical boxes, modeling of behavior under constraints (static, dynamic, heat, etc), finite elements, etc

3D drawing & simulation

  • We create models and concepts that allow testing and experimenting before physical manufacturing
  • i.e. Computer-aided design (CAD), scale-models, simulations, thermal devices, electromagnetic fields, etc

Programming for interactive multimedia

  • We use the power of real-time programming tocreate dynamic and interactive experiences that engage audiences in new and exciting ways
  • i.e. TouchDesigner, Chataigne, MadMapper, Resolume, etc

Image analysis & shape or feature recognition

  • We build systems that are capable of detecting and recognizing objetcs, faces and other visual elements in the real world
  • i.e. Image and texture analysis, shape and object detection, etc

Programming electronics

  • We create software, code, and algorithms that are used to create, manipulate and interact with digital media or objects
  • i.e. Processing (creative coding), Embedded Systems (Arduino, STM32, Raspberry Pi), Python, C++, MatLab, etc

Automation & control

  • We are able to control and automate the behavior of devices, environments, and installations with sensors, actuators and other control components
  • i.e. Control design, theory and engineering, etc

... and by helping you every step of the way, from ideation to manufacturing.

1. Needs identification & functional analysis

  • What are my needs as an artist, how do I identify, categorize and prioritize them?
  • How to transpose my needs into functionalities of the artwork, product or device to be designed and manufactured?
  • With what or whom will the artwork interfere (artists, art handlers, transporters, visitors, exhibition producers, etc.) and how (interactivity, usage scenarios, visitor experience, etc.)?
  • What are the constraints of design, manufacture, distribution and use (exhibition conditions, technology, budget and the normative and natural environments)?

3. Conceptual design 

  • How to structure all the desired functionalities to specify suitable first principle solutions and combine them into several concept variants
    to challenge, compare and test?
  • How to list the features and functions that are essential to the artwork as to identify feasible combinations of sub-solutions?
  • How to develop the concepts into solution principle variants?

5. Detail design

  • How to fix the final arrangement, form, dimensions and properties of all the individual parts?
  • How to synthesize all the information and documents needed to manufacture the artwork, product or device in an efficient and well-structured way?
  • How to write the relevant documentation & instructions for the transport, maintenance, operability, assembly, what to do in case of a bug, etc? detail drawings, tolerancing, assembly drawings, bill of materials

2. Requirements list

  • How to define and list the technical specifications?
  • How can I translate my needs, functionalities, demands (under all circumstances) and wishes (whenever possible) into adequate qualitative and quantitative information needed to produce the artwork?
  • What physical quantities, properties and values can I use (size, space requirement, type of motion, frequency, weight, energy consumption, material, safety, shockproof, waterproof, means of production, quietness, servicing intervals, time, costs, recycling, etc)?

4. Embodiment design

  • How can the layout and forms be determined to develop an artwork in accordance with technical and economic considerations?
  • How to design an artwork that fulfills technical functions and economic feasibility based on 3 key rules: clarity, simplicity and safety?
  • How to select materials through pass/fail tests or performance criteria and ranking?
  • How to refine the final design by considering decisions and challenges with a 360° view from manufacturing to recycling, assembly, standardization, transport, cost and aesthetics to recycling?

6. Manufacturing

  • How to quickly make a working prototype or small-scale installations as a proof of concept to validate the key technical elements of my artwork?
  • Which manufacturing techniques and tools are best suited to my needs, schedule and budget?
  • How do I physically build my final artwork, product or device, what kind of crafts and skills do I need? What can be done in-house and what needs to be outsourced?

Something we can help with?

Get in touch!

info[at]ohme.be

Academia

Ohme Academia is an educational and research center focusing on interdisciplinary initiatives in partnership with various higher education institutions.

With recent movements as STEAM education and ArtScience, a worldwide wave of integration between arts, sciences and technologies is opening doors about how to learn, research and think. This transversal and creative emergence raises many questions which have to be addressed in education from preschool to university, as well as in academic research from social to formal sciences.

