Sixteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Our species’ capacity for empathy has been declining over the past few decades. Given global issues such as climate change, forced migration, systemic racism, LGBTQ+ oppression, and gender inequity, the decline in people’s propensity to imagine the points of views of others is arguably concerning. How might an interactive, multi-sensory environment that seeks to help people exercise their capacity for empathy look and behave? This project attempts to prompt questions about and engage people in the concept of empathy. The project builds upon previous work which combined spatial design with interactivity to create physical environments intended to make visual hidden cultural ideology. In this project, I am using a research-through-making or thinking-through-making approach to investigate how the interdisciplinary fields of experiential design, interactive art, psychology, and neuroscience can be used in combination to create a physical experience exploring the human concept of empathy. This research approach acknowledges there are different ways of gaining knowledge. It provides opportunities for designers to engage complex ideas over time and multiple projects.