Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria, hosted the launch at their annual festival, a unique event which brings together specialists from the fields of art, design, science and technology for a feast of performances and exhibitions, discussion and debate.

The launch was chaired by Horst Hortner, Director of the Ars Electronica Futurelab. He was joined by speakers Stephen Hetherington, founder of The OHMI Trust, Joe Paradiso, MIT Media Lab Associate Professor, Co-Director of the Things That Think Consortium, Director of the MIT Responsive Environments Faculty, Peter Purgathofer, Associate Professor at the design and assessment of Technology Institute, Informatics Faculty, Vienna University of Technology and Nick Wilsdon, Assistive Music Technology specialist at Drake Music. Using their particular expertise, each speaker expanded upon the various challenges of the OHMI Competition. Video extracts can be seen at: http://www.ohmi.org.uk/presentation-videos.html

Particularly rewarding was the high level of interest among the public, media and festival participants that the OHMI competition raised, provoking many questions and much debate over several days. Ars Electronica director concluded that "It was an outstanding event – a huge success".

Now the rules and guidelines for the competition are agreed, competitors will shortly be able to participate by using Ars Electronica's usual on-line application system. Further information and links will also be available on the OHMI Trust website within a few days.