Author: Iskander

Categories
Talent project

Digital wellbeing

Using IoT as an ambient, reflective and tangible medium for designing a human-centered artifact that stimulates digital wellbeing

Uncontrolled, brief smartphone revisitations are a crucial, prevalent issue. Much of typical smartphone usage is shown to consist of short, repetitive revisitation habits which can have negative consequences for mental health. Despite its prevalence, uncontrolled revisitation remains largely untapped in digital wellbeing interventions.

To fill this gap, this project crafted the “Revisitation Reflector”; an ambient, internet of things artifact designed to help users take control of their digital wellbeing by becoming aware of and reflecting on their smartphone revisitation patterns. Fully functioning prototypes of this artifact were subsequently deployed in the field to study the sensemaking associated with the device, and to study the role, design and impact of the IoT device.

Based on the field study, a number of findings were uncovered. Together, these findings provide guidelines and future opportunities on designing for digital wellbeing through employing the untapped, pertinent metric of revisitation; and through an ambient, reflective and tangible medium that has so far not been widely adopted for the digital wellbeing domain.

The project aims to spark a new narrative on what it means to use IoT as a medium for designing responsible, human-centered interventions for digital wellbeing and what it means to design for experiential human-data interaction.

UniversityUniversity of Twente
Human-Media Interaction Group
and Interaction Design Group
Project typegraduation project
StudentSuhaib Aslam

Extra information

http://essay.utwente.nl/82200/1/Aslam_MA_EEMCS.pdf

Categories
Talent project

Data Gates

A dynamic set of symbols that allow us to interact with smart devices on our own terms

A dynamic set of symbols that allow us to interact with smart devices on our own terms. Inspired by George Boole’s logic gates, these RFID stickers allow us to create our own logics on trust in the IoT. This project re-imagines the idea of a Trustmark for the IoT, allowing users to act as the certifying authority. A series of RFID/NFC stickers let users control the sensors in everyday IoT devices. The system allows users to define their own contexts for privacy, surveillance and trust in the IoT.

UniversityNorthumbria University
Project typePost Graduation
StudentNamrata Primlani

Extra information

Project website: https://namratap.cargo.site/Data-Gates

Categories
Talent project

Connectek

We all have a need to balance our time between being together with others and being alone

We all have a need to balance our time between being together with others and being alone. For each and every single person the ideal balance is different. Technology (in all its complexity) influences our ability to keep this balance. What happens if we make our own social technologies? What do we learn about our social needs and our use of technology?

UniversityAmsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Master Digital Design
Project typegraduation project
StudentsVeronika Radenkova
Wendy Plas
Pamela Nelson
Jasper Bunschoten

Extra information

See also the project website:

https://radiowendy26.github.io/Roboticssocial/index.html

Categories
Talent project

CoastX Awareo’scope

Raise awareness in the Scheveningen boulevard we decided to make a periscope to raise awareness in a fun and interactive way

As a start we would like to introduce ​our client​, Living Lab Scheveningen the project in which new digital inventions are tested in public spaces in order to improve the quality of life in ways such as increased safety, protect nature by limiting light and noise as much as possible, keep the area clean and offer better internet connectivity. Scheveningen was chosen because this is an area where people live, work and enjoy their free time. There is beach, nature, but also a port and industry. ​Scheveningen​ also has many visitors every year, especially in the summer. The project was recently launched as a part of the ​Smart City​ The Hague program. This stimulates (digital) innovation throughout The Hague and thus contributes to an attractive living and working environment for the residents, companies and visitors.

The Problem​ we are trying to solve is that there is a lack of awareness amongst visitors and residents when it comes to the data that is being collected on the boulevard through sensors, such as motion and noise level, placed by the Hague Municipality in the area of Scheveningen. Our goal​ is to create a smart object that is able to react to the user input in order to create awareness amongst the aforementioned target group, concerning data collection, by encouraging curiosity and interaction in a playful manner. ​Our design vision​ is to help in creating a more comfortable future based on transparency between the Municipality and the people. Due to the 14 million visitors that Scheveningen is receiving annually, our target group is diverse. Including any nationality, but especially Europeans, and any age group from 7 years old and upwards.

