Complex Artifact

One complex artifact that I would like to see or even have, would be a door (front door or any type of door) that would remember every person that would pass through it and could tell you or even show you who it was, the relationship you have/had with this person and bring back the souvenirs linked with this person. It could also affect your emotions by remembering you some special events or persons. It could greet you, comfort you or protect you from any person or feeling. It would also be a great companion.

It could be great to remember feelings link with specific persons, or moments. This door could also be useful if any robbery occur while you are away and so on. The door would be kind of a confident or guardian of your home and memories.

However, it could become a certain problem about privacy. Imagine if the door starts speaking while you're with somebody or if it starts speaking to someone else than you. Anyone could know your life, your memories or relationships with others.

Intimacy

This dress is a project from the Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde in collaboration with the fashion designer Maartje Dijkstra. The concept is all about "technology becoming intimate extensions of our skins." It's a high-tech garment that becomes transparent depending on the distance between the garments. It plays with the idea of intimacy, sensuality and disclosure. The garments are made of wireless, interactive technologies and smart foils which can become transparent. These foils are a material that the artist worked to develop further. It can changes from white to transparent. In the neck of the dress, there is also a globe that is illuminated and which contains a wireless device which communicates with another globe using RF transmissions. When both globes are getting closer, or more "intimate", the dress slowly becomes transparent.

I really like this design because it plays with the idea of intimacy and human kind with electronic. It is also a great aesthetic design, very fashionable, very simple.

Here is a link to the Fashioning Technology post
Here is a link to an interview with the artist

The Fibonacci Purse

The Fibonacci Purse, developed by Interactive Telecommunications Program student Elizabeth Fuller is actually a purse crossed with an online game. The bag is embedded with LEDs displays the game. The players can change the colors of the purse by playing online with their wi-fi device.
The online game, which is called Parasite, is a multiplayer game where players need to dominate the game board with their own color to win. In this case, the purse becomes the playing board.

I really like this design, because by joining fashion and games together, it affects a lot more people. It is also pretty fun and enjoyable.

Here you can see the article on Fashioning Technology
Here you can get more information about the game Parasite
Here is the blog of the student and designer Elizabeth Fuller

CO2-dress

This very fashinable dress is a visualizing garment with pollution sensors. It is designed by Hanne-Louise Johannesen in association with diffus.dk, Alexandra Institute, The Danish Design School and embroidery company Forster Rohner. Hanne-Louise wanted to create a garment that changes through time and patterns according to the level of CO2 in the environment where the garment is located. The evolving patterns are made of LEDs powered by soft circuits (made of conductive textiles and yarns).
I really enjoy this project, because it is fashionable AND interactive AND electronic AND fun AND also represents a articular aspect of ecology. I love how the lights patterns are composed with the initial design of the dress. I also enjoy how it reacts to the amount of CO2 in a room or environment.

Here you can see more pictures: Pictures
Here you can read the designer's blog about the dress: Blog

Hermit: An Interactive Kinetic Shelter

This is quite similar to what Anne-Marie showed last class. This is an experimental project from Kerry Jia Yi Lin which consists in a private space for one person only in a public area. It was designed to be use on a table, and it isolates its user temporarily so its user can nap. The design is based on the nautilus shell's shape and it is made from felt. The user wear an armband, a wrist band and another one on the elbow. These armbands are embedded with RFID sensors, which indicates to the shell when to open (touch the wrist band) and close (touch the elbow band). The private space has also an ambient warning system to indicate to the people surrounding not to disturb.
I really enjoy this prototype because it would be great to be able to use this frequently. However, it would need to be adjustable to different sizes because it seems a little bit tight, and it would also be important to consider the way we could carry it along (folding, bag or something).

You can find her whole process here: The Hermit
or look at her other designs and projects on : Her Portfolio Site

Also, here's a video of herself using it: Video

Lits In Between the Folds

This is a classic coat with folds and tucks on the back, created by the fabric itself. They create some darker areas, more shadowed, and allows the designer, Wendy Legro, to insert LEDs. It is really well done and seems almost a paint illusion or something. The designer, Wendy Legro, is a graduate student from the Design Academy of Eindhoven. I chose it because it's a design that seems quite simple to do, but that also has a terrific look and it is also tightly connected to fashion in a very natural way.

