Brief — Designing for the post-human world
Group — Sarah, Erick, Felix, Arushi, Tanvi.
This week was led by Professor Tyler Fox, from the University of Washington. We discussed the article, ‘Objects and interactions’ and some key concepts within the same. Prehension, an important keyword, means the interaction of a subject with an object that is not cognitive. Our first short assignment was focused on the prehension of a smartphone. We had to make a physical diagram of the chosen prehension.
We chose facial recognition as prehension of the phone. We first noted down the metaphorical values of the prehension we chose. Once a person logs in to their phone through facial recognition, they tend to cut off connections with other people physically as they get so involved within a digital platform. Ironically, they become much more transparent online by compromising their data. We decided to turn this abstract metaphor into a physical model.
We decided to reuse a cardboard box and attached a mirror on one side of it. The mirror represented the camera. We also cut 3 openings into it to represent the open compromise of data.
After this brief assignment, each group was given a certain object. We dove into thinking about specific objects in a post-human way. Our group was given yeast as an object to design for. While researching we found that yeast has a very fascinating way of reproducing — asexually and sexually. They also emit a bioluminescent molecule for transmitting information as a signal when it is ready to mate. The density in the cells of the yeast increases and it can produce a molecule.
We tried to interpret this first abstractly by attaching sponges across the classroom. We attached strings to imitate their information transfer. We also added some sponges to students to show the free nature of yeast which is out of bounds of human reach.
The final step was to understand the prehension of yeast and think about it in a speculative future way. We were not sure if that meant designing for yeast or designing anything keeping the human out of it. We decided to take guidelines from Tyler fox and decided to speculate a future where yeast reproduce through humans who will also produce a bioluminescent light when they see a mate capable of reproducing with. To activate this molecule, it has to be a community ritual of coming close to the person and generating more heat. When there is enough heat in the body, the person is ready to mate and the light goes off.
We wanted to make a wearable device to demonstrate this concept. We first went to the CTL and tried to understand how sensors worked. Unfortunately, they did not have any heat sensors, we started experimenting with light sensors.
By that time, Arushi and I, fixed an LED strip to an acrylic transparent tube and made a headgear. We connected that to the Arduino board. We finally got the code and got the mechanism to work.
The next step was to make it look presentable. I decided to wear a shirt and everyone helped connect the wires from under the shirt. We attached the headgear and put the connections with the Arduino in a backpack.
While presenting, the did a performance of everyone trying to come near me, and then the headgear lighting up.
We faced loads of technical issues in making the prototype. There were times when the light sensors were working, but when I put it on, it stopped. This happened 20 minutes before the presentation, but we managed to pull through as Sarah was skilled in electronics.
Feedback
Overall, Tyler Fox and the cohort liked the concept. Some people commented on the use of light sensors. Allistair liked the sense of the community coming together to light it up. Tyler appreciated our idea of bringing in a transhuman perspective to the project. However, he was a little concerned about the idea being too representational.
Takeaways
We collaborated very well as a team. We had different strong points and we worked through them. I was majorly involved in making the things, Erick and Sarah were good with technology and coding. Arushi used her background in fashion to design the overall look. Felix and I focused more on the metaphoric value of the concept.
It was good to work on a practical project which solidified our theories about some of the readings we had been doing. It was good to learn about how we can think of a posthuman world.
References
Barker, T., 2011. Objects and interaction. Digital Creativity, 22(2), pp.65–77.
Forlano, L., 2017. Posthumanism and design. She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation, 3(1), pp.16–29.
Kommentare