UniversityThe Hague University of Applied Sciences
Innovation & Technology
Project typeSemester choice – Smart Objects (2nd year, part of study)
StudentsTimo Bega
David Kabelitz
Tudor Grecu
Andres Vasquez

Extra information

COAST-X-Design-BriefDownload
Categories
Talent project

The Butterfly in the Room

A Meditation about More-Than-Human-Centered Design

The Butterfly in the Room takes visitors on a journey through the hidden networks of actors that surround us all. It was created with the intention to serve as an object for discourse on more-than-human design, to give designers the opportunity to explore the subject and related consequences of their own design. The project deals with the question of how the invisible networks of actors are influenced by human design and how these consequences and the networks themselves can be made visible. Based on the previous research project, Entangled Interfaces, a network of actors surrounding an unnamed Internet Of Things (IoT) device was explored and analyzed.

UniversityHochschule Darmstadt
University of Applied Science Darmstadt, h_da
Project typeGraduation project
StudentsMaximilian Brandl
Philipp Kaltofen

Extra information

See the project website: https://butterfly.brandlmax.com

Categories
Talent project

Cube

Caring through the language of the voice companions to mediate privacy concerns

As humans, we have an innate ability to care for the things around us. This care often mediates the relationship we build with them. These relationships took an interesting turn as we started interacting with connected digital things, raising the question of how care defines our relationship with these digital ‘beings.’ Do we really care for them? or does the relationship evolve to a more cautious one that leads to obsessions and concerns about their presence? This made me wonder if there is a way we could care for the digital things around us and if this care also reflects in the relationship we build with them over time.
In my research, I focused on voice assistants. Often called ‘assistants,’ the way we interact with these things is often less compassionate. We interact with them in the language we speak, and when we give these objects space in our intimate surroundings, it can often create a sense of intrusion into our private moments. I wonder if there could be a new type of voice companion with its own language and is alien to the language we speak. Will this unfamiliarity make it inherently virtuous to our private conversations?

UniversityUmea Institute of Design 
Project typeGraduation project for ‘Fluid Assemblage course’ 
StudentManu Revi Poovakkat

Extra information

See the project website: https://medium.com/designing-fluid-assemblages/cube-caring-through-the-language-of-the-voice-companions-to-mediate-privacy-concerns-da2a70f70d71

Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences Bachelor Thesis Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design Delft University of Technology graduation project individual project Minor project Northumbria University post graduation Team project The Hague University of Applied Sciences Umea University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt University of Twente

Categories
Talent project

Aura

An explorative experience to create chance encounters

As our mobility solutions evolved, our travel experiences became more isolated within the bubble of our vehicles. We go from one point to another with no other intention but to get to our destination. As we do, we miss opportunities for new connections and engagement along the way. The project challenge is to find a sustainable and feasible mobility solution for visitors and residents in a sparsely populated Biosphere Reserve, along Road 363 and the Vindeln River Valley, to create a fair and balanced rural development. The solutions aim to solve the mobility challenge and provoke a behavioral change towards a convivial society.
We explored diverse ways of establishing a connection between the visitors and the residents. This helped us understand the lack of awareness of the presence of what is surrounding you while moving from one place to another. Aura is an explorative experience that facilitates engagement opportunities for visitors and residents by raising awareness of the presence of people, local businesses, and nature along the way.

UniversityUmea Institute of Design
ProjectGraduation project for ‘General Product course’
StudentsManu Revi Poovakkat
Nancy Valerdi
Lea Bachmann
Connie Jehu

Extra information

See project website: https://www.manurevi.com/aura

Categories
Talent project

BeepMeep

a system of rings, which allows couples to harmonize auditory and emotionally in togetherness

For expectant parents who want to relax and have fun in the stress of everyday life, BeepMeep is an interactive entertainment system that enables the pregnant couple to create harmonies together in an easy and playful way with closeness and touch. By putting on the two rings per partner, both of actively take part in using the system.

