Category: capstone2021

 
Lovebirds is a project devised from the exploration of meaningful digital interaction. Created during the time of social distancing, LoveBirds aim to bring us together through a whimsical plush interface. By connecting to WiFi, lovebirds can communicate across any physical distance. With an interface which commands touch interaction, LoveBirds seek to mimic the ways in which touch commands meaningful relationships, whether it’s through holding hands, big hugs, or pats on the shoulder. With a cute and playful appearance, lovebirds transcends the typical form of a computer, meant to be easy to look at and fun to use.

Based on research, it is shown that our most meaningful interactions are often done through a mix of digital channels and physical communication (Chambers, 2013). While our digital interactions are often done through text or video, LoveBirds is an exploration of ways in which touch could be communicated digitally. By utilizing a plush animal as the physical interface, LoveBirds provides a touch of whimsy and character to an otherwise superfluous object. A series of LED pixels are embedded within each LoveBird, which are used to provide a response based on the type of touch provided. The interaction with one LoveBird is reflected on the remotely networked LoveBird. This allows for distanced interaction to become meaningful, playful, and humorous.

 
Food Bio serves as a solution, among many, to ensure food quality and food safety for consumers. It is a mobile-responsive website that allows consumers to quickly view detailed information on farm produce such as the origin source, images and videos, harvest and package date, pesticide usage, and farming method. This project aims to provide transparency to consumers in an online environment.
Food fraud has been a prevalent problem found globally throughout history and can be found in different varieties of food and produce. These incidents cause consumers to become wary of factors that influence food quality. With the recent Covid-19 pandemic, it has further raised awareness to food freshness and safety. Thus, this project was inspired by the research question: How can consumers make judgments about the freshness of food in an online environment?

Investigation on food devices, specifically FOODsniffer and Changhong H2, Taobao live streams on food products, and blockchain technology that combines QR codes were conducted for this research. Both FOODsniffer and Changhong H2 are handheld devices that analyze the freshness and chemical makeup of food.

Taobao live streaming platforms provide consumers with interactive real-time feedback video. The hosts are able to show off the features and place of origin of the product, which provides transparency.

Many blockchain technologies utilized in food traceability are paired with QR codes. By scanning the QR codes, users are able to access tamper-proof data that may include storage temperature, sample at arrival, and quality measure.

Food Bio attempts to combine these three aspects. This project functions as a handheld device as it is viewed on a smartphone. Similar to Taobao live streams, the images and videos provided for each product helps users better visualize the product. Similar to blockchain technology that is combined with QR codes, Food Bio also allows consumers to view information such as harvest and package date, farming method, and pesticide usage simply by scanning a QR code.

The project will be further developed to explore the farmer’s side to allow them to input information onto the website to add products. Additionally, over time, Food Bio is expected to be implemented across many food products, not only farm produce, and across many producers. Eventually Food Bio will be easily applicable and serve to provide a transparent and safe online environment for many consumers and producers alike.

 
The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world; it is the largest consumer of the world’s water supply, making up 10% of the global carbon emissions and responsible for more emissions than those generated from international flights and maritime shipping combined. The detrimental effects of the fast fashion industry are no secret, yet the average consumer remains unaware of the venomous realities underlying the fashion industry. From supply chains to living wages to pollution, consumers actively choose to remain blissfully uninformed regarding the consequences tied to the convenience of consuming fast fashion goods. It has become increasingly clear that, for the vulnerable populations most at risk from this malignant industry, in addition to the toll fast fashion takes on the environment, reform is our only sustainable outcome. But how can we bring about this change as a society? Our only way toward a sustainable future is changing the consumption habits of individuals by providing accessible educational and informational content on these topics surrounding sustainable fashion.

