How (not) to get hit by a self-driving car

This event runs Thursday 3/21 – Saturday 3/23 during regular museum hours, and is included with general admission.

In a timely scenario likely to resonate with many residents of San Francisco, How (not) to get hit by a self-driving car is a game installation in which players must figure out how to cross a ‘street’ without being detected by an AI-powered camera. This fun and dynamic game takes around one to three minutes to play and multiple people can play at the same time. 

While the game is light-hearted and enjoyable to play, it underscores a sobering possibility: in the real world, going unseen by a similar AI system in an actual self-driving car could result in a tragic collision. Echoing the very real struggle between people’s desire for data privacy and the need for such data to improve these systems, victorious players can choose either to immediately delete the record of their gameplay or to allow the use of this record to train the AI. 

At 6 p.m. on March 21, the artists will be present for an artists’ talk in the RAD gallery space. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Tomo Kihara (JP) is an artist and a game developer making experimental games and installations that draw out unexplored questions from people through play. After graduating from Keio University, he completed his master’s in Interaction Design at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He has since worked on projects focusing on the social impact of AI with institutions such as Waag Futurelab in Amsterdam and the Mozilla Foundation in the USA. His recent works have been nominated for the Ars Electronica STARTS PRIZE (Linz, 2021) and exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum (London, 2022).

Daniel Coppen (UK) is a designer, artist, and YouTuber exploring the interplay between humans, technology, and the planet through play. After completing a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London and a master’s in design from the Royal College of Art, he founded the design/ art studio Playfool. Together with his partner Saki Maruyama, he investigates the alternative potential of technology with an emphasis on play’s experimental, reflective, and intimate qualities. His works have been awarded numerous awards such as the Dezeen Award (2021) and exhibited worldwide at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 2022) and MAK (Vienna, 2019).

ABOUT THE EVENT SERIES

Part prototyping laboratory, part community salon, RAD (Research And Development) transforms Lee Gallery into a workspace for engineers, designers, and other leaders from the world of gaming; the space also hosts a monthly series of performances and games showcasing the limitless creativity of the Bay Area’s art/tech community.