w2 - cooking with gas

10/03/26

Reflect on the methods you employed and documented this week and write a short narrative that frames your practice using your 3 chosen ingredients.

• much of my reflection on my methods was done in the previous week's blog

• this week, with a call to be more intentional with our making of the 16 artefacts, I decided to first return back to my original research proposal and reflect on how the first week's making aligned with it, and what aspects I should explore next

  • GENERAL RESEARCH SPACE: interactive (and immersive?) installations in publicly accessible space

    • methods of interaction existing in a 3-dimensional realm

      • adding dimensionality beyond 2D interfaces

        • eg. 3D interfaces, objects you can grasp and move around, etc.

      • engaging multiple senses

        • touch/tactility, sight, hearing

      • exploring materiality of interfaces

    • improving immersion through 3-dimensional interaction

      • same points as above

    • incorporating a sense of play

      • how play is used in education and storytelling (especially for young children)

      • loss of play as you get older

    • transforming public space

      • creating useful spaces out of previously unused/under-utilised spaces

      • publicly accessible

      • focus on urban spaces?

    • using live/real-time data to drive the experience

      • eg. driving the feedback experience from the installation (visuals, sound, etc.)

      • eg. communicating/educating on a concept and/or telling a story

      • data that reflects the space/environment that the installation inhabits and/or used to transform the space (could be data used elsewhere that changes the space itself)

      • exploring how the data is translated into different means and used for interaction + immersion

    • fostering connections (and/or community?) between people and their environment

      • loss of connection and community especially in urban environments

      • exploring how spaces can generally foster connection (eg. creating community, sense of identity with the environment and its people, etc.)

      • exploring how interactive installations can transform spaces to foster this connection in under-utilised spaces

    • storytelling and/or education driven (?)

      • using interactive/immersive installations as a medium for storytelling or education

      • storytelling/education could also tie in with connection/community, eg. educating about a subject and empowering action from participants

  • how this relates to what I explored in W1:

    • translating environmental data into visual media

      • sound recordings taken around campus + albert park → visuals representing them

      • visuals communicate the environmental data

    • exploring materiality and multi-dimensionality of interaction interfaces

      • using conductive materials as a base (conductive paint, copper tape, conductive thread, metal wire) and applying to different materials for interaction (paper, wood, fabric, yarn/thread, etc.) and/or shaping in different ways (organic shapes)

      • sliders, buttons, touch pads, etc.

      • subconsciously inspired by children’s toys, incorporating sense of play, especially with organic shapes

      • simple output (LEDs) to demonstrate interaction

  • the resulting focus I decided for W2:

    • fostering connections (and/or community?) between people and their environment

    • transforming public space

    • improving immersion through 3-dimensional interaction (sorta)

two approaches:

1. interactive/immersive space bringing people together

2. interactive objects bringing people together

...both driven by incorporating elements of the environment and of community practices into urban space

Word Limit (200 words)

Write a short narrative that frames your practice using your 3 ingredients from week 1 and the descriptive terms you have chosen for week 2. This narrative should reflect on the methods you have tested to date and their relationship to your research question/research hunch. Upload this short narrative to your blog and be ready to present it to the class next week.

words chosen:

• amalgamate

  • bringing people together - connectedness

• reconstitute

  • revitalizing spaces