My project aims to address this overarching goal through three specific objectives: (1) showcase the need for reform through comprehensive research (2) highlight strategies to evoke sustainable change for application by consumers in combating fashion consumption issues and (3) raise awareness about sustainable fashion topics through educational videos accessible to consumers via both the social media platform TikTok (@TheConsciousCollection) and an online web platform (www.TheConsciousCollection.org). The Conscious Collection platform aims to engage with viewers using robust learning strategies to educate on sustainability in the fashion industry. Through mining of previous research, my work outlined the successful learning techniques necessary to evoke consumer change: accessible online learning platforms, short form video formats, and behavioral change psychology approaches. As research indicates viewer retention drops exponentially after 2 minutes. The Conscious Collection hosts 32 educational videos that are both short form format and highly engaging to maximize viewer commitment and information retention. Specifically, these videos utilize specialized content delivery, such as textural graphics within videos, voice-overs for higher understanding, as well as imagery for greater viewer empathy and engagement. Concurrently, The Conscious Collection website incorporates behavioral change psychology into the online learning environment, through video and article section layouts, interactive buttons, video formats, and programs, to encourage prolonged website use, in addition to robust consumer engagement with video and textual content sections. Educational videos are split into 6 main topic sections for maximum ease-of-use for viewers to locate personal topics of interest. Additionally, each video section links to relevant articles to further encourage viewer learning and practice of learned material. To bolster user incentivization for watching and reading educational content on the site, the site will utilize a rewards program through partnership with sustainable fashion brands to provide rewards as viewers watch and read more content.

Finally, this project utilizes the TikTok platform, as these videos on TikTok have allowed for greater exposure, viewers finding the website, as well as the building of a collection of viewers wanting to learn more on this topic. The Conscious Collection serves as a solution to easing the burden of the fast fashion industry through raising awareness and educating on sustainable fashion to prompt consumer behavioral shifts through a novel educational system of short form video formats and behavioral change applications.

 
Quarantine 2040 is a VR video that imagines another quarantine happening in the near future and presents a speculative conversation around the use of VR in a simulated VR environment. Based on research and interview insights, it incorporates discussions around the influence of quarantine, the comparison between two-dimensional medium (computer) and three-dimensional medium (VR), as well as the advantages and limitations of VR. By engaging the audience in this discussion from a first-person perspective, this project aims to provoke the audience’s critical thoughts on the use of VR and the relationship between the virtual world and reality.

 
In the realm of ecoacoustics, soundscape provides a rich understanding of the health and biodiversity of an ecosystem. Yet, in our visually dominated world, our surrounding acoustic environment is easily overlooked despite the fact that many of our world’s natural soundscapes are facing extinction. In pristine environments, the acoustic niche hypothesis predicts that the vocalizations of various organisms will be neatly partitioned in bandwidth and timing so as to avoid competition. With the proliferation of human (anthrophonic) noise pollution, the encroaching anthrophony is rapidly devouring these pristine environments and disrupting the organized acoustic space. This interference both destroys the balance of an environment’s acoustic space, but additionally interrupts the ability for wildlife to communicate, thus decreasing their chances of survival.

This project utilizes spatial audio in Unity Engine to create an immersive soundscape which adapts the sonic history of a forest from the midwestern United States to highlight how rapidly these natural soundscapes are disappearing. This experience aims to encourage users to listen more deeply to their acoustic environments and the invasive proliferation of human noise pollution on natural soundscapes.

The Unity environment, in the form of a navigable first-person experience, is initially populated with bird vocalizations in communication with each other before slowly being superseded by anthrophonic noise such as busy city streets or airplanes. The user is free to explore the sound space and is also accompanied by minimal visuals of bobbing golden orbs, representative of the initially balanced and pristine acoustic environment. As the anthrophony arrives, a mist is introduced to the space, disrupting the user’s navigability and the overall clarity of the orbs in parallel to the effect disrupted acoustic space has for the orientation of species in their environment.

In our rapidly urbanizing and visually stimulated world, it’s important to take a step back and observe this message that our world is trying to convey. Are you listening?