From 'Operating' Robots to 'Co-creating' with Them: Children and Robots Co-create and Exhibit a Synchronized Six-Dragon Performance at "FUTUREs ENGINEERING SCHOOL"
Toyota Coniq's DAS LAB and PRO-SEED conducted the "FUTUREs ENGINEERING SCHOOL" in Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture. Children co-created and exhibited a performance featuring six synchronized dragons with robots. This new educational program emphasizes co-creation through expression and social engagement, beyond mere robot operation.
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- 📰 Published: April 28, 2026 at 02:29
- 🔍 Collected: April 27, 2026 at 18:02
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 27, 2026 at 18:27 (25 min after Collected)
DAS LAB, promoted by Toyota Coniq Corporation (Head office: Tokyo; hereinafter "Toyota Coniq"), jointly conducted the children's program "FUTUREs ENGINEERING SCHOOL" with PRO-SEED, an engineering company in Hikone City, at "SHIGA FUTUREs THINKING WEEK 2026 (hereinafter SFTW)" held in Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture from Saturday, April 18 to Sunday, April 26, 2026. This program was planned as an experience where children and robots co-create a single work, going beyond programming education aimed at merely "operating" robots.
■ An Attempt to Add the Perspective of Co-creation to Robot Programming Classes
This program was born by combining DAS LAB's approach with the children's robot programming classes that PRO-SEED has developed with the aim of "making Hikone an engineer's city." Participating children operated robot arms to move dragon models, and by synchronizing six dragons, they completed a single performance artwork.
Here, the children repeatedly try and error, not just focusing on precisely operating the robots, but on how to operate them to achieve an effective artistic expression.
■ From Individual Experience to Expression Engaging with Society
The completed work was exhibited at the SFTW venue from April 19 to 26, and was introduced to visitors not just as operating robots, but as an experience where people and robots collaborate to create a single piece of art.
One of the characteristics of this program is that the children's efforts are placed within the context of engagement with society, as the work is shared and viewed by many people, rather than ending as an individual experience.
■ Position of DAS LAB
At DAS LAB, we value the perspective of how people interact and create through data and technology, rather than merely utilizing them.
This program is also an initiative to explore how perspectives such as:
・Envisioning the future
・Creating
・Engaging with society
are born by interacting with robots not as "objects to be operated," but as "beings that create expression together."
■ Future Developments
This program is scheduled to be implemented as an experiential program at PRO-SEED's event to be held at PRO-SEED Arena HIKONE on April 29, 2026.
■ About SHIGA FUTUREs THINKING WEEK
SHIGA FUTUREs THINKING WEEK is a program where diverse stakeholders, including local residents, companies, government, and educational institutions, gather beyond their positions to think about and discuss the future they desire. Through exhibitions, experiences, and talk sessions, it provides a place where people of all generations, from children to adults, can participate and share hints and inspiration for thinking about and acting for the future.
More details here:
SFTW2026 Official Website
https://daslab.jp/sftw/2026
■ About DAS LAB
DAS LAB is a co-creation collective that, under the approach of "Data Art & Science," combines data science with an artistic perspective to interpret the "now" from data, envision the desired future, and implement it in society through prototyping and dialogue.
■ Related Releases
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000011.000165384.html
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000008.000165384.html
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000013.000165384.html
■ Contact Information
DAS LAB Public Relations Representative: Yasumitsu Jinno
E-mail: daslab@toyotaconiq.co.jp
■ An Attempt to Add the Perspective of Co-creation to Robot Programming Classes
This program was born by combining DAS LAB's approach with the children's robot programming classes that PRO-SEED has developed with the aim of "making Hikone an engineer's city." Participating children operated robot arms to move dragon models, and by synchronizing six dragons, they completed a single performance artwork.
Here, the children repeatedly try and error, not just focusing on precisely operating the robots, but on how to operate them to achieve an effective artistic expression.
■ From Individual Experience to Expression Engaging with Society
The completed work was exhibited at the SFTW venue from April 19 to 26, and was introduced to visitors not just as operating robots, but as an experience where people and robots collaborate to create a single piece of art.
One of the characteristics of this program is that the children's efforts are placed within the context of engagement with society, as the work is shared and viewed by many people, rather than ending as an individual experience.
■ Position of DAS LAB
At DAS LAB, we value the perspective of how people interact and create through data and technology, rather than merely utilizing them.
This program is also an initiative to explore how perspectives such as:
・Envisioning the future
・Creating
・Engaging with society
are born by interacting with robots not as "objects to be operated," but as "beings that create expression together."
■ Future Developments
This program is scheduled to be implemented as an experiential program at PRO-SEED's event to be held at PRO-SEED Arena HIKONE on April 29, 2026.
■ About SHIGA FUTUREs THINKING WEEK
SHIGA FUTUREs THINKING WEEK is a program where diverse stakeholders, including local residents, companies, government, and educational institutions, gather beyond their positions to think about and discuss the future they desire. Through exhibitions, experiences, and talk sessions, it provides a place where people of all generations, from children to adults, can participate and share hints and inspiration for thinking about and acting for the future.
More details here:
SFTW2026 Official Website
https://daslab.jp/sftw/2026
■ About DAS LAB
DAS LAB is a co-creation collective that, under the approach of "Data Art & Science," combines data science with an artistic perspective to interpret the "now" from data, envision the desired future, and implement it in society through prototyping and dialogue.
■ Related Releases
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000011.000165384.html
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000008.000165384.html
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000013.000165384.html
■ Contact Information
DAS LAB Public Relations Representative: Yasumitsu Jinno
E-mail: daslab@toyotaconiq.co.jp