Exploring and Expanding
Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon
Fostering the Circular and Digital Synergy: The Role of Systemic Design in Open Innovation Processes View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Eliana Ferrulli, Silvia Barbero
The green and digital transition are central and intertwined themes in our current era of transformations. If on the one side the circular economy strategies offer a paradigm of change to respond to the green transition, on the other side digital tools are meant to match people and resources, thus enabling circular processes that would otherwise be slower to activate. In this scenario, how are European SMEs responding to such a change? How are they supported and able to catch the business opportunities that these transformations entail? Given the complexity of this transition, a systemic approach is needed to catalyze a European transition towards a circular economy. This paper sheds light on how a systemic design approach supports the ecological and digital transition and contributes to configuring an open innovation process with European SMEs, through the discussion of the results of DigiCirc project (call H2020-INNOSUP). In particular, the results contribute to acknowledging the role of systemic design within an open innovation process, being able to i) understand and intercept SMEs needs; ii) participate and nourish a cross-sectoral dialogue with different thematic, industrial and academic stakeholders iii) strengthen a systemic understanding in both manufacturing and services SMEs iv) transfer the knowledge both within and outside the DigiCirc ecosystem.
An Heretical Approach to Design Thinking in Archeology: An Argument for Diversity in Thought View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Bruce Grulke
When the people of Skara Brae moved to Stonehenge, their community didn’t fail, they just chose a different energy source. They picked a new site in England because it was the latitude at which the moon passed closest to the earth. The earth is tilted though and there is a second latitude that is closest to the moon and it runs through the ruins at Praia de Macas, and sites throughout Spain and Portugal. Design thinking here not only explains how the structures were designed and made, but also reveals a 100% self-reliant, sustainable community that existed 8,000 years ago without any social safety nets. Design thinking relies on a brutal honesty to effectively evaluate prototypes and more forward. Discovering that the stone artifacts – carved in granite without metal tools – were calendars, and clocks and directions on how to construct stone circles, changes the perception of women in this society. In this paper we consider how women developed and maintained architectural and astronomical principles and practices producing construction drawings with a length of string and keeping track of the calendar with ochre dots on the stone tools; and the implications.
Towards Accessible Mixed Reality in the Museum: Usability Principles for Disadvantaged Visitors and a Feasibility Evaluation for a New MR System View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Miriam Saviano, Lorenzo Imbesi, Viktor Malakuczi
The ongoing MiRA project consists of an interactive system based on a perspective illusion that can virtually complete exhibited artifacts, providing a Mixed Reality experience without the use of head-mounted devices (HMDs). This paper explores the possibilities of adopting such an interaction paradigm to the needs of users with special needs, non-conforming to social standards. The accessibility of museums, websites, and user interfaces has received a lot of attention. However, because there has been little or no research on the accessibility of interactive museum installations, this contribution is a useful source of information about how to approach XR. Mixed research methods have been used, from qualitative methods in the system design phase to quantitative methods in the MR field for usability and accessibility. A total of 50 studies on accessibility and social inclusion were selected, in both museum and extended reality contexts, identifying three intervention categories: disabled, elderly, and neurodivergent people. Furthermore, the research revealed a series of accessibility guidelines that were applied to the current project to identify areas for improvement. Although the MiRA system's use of a depth camera and projections suggested an approachable interaction for any type of visitor, this study discovered numerous gaps in its accessibility. To make the proposed system of interactive museum projections accessible to visitors with specific needs, rules extrapolated from the fields of accessibility in museums, videogames, and user interfaces were applied. The observations made in this study will be implemented in future work for a more accessible service.
Image and Montage: The Moodboard as a Creative Interface Between Formal and Conceptual Thinking View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Javier Antón Sancho, Aitor Acilu, Víctor Larripa Artieda
This paper analyzes and discusses how designers work with images to project and produce ideas. The design process focuses on the moment where the concept arises. It remains halfway between the initial research and analysis phases and the ideation and development phases. When facing a design challenge, the author’s memory is filled with references; the challenge is how to incept a creative mechanism to work with them. The ideal tool for this task is the moodboard. Consequently, the paper considers, explains and even advocates that this means a creative mechanism of great importance in the design process, which allows the creator to think through images. The text delves into the internal mechanisms of the moodboard and explains it from two perspectives. Firstly, it delves into the generation of the moodboard: the assemblage. And secondly, it explains it through the notion that best allows us to understand the effects produced by the moodboard: the interface. Understanding the moodboard as an interface will enable us to realize that it is essentially a device, a sort of intermodal station, where formal thinking - through images - and conceptual thinking - through ideas - connect and mutually nourish each other.
