OpenSky 2.0

ICC in Tokyo is currently running an exhibition called OpenSky2.0, which showcases various artifacts relevant to Kazuhiko Hachiya‘s ambitious ongoing project with its ultimate goal of developing a personal “flying machine.”

opensky1.jpgHachiya’s previous works include Inter Dis-Communication Machine, Seeing Is Believing, AirBoard (a jet-powered skateboard) — to name a few. He’s also the creator of PostPet, a popular email client application in which Kawaii digital pets take care of email messages.

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The sky so far seems to be a “closed” space in which “end-users” cannot easily participate in. Imagine an “open” sky in which anyone can fly freely — it would be so nice — but making it actually happen would be extremely difficult. The OpenSky project started in 2003 and, so far, a flying machine was designed, a half-size radio-controlled prototype was built, a full-size aircraft was built and tested. It is being integrated with jet engines and the plan is to test the next version of the flying machine with a person on board. The exhibition will last till March 11.