Heralded as the world’s “leading creativity-infused business event”, Pausefest has been described as “a catalyst for change, a uniter of all industries, and a platform for the future.”
 

Image Credit: Pause Fest

Now into its 9th year, the event welcomes approximately 15,000 ‘digital natives’ who gather to network, share ideas, and ultimately shape the future of digital evolution. The objective of Pausefest is to counteract the disconnect observed across the digital networks and foster connectivity and collaborative partnerships. Design Robotics shares this objective in its pursuit of research that is enabled through Open Innovation. 
Held in Melbourne’s Fed Square, Pausefest 2019 attracted over 30 international and 200 local speakers. Design Robotics’ Dr Jared Donovan participated as moderator of one of the 18 design panel events, ‘Making Art and Architecture with Robots’. Panellists included Dr Roland Snooks from RMIT, Matthew Tobin Founder and Managing Director of UAP, and Emily Floyd, a renowned Australian contemporary artist.  
”This technology is poised to shape multiple industries, including art, architecture, design, medicine and construction.” – Jared Donovan.
 

Dr Jared Donovan. Photo Credit: Cian Sanders

The panel discussed the need for robotic vision to make ambitious art and architecture – a key message also emphasised by Dr Glenda Caldwell at the 2018 Woodford Festival. Panellists spoke on Australia’s ongoing mission to develop robotic vision systems and user interfaces to reduce the interaction time between design and custom manufacturing.