Yamaha Motor and Yamaha to Jointly Exhibit at Two of Europe’s Largest Tech Events–

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. and Yamaha Corporation are pleased to announce that they will jointly put on an experiential installation (an interactive artwork) called “e-plegona” at two of Europe’s foremost technology events in Berlin, Germany: the hub.berlin (June 28-29 GMT+2) and the Tech Open Air Festival (July 5-7 GMT+2). This will be the second time that this installation will be exhibited, following its debut at the South by Southwest 2023 (SXSW 2023) festival for media, music, and technologies held in Austin, Texas, USA earlier in March this year.

The “e-plegona”　is an installation created by the design departments of Yamaha Motor Company and Yamaha Corporation, in collaboration with research partner Dr. Mark Changizi and the Shinsuke Shimojo Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, based on their research into Kando* experiences.

The installation has two people experience it at the same time, with players repeatedly communicating to each other through non-verbal and intuitive means. Each player creates a “note” on the round touchscreen and sends a rhythmic pattern to the other player. At the same time, touching the note sent by the other player creates a “tone” and thereby plays the rhythmic pattern created by the other player. Based on the results of our unique research combining science and art together with our research partners, this experimental prototype artificially stirs the emotions with non-verbal, intuitive communication to produce a connected vibe between people–like jazz improvisation–or the same sense of connection people often feel toward musical instruments or motorcycles in order to simulate experiences of Kando*.

When we exhibited at SXSW 2023, the venue was always crowded with visitors and the installation drew much attention, even being the first display shown in the official introduction video published on the event’s social media channels. Visitors who tried the installation offered comments like: “I paired up with someone I had never met before, but I could really feel our communication start to improve and it was a moving experience”; “It really felt like ‘digital communication'”; or “This is in the realm of engineering emotion.”

*Kando is a Japanese word for the simultaneous feelings of deep satisfaction and intense excitement that we experience when we encounter something of exceptional value.

The purpose of exhibiting at these two events is to allow as many people as possible to experience the essences of Kando envisioned by both Yamahas, and to also deepen the understanding of the core value sought by both Yamahas together with visitors who experience the installation, so that the Yamaha brand as a whole can deliver even greater Kando to customers.

Source – Yamaha