I had the privilege to participate in field research which was cooperation between the studies Product Design and Interaction Design from ArtEZ in Arnhem and the Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT) in Kyoto. During a cooperation assignment between Product Design and Interaction Design which was about solving the increase in loneliness in the Netherlands through design, there was also a field trip planned to Kyoto since Japan is dealing with high rates of loneliness. A group of 4 Product Designers and 4 Interaction Designers was able to apply for this field research; I was one of the fortunate students to participate.
During this trip (accompanied by Frank Kolkman), we visited a few companies and studios in Kyoto such as Panasonic, Softdevice and the Ishiguro Lab. Besides these visits, we worked on a short 3-day workshop at the KIT together with students from the institute. The assignment was to develop a device for keeping contact after we would return to Arnhem; this would, of course, be in the context of loneliness. On this assignment, the project was in cooperation with Thomas Van De Bliek (ArtEZ) and Jou Yeh (KIT). In this project, we developed the concept together while brainstorming; my part was mainly the technological aspect on the inside
The prototype we finished with after the 3-day workshop was a spherical clamshell recording device, the idea came from sending messages in a bottle. At the moment the clamshell is opened up, the holder was able to record a short audio sequence. When closing it again the audio would be sent to the clamshell of the user on the other side, a notification light on the inside starts blinking to show that there's a new message. When opening the audio will play once and then be gone forever, just like the air when opening a bottle. With the device, people can transmit short audio recordings and share their situation through audio. The audio will only play once, so the message to be opened with care, the conversations become more engaging in this way.
During this trip (accompanied by Frank Kolkman), we visited a few companies and studios in Kyoto such as Panasonic, Softdevice and the Ishiguro Lab. Besides these visits, we worked on a short 3-day workshop at the KIT together with students from the institute. The assignment was to develop a device for keeping contact after we would return to Arnhem; this would, of course, be in the context of loneliness. On this assignment, the project was in cooperation with Thomas Van De Bliek (ArtEZ) and Jou Yeh (KIT). In this project, we developed the concept together while brainstorming; my part was mainly the technological aspect on the inside
The prototype we finished with after the 3-day workshop was a spherical clamshell recording device, the idea came from sending messages in a bottle. At the moment the clamshell is opened up, the holder was able to record a short audio sequence. When closing it again the audio would be sent to the clamshell of the user on the other side, a notification light on the inside starts blinking to show that there's a new message. When opening the audio will play once and then be gone forever, just like the air when opening a bottle. With the device, people can transmit short audio recordings and share their situation through audio. The audio will only play once, so the message to be opened with care, the conversations become more engaging in this way.