Ohme aims at supporting, reinforcing and contributing to these new movements by designing and coordinating innovative learning programmes, by developing new interdisciplinary and collaborative practices, and by making artists, teachers, researchers and designers collaborate on topics going beyond their respective disciplines.

With these goals in mind, on the one hand Ohme takes an active part in educational projects and programmes involving artistic and scientific actors, with a strong focus on collaboration, creativity, interdisciplinarity and project-based learning. On the other hand, Ohme contributes to the development of knowledge in ArtScience by stimulating action-based research, by exploring new forms of interdisciplinary collaborations and by elaborating science outreach activities.

Recherche en Perspective
academiaproject

Recherche en Perspective

Perspectives : Science – Graphic Art Collaborations
academiaexhibitionproject

Perspectives : Science – Graphic Art Collaborations

Machines for Good
academiaproject

Machines for Good

RISE Evolution Game
academiaco-production

RISE Evolution Game

Master Theses
academia

Master Theses and Internships at Ohme

TRIAXES Ens
academiaproject

Triaxes+

Our partners includes universities and institutes (Université libre de Bruxelles, École nationale supérieure des arts visuels (ENSAV) de La Cambre, Vrij Universiteit Brussels, Institut royal d’Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique, MAD Home of Creators), teaching and research departments (BEAMS Bio, Electro And Mechanical Systems, Atelier de Communication Visuelle et Graphique de La Cambre, Atelier de Design Industriel de La Cambre, CoDE Computer and Decision Engineering, ENMS Engineering of Molecular NanoSystems, OPERA Optique, Photonique, Electromagnétisme, Radiocommunications et Acoustique, ETRO VUB Electronics and Informatics, Cardiology department Erasme ULB, STEP Service Traitement des Eaux et Pollution), education departments (Inforsciences, Inforpolytech, BAPP, etc).

Studio

Ohme Studio is a production company curating and producing installations, performances, exhibitions and events. We bring artists, scientists, technologists and researchers together to create new paths for scientific mediation through the arts, and inject advanced technologies and sciences into the creation of new artworks.

Our approach is collaborative and tailored to each artist and scientist we work with. Aesthetic, approaches, and outcomes vary in each project.

We curate for festivals and events, bringing arts and sciences together in tailor-made programmes adapted for the most diverse audiences and contexts. We listen, collaborate and co-produce to reach the wider public.

exhibition

The Colour Shifts

artist residencyproject

Sustainable Robotics – Kris Verdonck & Dewi Brunet

artist residencyco-productioninstallation

Colorillon | Adrien Lucca

Isocenter
artist residencyinstallationproduction

Isocenter | Frederik Vanhoutte

Monochromes
artist residencyco-productioninstallation

Monochromes | Yannick Jacquet & Otto Lindholm

An eye is an eye
artist residencyco-productioninstallation

An eye is an eye is an eye is an eye | Damien Petitot

R€¥€R$€ / REVERSE
co-productioninstallation

R€¥€R$€ | Laura Colmenares Guerra

Artistes en résidence 2022-2023
artist residencyproject

Artists in residency 2022-2023

Tell all the truth but tell it slant
exhibition

Tell all the truth but tell it slant

κῦμα
installationproduction

κῦμα

Ιρις/Iris
installationproduction

Ιρις/Iris

Spotlies
installationproduction

Spotlies

F.A.S.T.
exhibition

F.A.S.T. | Femmes · Arts · Sciences · Technologies

installationproduction

Rotifer (a)live

Order of Operations
exhibition

Order of Operations

THINK EAT : urban alternatives
exhibition

THINK EAT : urban alternatives

installationperformanceproduction

Tales of Entropy

.IMG
exhibition

.IMG

installationperformanceproduction

Sine

]unframed[
eventexhibitiontalk

]unframed[

Hack a factory
performanceproduction

Hack a factory | Mekanika

abscisse
installationproduction

Abscisse

Music & Technology
eventtalk

Music & Technology Corner

Argumenter en démocratie
performanceproductiontalk

Rhetoric in democracy

eventtalk

STEAM Conferences

Light Dance Performance
performanceproduction

Light Dance Performance

Engine.ear
eventtalk

Engine.ear