wearable ecologies - insights from intel sponsored course
DESCRIPTION
This stack is a compilation of projects and insights on wearables and their implications. It is based on an Intel sponsored studio taught by Philip van Allen, Ben Hooker, and Wendy March (of Intel) in the Art Center College of Design, Media Design Practices MFA program. The project brief was to discover new approaches to wearable technologies rather than design a specific product. Out of these experimental and speculative projects by the students, Phil and Ben sought to distill insights that can inform future design work in the wearables area. These are in the second part of the stack, starting with a mapping of the ideas. We were particularly interested in the three themes of the course: Transactions, Contextual Adaptability, and the Aesthetics of Behavior. See the project brief: http://www.philvanallen.com/learning/wearables/course-notes/final-project-brief/ Special thanks to Ian Besler for designing the map and presentationTRANSCRIPT
Spring 2014 Intel-Partnered Lab Inquiry Project Phil van Allen, Ben Hooker & Wendy March
Wearable EcologiesMedia Design Practices, Art Center College of Design Intel Design School Network
Each year the Media Design Practices Lab track runs a set of five inquiries – 2-5 week intensive projects built around a theme emerging from culture, technology or science. Inquiries begin with a question or phenomenon and ask: what if?
Lab 2015 Inquiries
Detourism Ciphertexts &
Cryptoblobs Bacterial Cultures
Wearable Ecologies Sensored Stories
Wearable EcologiesThe studio focused on the possibilities generated by networks of multiple, heterogeneous devices. Projects explored the potential ecologies of wearables and the transactions, contextual adaptability, and aesthetics of behavior possible through their use.
Wearable EcologiesCourse dates: Feb 7, 2014 - March 6, 2014 Week 1 Useless Wearables Project, Intel Guest Presentations, Current Technology Review Week 2 Connected Bodies Symposium, Final Project Proposals Week 3 Studio Development on Working Prototypes, Desk Critiques Week 4 Final Project Demonstrations & Critiques (Project Brief)
Connected BodiesImagining New Wearables Symposium
Introduction Anne Burdick (Art Center), Phil van Allen (Art Center) & John Somoza (Higher Education Program Manager, Intel) !Panel One Reflections on Today’s Wearable Landscape Jennifer Darmour (Artefact), Eric Olson (Karten Design), Steve Holmes (VP Smart Device Innovation, New Devices Group, Intel), Lama Nachman (User Experience Research, Intel Labs); Moderator: Syuzi Pakhchyan, Art Center's Intel Technologist-in-Residence (fashioningtech.com) !Make It Wearable: Demo by Makers Meg Grant (designer), Julia Koerner (designer), Jay Melican (Maker Czar, New Devices Group, Intel) !Panel Two Connected Bodies: A Look Into the Future Socio-Cultural, Expressive, & Aesthetic Possibilities of Wearables Joanna Berzowska (Concordia) , Hans Moritz (VP Industrial Design, New Devices Group, Intel), Doris Kim Sung (USC); Moderator: Wendy March (UX Design Manager, New Devices Group, Intel) !Breakout Sessions: New Questions/Challenges Group work sessions led by panelists, followed by presentations from each group !Conclusion: Summary & Next Steps Syuzi Pakhchyan & Phil van Allen
Connected Bodies• What will wearables reveal that we don’t see now? • How can designers deal with learning curves - both human and device? • Can 3D printed artifacts be a luxury item? • What is an interesting kind of smart for wearables? • Do all wearables have to be “functional”? • Can wearables be used to subvert power structures?
