Tomo Kihara is an artist and game developer creating experimental games and public installations. His work often takes the form of embodied playable thought experiments that invite everyone to explore new questions around socio-technical issues through play. Recent projects focusing on AI's social impact have been developed in collaboration with institutions such as Waag Futurelab (Amsterdam) and the Mozilla Foundation (USA). His works have been exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum (London, 2022) and the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco, 2024).
新たな問いを引き出す遊びをテーマに、実験的なゲームや都市に介入するインスタレーションの開発を行う。慶應義塾大学環境情報学部卒業後、オランダのデルフト工科大学院のインタラクションデザイン科を修了。その後、アムステルダムに拠点を置く研究機関Waag Futurelabや米国のMozilla FoundationとAIの社会的影響に焦点を当てたプロジェクトを行う。近年の作品はアルス・エレクトロニカ STARTS PRIZE (リンツ、2024年)にてHonorary Mentionを受賞したり、Victoria & Albert Museum(ロンドン、2022年)で展示された。

CV  <PDF>

Education

2019 - 2020 : European School of Urban Game Design [Athens, Greece & Amsterdam, Netherlands]
2016 - 2018 : Delft University of Technology - MSc in Interaction Design [Delft, Netherlands]
2012 - 2016 : Keio University - BA in Environmental Information [Shonan, Japan]

Grants & Fellowships

2023 : Watershed — Playable City Commission [Bristol, United Kingdom]
2022 : Civic Creative Base Tokyo — Artist Fellow [Tokyo, Japan]
2022 : Mozilla Technology Fund — Awardee [Global]
2021 : Artsformation EU [Europe]
2020 : Creative Industries Fund NL — Talent Development Fund [Amsterdam, Netherlands]
2018 - 2021 : Waag Future Lab — Research Fellow [Amsterdam, Netherlands]
2018 : Design Indaba — Global graduates [Capetown, South Africa]

Selected Exhibitions

2023: Arts Maebashi 10th anniversary Exhibition:New Horizon [Maebashi, Japan]
2023: Busan Sea Art Festival 2023 [Busan, South Korea]
2023: ICC Kids Program 2023 [Tokyo, Japan]
2023
: Now Play This - A Festival of Experimental Game Design [London, UK]
2023
: Digital Shadows - Amsterdam Central Library [Amsterdam, Netherlands]
2022: V&A Digital Design Weekend [London, UK]
2022: EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE - Deutsches Technikmuseum  [Berlin, Germany]
2022
: 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT - Future In-sight [Tokyo, Japan]
2021: Matsudo International Science Art Festival [Matsudo, Japan]
2021: ARS ELECTRONICA - STARTS PRIZE Exhibition [Linz, Austria]
2019: Red Dot Design Museum Xiamen - Social Design Exhibition Asia  [Xiamen, China]
2019
: Kunsthal KAdE - Balancing Acts  [Amersfoort, Netherlands]
2018: Victoria & Albert Museum : Future Starts here [London, UK]
2016: London Design Museum : Designs of the Year [London, UK]

Academic Publication

2019 - DIS - San Diego : Designing and Prototyping from the Perspective of AI in the Wild (Full Paper)
2019 - CHI - Glasgow :  Designing an Escape Room in the City for Public Engagement with AI-enhanced Surveillance (Late Breaking Work)
2018 - CHI - Montreal : Connected Resources: A Novel Approach in Designing Technologies for Older People (Late Breaking Work)
2015 - INCLUDE - London : Developing Products to Prevent Group Infection in Nursery Schools (Poster)

Teachings and Workshops

2023 [ Guest Lecture ]- Chicago University - Department of Computer Science [Chicago,USA]
2022 [ Workshop ] - Columbia University - MA in Global Thought [New York, USA]
2022 [ Guest Lecture ] - Haute école d'art et de design Genève - MA Media Design (lecture video) [Genève, Switzerland]

Awards

2024 - S+T+ARTS Prize 2024 - Honorary Mention - How (not) to get hit by a self-driving car
2021
- S+T+ARTS Prize 2021 - Nomination - TheirTube
2019
- Mozilla Creative Media Awards 2020 - TheirTube
2019
- IxDA Interaction Awards : Finalist - Street Debater
2017 -  WIRED Creative Hack Award : Grand Prix - Street Debater
2016 - London Design Museum Designs of the Year (Nomination):  phonvert