Technology and Realization
Through the implementation of appropriate technology a design can provide unique and compelling experiences for the user. Within this year, I experimented with a variety of technologies that really brought certain projects to life.
Noticing the Willow
One such project is the noticing tool made for the Weeping Willow, which was the end result of the ‘Designing with More-than-human Worlds’ course. The design is an umbrella which is unable to close, as we wanted to force users to understand the area they take up, that will allow people to listen to the willow tree’s experiences the day prior. This was done by having a radio station by the trunk, which would send an audio recording of what occurred around the tree the previous day, that could then be picked up by a radio which was integrated within the noticing tool. This way of giving a ‘voice’ is only possible through the use of technology, and allows for the project to function.
Non-human FM final prototype.
Digital twin stills.
Digital Twin
Furthermore in the third quartile, I developed a digital twin of an artifact made for ‘Design and Sensorial Form’ in order to experiment with a variety of contexts. The idea was to create an object which embodies the word ‘engaging’ using only two materials, namely bubble wrap and paper. The process of making the digital twin, while simple, served as an entryway to this design method. Firstly we scanned the object using Luma AI, which would give us a full three dimensional render. Then this was exported into Blender, where a simple animation was devised in order to achieve the same feeling within a digital world. Finally, using 8th Wall the digital twin could be experienced through AR allowing us to experiment with distinct contexts.