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Research summary

Rising temperatures and accelerating ecological collapse threaten communities worldwide. Tackling these challenges calls for bold ways to imagine—and collaboratively create—more sustainable futures. As Canada Research Chair in Emergent Digital Art Practice, Dr. Yuzhi Joel Ong is exploring how emerging technologies can help us envision and design these futures across disciplinary and institutional boundaries.

Guided by the principle of “living as nature” and an expanded sense of “home,” Ong and his research team are using digital art, interactive sculpture, and immersive data storytelling to spark dialogue about biotechnological futures. A key initiative is their Open Media Lab, an artificial intelligence-integrated makerspace for experimenting with sustainable materials and symbiotic artistic production involving humans, non-humans and machines. By blending creativity from the arts and sciences and engaging diverse communities, Ong’s work will inspire innovative approaches to sustainability and expand opportunities for underrepresented voices to shape our collective future.