You can look at the designer blog here: Wendy Legro

Lits In Between the Folds on Fashioning Technology

The 3 Objects of my Life

I chose 3 objects that I cherish in my life and I'll explain what they are and how the reading of Why We Need Things affected my perception of these objects.

1- My "diamond" earrings: These earrings are really important to me because they come from my boyfriend, but also because I love everything that glitters, shines, that have gems on it and so on. So I love diamonds. Now that I've read the reading, i realize that I love these earrings for two reasons: they point out my relation with my boyfriend that i love, so everytime I see them or wear them, it reminds me of him. Also, the fact that it shines and have a diamond look make people react. They give positive comments and approbations. This way, I feel I have more power on myself, but also on them. I feel superior I guess, and I can also have a sense of femininity.


2- My book called Trois carrés rouges sur fond noir from Tonino Benaquista: This book is really important to me first of all because it reminds me of my sister. She is the one that lend it to me at first, knowing I would love it. Also, this book reminds me art and when I was in Fine Arts in college. Finally, I find the story very captivating and I love this author. Now that I've read the reading, I realize that it is an object that points out the relationship I have with my sister, it is also situating me through time, remembering me souvenirs of my DEC, but also how I've change from then and how the skills I've mastered in college will be useful to me in the future.


3- A picture of a trip I did with my mother: This picture is showing me during a trip with my mother. It was in Gaspésie, and we spent 3 days on horses in trails. It was my present for my 18th anniversary. The picture is situating me in a grain field, on a sunny day. It is really important to me because it is also for my mother. The reading made me realize that I love this picture because it is a strong link to my mother. Also, it situates me through time because it points out a good souvenir of my life, at a particular time, but also the relationship I have with my mother today.

Why We Need Things

Summary of Why We Need Things by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

First of all, I found this reading really easy to understand, it was very clear and the author explained elaborate things in such a way that even French speakers can get through the whole text easily.

At first, the author explains how we depend on things for survival and comfort. That's why we keep on consuming a lot of artifacts even if, in a long-term vision, it destroys our planet. Also, some of the objects we create are dangerous for us, such as cars and military weapons, or plastic containers and aerosol.

The author also explains that the evolution of these artifacts is based on the one that existed before. I mean that we won’t create a brand new type of car tomorrow based on nothing that we didn’t already know. We will use the cars we have today as a base and then bring new points to it. It’s the same thing for weapons, like the author explains, or musical instruments. We like to think that we create greater things every time, because we make them ourselves and we like the idea of having them under our control.

So now we get into the psychological aspect of the text. The author explains that we need objects to “stabilize and order the mind.” To understand how humans are dependent on objects, we first need to recognize that we are not naturally in control of our minds. The mind is not stable and it needs organization to keep track. Really often it consists of external order like television or anything that keep the mind busy. When the mind has nothing to do, people become anxious or depressed.Now the author points out that the artifacts help “objectify the self” in 3 major ways:

1-The objects of power
2-The objects and the continuity of the self
3-The objects and relationships

1-The objects of power are there to show the power of their owner in different ways. For men, it often means virile qualities such as endurance and strength.It shows their ability to control physical things. It can be cars, boats, tools, sport equipment or even furniture. For women it is more by symbolizing their feminine attributes such as seductiveness or fertility, such as jewelry dresses or fine furniture. The power comes from the reactions from the others.

2-The objects expressing continuity of the self are objects that represents continuity of life, but also the changes through it. It can be something that brings back old memories and a sense of depth to the owner. It can be auditory or visual stimulating objects to situate yourself in the present, some objects representing souvenirs situate you in the past, and some others are hopes for the future such as projects people would like to do. Those will situate you in the future. Also, men are more into active artifacts. And women into nurturance and conservation.

3-The objects that emphasize your relationships are giving permanence to these. These objects are important because of the person they represent for their owner. They also place the owner into a social network.

How it might be relevant to my design practice?
I think it is really useful to know these things because they also explains how to create something that will objectify the self of their owner. This way, the artifact will be cherished by people because it is more than just an object, it shows their power, or situate them through time or also remember them a certain relationship with someone they love. It shows to me how important it is to sell a story with your object, to give it a meaning that people will adopt and that will be the success of the artifact itself.