Nicolas Henchoz

Nicolas Henchoz (born 1967) is a materials engineer, journalist and art director specialising in innovation processes and design research. He is the founder and director the EPFL+ECAL Lab, a design research centrehttps://epfl-ecal-lab.ch/ of the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne).
==Biography==
Born in Lausanne, Nicolas Henchoz studied at the EPFL, where he obtained a degree in materials science in 1991.
After training as a journalist, he became responsible for the technology pages of the Journal de Genève (now Le Temps) in 1992, and later for the science section. In 1994, he worked for Swiss Television, where he collaborated on magazines such as Téléscope. He became responsible for scientific news, and then presented programmes including the television news broadcast.
In 2000, he joined the presidency of the EPFL, as Patrick Aebischer's deputy, in charge for the institution's image and communication. He was involved in the development and implementation of strategic projects, such as the Rolex Learning Center.
During this time, he also developed relations with ECAL, the university of art and design Lausanne, and in 2007 initiated the creation of the EPFL+ECAL Lab. This design research centre aims to explore how design can contribute to the use of new technologies. First results were published in the book "Design for Innovative Technology", written in collaboration with Yves Mirande.
In 2011, Nicolas Henchoz was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres de la République française. As a lecturer and visiting professor, he collaborates with international schools such as the ENSCI in Paris, the Royal College of Art in London, the Parsons The New School, or the Politecnico di Milano. He is also the co-founder of the Global Alliance for Media Innovation.
In 2023, he is the chairman of the art papers of the SIGGRAPH conference, for its 50th edition.
==Works==
Under the direction of Nicolas Henchoz, the research conducted at the EPFL+ECAL Labhttps://epfl-ecal-lab.ch/ has covered multiple themes and technologies.
* Projects in collaboration with differents institution such as 'Livres ouverts' with the museum Photo Elysée, 'Roger Tallon: Archives in Motion' with the Musée des arts décoratifs in Paris, 'Jean Starobinski. Relations critiques' wwith the Swiss National Library, 'Posterworld' with the Museum of Design in Zurich and 'The Montreux Jazz Heritage Lab' with the Montreux Jazz Festival have explored how to enhance the impact of cultural heritage can have on the public, in particular through immersive devices, artificial intelligence and tailored interaction. 
* The contribution of emerging technologies to well-being, particularly through creative biofeedback. Based on measurements of respiration, skin conductance and heart rate variability, the 'Ming Shan Digital Experience' installation provides support for both individual and collective meditation. The installation has been in display in the temple of the Ming Shan Taoist Centre in Switzerland and was the subject of an academic paper at SIGGRAPH in 2021
* The design of digital services that promote intergenerational relationships and social bonds, such as the Resoli platform.
* The use of immersive technologies, in particular virtual reality and augmented reality in relation to their cognitive and emotional effects.
From 2016, the scope of the EPFL+ECAL Lab's activities has been extended to all artistic practices that can contribute to innovation. The creation of 45 artists' residencies in the framework of the Horizon 2020 STARTS residencies project, in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou, contributes to clarifying the different forms of collaboration between art and science, with a view to innovation.
==Books==
Y. Mirande, N. Henchoz, Design for innovative technologies: from disruption to acceptance, Routledge, 2014. ISBN 9781138782785.
T. Jusselme, E. Hoxha, S. Cozza, R. Tuor, R. Zulli, N. Henchoz, D. Lalanne, A data-driven approach for lifecycle performance, Exploring Research-driven Building Design, pp 157-188, Park Books, 2019. ISBN 978-3-03860-132-6.
==Peer reviewed articles and conferences==
Yoann Douillet, Romain Collaud, Emily Groves, Andreas Sonderegger, Cédric Duchêne and Nicolas Henchoz. 2023. Adapting Haptic Feedback for Guided Meditation. In Nuria Pelechano, Fotis Liarokapis, Damien Rohmer and Ali Asadipour (Eds.), International Conference on Interactive Media, Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies (IMET). The Eurographics Association. https://doi.org/10.2312/imet.20231253
Emily Groves, Romain Talou, Andrea Schneider, and Nicolas Henchoz. 2022. Storing cultural archives in synthetic DNA: An integrated prospective design investigation. DRS Biennial Conference Series (June 2022). https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.395
Nicolas Henchoz, Margaux Charvolin, Delphine Ribes, Lara Défayes, Cédric Duchêne, Emily Groves, and Andreas Sonderegger. 2021. Ming Shan Digital Experience: Immersive Technology for Traditional Taoist Meditation. Proc. ACM Comput. Graph. Interact. Tech. 4, 2 (August 2021), 24:1-24:10. https://doi.org/10.1145/3465620
Nicolas Henchoz, Pierre-Xavier Puissant, Ana Solange Leal, Tânia Moreira, and Hugues Vinet. 2019. Artist residencies for innovation: development of a global framework. In ACM SIGGRAPH 2019 Art Gallery, ACM, 10.https://doi.org/10.1145/3306211.3320140
Nicolas Henchoz, Emily Groves, Andreas Sonderegger, and Delphine Ribes. 2019. Food Talks: visual and interaction principles for representing environmental and nutritional food information in augmented reality. In ISMAR 2019 Poster Papers, Beijing. 10.1109/ISMAR-Adjunct.2019.00040
Nicolas Henchoz and Allison Crank. 2018. Digital Heritage: Bringing New Life to the Montreux Jazz Festival’s Audio-Visual Archives with Immersive Installations. Leonardo 51, 4 (August 2018), 375–380. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_01646
Category:1967 births
Category:Materials engineering
Category:Journalists
Category:Art directors