Now it’ s time for the fun to begin.
BeepMeep reacts to the movement and distance of the partners from each other. Depending on how you move, how fast and in which direction, the resulting sound changes. In interaction, both partners can now create sounds that unite to form melodies. Further tones are added as soon as the couple starts to touch each other. Touches open up a further level of tones and also a further level of perception for the couple. With BeepMeep, the intense experience of physical interaction can now also be perceived auditory.

UniversityHochschule Darmstadt
University of Applied Sciences
Interactive Media Design
Project type4th semester minor project
StudentsAli Haidari
Gloria Maksimovi
Nini Parlagaschwili
Han Tran

Extra information

The touch of the partner is evaluated by so-called galvanic skin response sensors and converted into sounds. The Galvanic Skin Response method measures the conductivity of the skin based on moisture. In this way, the sensations of the partner are recorded by changes in the resistance of the skin and converted into sounds.

Using motion sensors and Bluetooth Low Energy, further data on the conversion of closeness and movement into sounds is determined.

Categories
Talent project

AMON

A modular system for autistic children

Individuals on the autistic spectrum have difficulty learning processes as a whole, as this requires high cognitive performance. These are everyday processes for neurotypical (non-autistic) people – like brushing your teeth. To counteract this and to support autistic children, Amon sets out to aid children in the developmental stage of their pre-school years. It is a modular system that offers parents and autistic children support in learning individual processes as part of their everyday life. Sequences of actions are divided into individual steps and the child is guided towards independent and structured learning. The learning process is aided by visually highlighting the different steps of a process with illuminated “Pucks”. The Pucks can be applied to objects individually in order to make them intelligent and helpful. Pictograms on a so-called “Fixed Point” provide additional safety for autistic children and visually signal at which step in the learning process they currently are. A “Base” is provided especially for the parents to reflect the child’s successes and learning progress.

UniversityHochschule Darmstadt
University of Applied Sciences
Interactive Media Design
Project typeBachelor Thesis
StudentsLisa-Marie Rosendorff
Marie A.C. Steinbrügge

Extra information

The Project has been awarded in 2019 with the Dörte-Wörner Innovation Prize.

Project-Amon_Extra-InformationDownload

Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences Bachelor Thesis Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design Delft University of Technology graduation project individual project Minor project Northumbria University post graduation Team project The Hague University of Applied Sciences Umea University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt University of Twente

Categories
Session

Teaching session

Tuesday 8 December; 15:30-17:00 CET

Two years ago at ThingsCon we discussed in a panel the role of ethics in design education. This year we like to pick up that discussion by do a reflection on what has changed in the last years and where we are now. Next to that we like to relate this to the future developments of designing beyond Human Centred Design. What does that mean for the educational programs? And how does ethics play a role here?

We have three short presentations to kick-off the discussion. The session will be hosted by Andrea Krajewski & Iskander Smit

Heather Wiltse, Associate Professor at Umea Institute of Design will share experiences of the teaching program on Fluid Assemblages.
Heather is currently associate professor in design with a focus on the data-intensive society at Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå University (Sweden). Her interdisciplinary research centers around trying to understand and critique the role of (digital) things in experience and society in ways that can inform design, and it sits at the intersection of design studies, philosophy of technology, and critical technology studies. Heather have published and/or presented refereed work in philosophy of technology, science and technology studies, human-computer interaction (HCI), and design research.

Peter van Waart is a senior lecturer in the Communication and Multimedia Design (CMD) programme of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (RUAS). He works as a researcher at Creating010 in the field of Design in the 21st Century. Peter is the initiator of events aimed at connecting people from education, research and practice, such as the Global Service Jam Rotterdam, the Rotterdam GovJam and the International Internet of Things Day Rotterdam. His research and teaching at RUAS and his PhD research at TU Delft focus on how citizens can be involved in designing meaningful interactive technology in the public domain, such as in the Participatory City Making project. 

Michel Witter will share how design for the Void became a theme in the educational program at AVANS. 
Michel Witter is senior lecturer at AVANS with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry and multimedia development companies. Skilled in interaction design, user experience, user interface design, design thinking, and computing technology. Strong education professional with a Master of Arts (MA) focussend in Media Innovation from NHTV university of applied sciences Breda. Currently investigating design guidelines for sense-augmenting wearable technology from a perspective of pure experience.