Week 13 - Reflections

Through out this course we've learnt several different design concepts.

I personally have been reflecting upon these questions during the design development process and through this precess, new side and phases of design have been discovered.
Well, I haven't had must time to blog my reflection due to the "great" assignment influx from various courses I've been taking (mostly from studio 3 and studio 5).

How do you describe yourself and your interest?
Me? A highly volatile person, someone who enjoys the attention of leadership and the thick of getting in the midst of action.
My current interests have changed highly through this semester of work, most properly due to the thing related to the work I’m doing. I usually hate code even though I’m rather decent at it. However my interest have in fact tilted towards physical computing (which made me realized the importance of coding) and research. Somehow or rather there has always been this hidden interest for academia in me.

What designers/design works do you like?
Firstly I must say, the country I come from (Singapore) there is almost nobody and no courses teaching the things we do now, so it’s seriously hard to find a design which I really like. If there was someone who has impressed me with design within these few years it would be Ben Burtt the sound designer for Star Wars, I’ve always been a sound freak and I enjoy listening to sounds, creating sound and mixing them. The things that Ben Burtt does with sound can really be amazing and the process that he goes trough.
There are design locally in UQ that have also inspired me, the 2 of which are namely “Talk2Me” by Ann Morrison and the current “Interactive Night Club” done by 3 year studio 5 students. At this point of time now I must say that these 2 designs will really affect what I do in Studios 4 and 6 next semester, simply because now I know what is possible. That is physical computing. Moving away from just the screen, something that get people fully involved, not just by looking at a screen, but actually moving around or talking to it.

What is good design?
A good design, sadly now a day the word design has been reduced to making things look good. However this is not the case, design is art, and art must not only look good but also have “interaction”. As the saying goes “every picture tells a story” what’s the point of just making something look good, when people just walk by and not get anything out of it. Good design is not just art, but art that “talks” to people. Art that can tell people something, art that makes it possible for people to relate to it.
It is “Interactive Art”.

In what way does your own work reflect what you consider to be good design?
Since mid-way through this semester, most of my design ethics have changed. From the posters to the latest assignment of the “cambot”, the original idea of the “cambot” was to have a robot that was able to follow you around the house and allow you to chat with someone via a webcam.
However when I tried to create it with my project group, my focus wasn’t just to have a robot that follows, but my focus was a technological piece of art work. Instead of viewing it as a robot, I went about the problem viewing it as a person virtually transported to you. In this case further functions were added to the robot, to make it move off and make some noise when it knocks into objects just like what normal humans do when we know into things.

How can you push your work into that direction?
I think from now on, most of my work will be headed towards physical computing, in a sense combining technology with art. To not just concentrate on the outcome, but to consider other factors, to research on topics related to those factors and finally to come up with the most effective way around a problem. A problem is no longer a problem, it is a new opportunity to excel.

What are your main priorities? What are your main interest right now?
God? Well, yah but in a design context, I guess now I’ll have to look at new and different ways and technologies that are currently available and also research. As these will help me to be able to achieve the direction I’m heading to.

What do you hope to achieve through this degree?
Get a job… (hahaha) Its hard to say, I learn new thing every year I’m in this program, from the power of simplicity to the essentials of interactivity. Of course it would be a better understanding to the field and yes as much new technology as possible.

Where do you hope to be at the end of this degree?
I hope to achieve or emulate one of the 2 projects mentioned in the above answers “Talk2Me” and the “Interactive Night Club”. Of course I do have something in my mind right now mostly something inspired by the movies “Minority Report” and “iRobot”. As you can see the technology based in these movies are mostly physical computing. Apart from that as much as it freaks me out, I also hope to be an academia the technology gained will go to waste if it is not passed on especially to those countries who have yet to go into it.

What projects are you interested in pursuing further?
Like I said I already have something in mind. Now imagine, what if you’re not just talking to a microphone, what if you’re can interact with more than a screen, what if the whole building/room is interactive? A whole new space that allows you to be immersed in, a world within this world. This would be one of the projects which I’ll be attempting in the near future.