Student Projects
Wearable Ecologies
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Wearable receptacles for digital currency — exploring the aesthetics and durations of data exchange
SAND Jasmin Blasco
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Disposable sensors in the daily routine — a language around public and private wearables for and their use in social occasions
Body Stok David Gabriele
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Clothing to quantify and display fleeting social gestures — to instigate behavior changes or new relationships
Luster Gerardo Guerrero & Zoe Padgett
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Ritualistic or iconographic wearables as rule keepers for regulating social interactions
Expanded Discourse Gerardo Guerrero & Zoe Padgett
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Baby onesie for quantifying and analyzing intimate relationships — a critical look at the practice of life logging
Human Tomagatchi Marcus Guttenplan & Tim Kim
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Choreographed data pickpocketing as a means to exploit a contextually “smart” device ecosystem
MALWAReABLES Marcus Guttenplan & Tim Kim
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Making the metaphorical literal — a data vapor cloud to serve as a warning to potential data thieves
Data Vaporizer Ji Won Jun
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Detachable, degradable wearables as a means to mark or enforce the territories of our digital presence
Terri Torri Mengxiao Genny Li
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
A wearable entourage — the various device hierarchies that emerge within an ecosystem of dozens or hundreds of personal devices
Chuck! QiYuan Oscar Li
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Dramatically reactive haute couture wearables — fashionistas as early adopters
Expressive Wearable Sangli Li
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Wearables at the center of emerging bespoke models of technology production, services, and distribution
The Future of Wearable Services: A Proposal for a Pop-Up Sensor Nail Salon Kristina Ortega & Jenny Rodenhouse
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Multiplicity, proximity and intimacy as a means of rule-making for personal data exchange
Data Locket Maria Pagan
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
Expressive wearables indicate potential for transactions — intimacy as means to exchange
BreathingBloom Xiaochen Claire Yang
Inquiry Threads
Wearable Ecologies
!Inquiry Thread 01: Transactions/Economics/Aesthetics• Wearables that facilitate a range of transactional narratives• A service model for bespoke wearables• Gestural Skeuomorphs and vocabularies Inquiry Thread 02: Aesthetics/Methods/Contexts • Wearable gestures, physical signifiers, metaphors• Sketching with working prototypes• Social sensing & selectively heightened sensing in everyday contexts• Designing a collection as a method, context, and ecology Inquiry Thread 03: Transactions/Ethics/Ecologies • Ethics of inter-wearable communication as branded or certified behavior• Intimacy and proximity as contextual awareness for data access• Public vs. private, legible vs. hidden Inquiry Thread 04: Ecologies/Times Scales/Contexts • Hierarchies in your device ecosystem — coordinating a conference with your wearables• Disposable technology vs. super utility — designed degradation and perishable wearables• Application rituals, use rituals
Wearable EcologiesInquiry Thread 01 Transactions/Economics/Aesthetics
• • •
Wearables that facilitate a range of transactional narratives
• • •
A service model for bespoke wearables
• • •
Gestural Skeuomorphs and vocabularies
Inquiry Thread 02 Aesthetics/Methods/Contexts
Wearable Ecologies
• • • •
Gesturing wearables, physical signifiers, metaphors
• • • •
Sketching with working prototypes
Designing a collection as a method, context, and ecology
• • • •
• • • •
Branded, social sensing, for special occasions
Wearable EcologiesInquiry Thread 03 Transactions/Ethics/Ecologies
• • •
Ethics of inter-wearable communication as branded or certified behavior
Intimacy and proximity as contextual awareness for data access
• • •
Public vs. private, legible vs. hidden
• • •
Wearable EcologiesInquiry Thread 04 Ecologies/Time Scales/Contexts
• • •
Hierarchies in your device ecosystem — coordinating a conference with your wearables, who speaks for whom?
• • •
Disposable technology vs. super utility — designed degradation and perishable wearables
• • •
Application rituals, use rituals
!Inquiry Thread 01: Transactions/Economics/Aesthetics• Wearables that facilitate a range of transactional narratives• A service model for bespoke wearables• Gestural Skeuomorphs and vocabularies Inquiry Thread 02: Aesthetics/Methods/Contexts • Wearable gestures, physical signifiers, metaphors• Sketching with working prototypes• Social sensing & selectively heightened sensing in everyday contexts Inquiry Thread 03: Transactions/Ethics/Ecologies • Ethics of inter-wearable communication as branded or certified behavior• Intimacy and proximity as contextual awareness for data access• Public vs. private, legible vs. hidden Inquiry Thread 04: Ecologies/Times Scales/Contexts • Hierarchies in your device ecosystem — coordinating a conference with your wearables• Disposable technology vs. super utility — designed degradation and perishable wearables• Application rituals, use rituals
!Wearable Ecologies Project Brief Website !
Student Project Websites Jasmin Blasco David Gabriele Gerardo Guerrero Marcus Guttenplan Tim Kim Ji Won Jun Mengxiao Genny Li QiYuan Oscar Li Sangli Li Kristina Ortega Zoe Padgett Maria Pagan Jenny Rodenhouse Xiaochen Claire Yang
Spring 2014 Intel-Partnered Lab Inquiry Project Phil van Allen, Ben Hooker & Wendy March
Wearable EcologiesMedia Design Practices, Art Center College of Design Intel Design School Network