Innovation Showcases
Prototyping Solutions for Sustainable Outcomes: Platforms for User Testing in Design Education View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase John Seefeldt
This is a study of modular prototyping platforms focused on introducing accessibility design and user testing to students that haven’t mastered the technical processes required for the real-world application of these concepts. The goal of these prototyping platforms is to promote a design process that is in continuous dialog with the communities and individuals being designed for. The platforms introduce students to virtual and augmented reality, circuit design, 3D printing, laser cutting, and other fabrication processes allowing students to prototype for more advanced design concepts and engage in user testing long before they would normally be technically able to. This has allowed students to move into more advanced design thinking and research processes alongside the development of their technical skillset without one hindering the other. An example of these platforms being applied is a collaboration between recreational therapy and design students. Through this collaboration design students created functional virtual reality experiences for recreational therapists to use with clients that have restrictions that limit access to outdoor or mobile activities. These prototyping platforms have also been used for physical interface prototypes where students design and develop screen-based interfaces alongside physical ones which are then used to conduct accessibility testing with the environment and users it is designed for. These prototyping platforms have allowed for an engagement with the user throughout the learning process, shifting focus from theory to real-world application with continuous user feedback allowing for more specific and sustainable design solutions.
Changing Places: Using the Transformative Power of Art to Change People’s Experience and Use of Public Spaces View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Paul Egglestone
The efficacy of strategies to improve perceived safety in public spaces will depend on a strong understanding of how women and girls use public spaces and how they perceive and experience personal safety in public. To address these outcomes public policy and planning strategies need to optimise perceptions of personal safety; increase accessibility and activation of public spaces and promote feelings of belonging and inclusivity for safe use at any time. Changing Places is a transdisciplinary design collaboration led by the Future Arts, Science and Technology Lab working with the NSW State Government in Australia. It aims to generate improved understanding of women and girls perceived or real lack of safety in urban and rural public spaces through play, using the transformative power of art to change people’s experience and use of public spaces. Changing Places is an iterative process that involves different custodians of place, together with procured digital media artists and technologists, and women and girl authors in the creation and deployment of a range of digital media interactive experiences. Each of these are calibrated to the local place-based characteristics whilst remaining true to the experiences and feelings of safety of women and girls.
Form Follows Fiber - a Case Study for a Low-Carbon Bioplastic Chair: Prototyping Methods for Greener Manufacturing View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Jason Carley
Since the industrial revolution, manufacturing practices have prioritized speed and the financial bottom line, rather than the health of the environment and its inhabitants. Industry’s over-extraction of natural resources, open-loop production models, and the reliance on fossil fuels have led to skyrocketing carbon emissions and the proliferation of toxic waste. A selective transition to bioplastics presents significant opportunities for curbing emissions and landfill loads. Bioplastics are derived from renewable resources, rather than petroleum, and break down into soil components and water. When blended with crop fiber, an abundant waste product of agriculture, they make resilient composites that can displace the plastics and monoculture lumber in engineered timber. Historically, the chair has been the platform to experiment with new means of production in a discourse over emerging technologies and novel materials. In this case study, an ergonomic task chair is built from scratch using experimental biomaterials and digital prototyping methods. It is free from petroleum ingredients, made from 100% renewable materials, completely compostable, and has a fraction of the footprint of conventional competitors. This showcase features samples of the Chair and a presentation of its prototyping and methods of manufacture. I share lessons learned sourcing, processing, and molding the ingredients, results from early sample testing and life cycle assessments, and applications for where this practice can go in the future.
