Duration: 17 - 18, October 2016
Skills & Tool : Critical Design, Rapid prototyping and coding in Arduino, Aesthetic sensibilities
Can we beat death?
Our team decided to pursue this topic for the two day critical design workshop aimed at creating wearables. We flipped the question on its head and asked,
"What does it mean to live forever?"
We looked at what people choose to leave behind when they pass on.. memories, relics and gravestones all fade away in time.
Brainstorming on the question of death
Design Direction
We decided to pursue memories as the legacy of our time spent on the planet. People are spending so much of their time creating digital memories and leaving behind trails of their lives. We wanted to encapsulate these memories and present it in a way that would be meaningful to loved ones... In the same way those ephemeral memories flicker through our lives.
As this was a two day workshop, each part of the design process happened on a whiteboard.
Kore
How does it work?
The ideal experience : The heirloom is small enough to be incorporated into your wardrobe, like a watch from your father or that vintage brooch that your grandmother left behind. You wear it when you miss them and the shared experiences you had with them.
As you go about your day, the device reacts to a location where you shared a memorable moment with the loved one. It vibrates gently and lights up with a subtle glow. You open the lid to see a photograph or a quote associated with the person. You take a few moments to relive the memory as the light around the screen gently dims, reminding you that you can go on and without the fear of ever forgetting someone you loved.
The prototype : We built the prototype overnight using a Lilypad arduino, a vibration motor, a neopixel ring, an LCD screen and a touch sensor. For the demo, we had the touch sensor trigger the vibration and lights. We set the LCD screen to cycle through a set of images once the lid is opened. We programmed the neopixel ring to fade out gradually in sync with the images.
This is Kore. Fashioned after Victorian mourning heirlooms, it is an artefact that can be passed from generation to generation to allow multiple users to experience the memories of loved ones meet and from the far past.
The innards of our prototype
What We Gained from the Workshop
Mentorship: We were given the amazing opportunity to seek guidance and critique from these four amazing panelists and mentors:
Leah Buechley: Designer, engineer, educator and the inventor of the Liliypad Arduino toolkit
Prof. Sophia Brueckner: Artist, engineer, educator and my personal hero
Prof. Nick Tobier: Artist, educator and the project lead of the upcoming Brightmoor Makerspace
Prof. Erik Hofer: Educator and the CIO at UMSI
Rapid Prototyping: We managed to build a functional prototype overnight by pooling together various skills and working seamlessly as a team. The timeframe and the limited availability of resources pushed us to be creative and decisive.
Critical Design skills: The workshop helped us navigate the constant debates on art vs. design and the objectivity vs. subjectivity of the designers. It was empowering to understand that design can be used to raise questions, communicate a viewpoint and stand up for social good.