Mobile Media
Spatial Design and the iPhone: Utilizing Students’ Cognizance of an Everyday Technology to Investigate and Design Space
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sheryl Kasak
Through a series of studio projects this paper discusses how the moving image and film editing vocabulary and technique can be used as resources for understanding light, sound and time in the design process. The iPhone has allowed for the constant presence of video in our daily lives. Capturing information as still or moving images; what format to shoot in; standard rectangular, time lapse, slow mo[tion], video, square or pano[ramic] format has become an innate activity. Our framed view becomes objective as the device determines the image boundaries. This familiarity with the smart phone as both a mediator and conveyor of experience combined with the predication of how we place ourselves with[in] space might allow us to utilize these devices as design tools. In studio, students analyzed films including Blade Runner. The character Deckard uses an "Esper" machine to navigate a 2d image 3 dimensionally, enabling the viewer to inhabit the photographic space and understand the spatiality and relationships of elements within the room through a perceived occupancy including light and reflection. This scene is an important reference as it allows navigation through a filmic image while using calibrated coordinates, reinforcing the importance of data collection as a design tool. Film/video has proven to be a relevant tool for students as they formulate their ideas about space into something experiential and not representational. The results are progressive and sometimes unconventional, but speak to the vital relationship between the phenomenological and the spatial when designing environments for occupancy.
Mobile Devices as a Design Platform: Perceived Effectiveness of Tablet Devices for 2D and 3D Design
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Stan Guidera
This study investigates the intersection of two emerging trends in design fields: the increasing rate of adoption of mobile computing and the shift in design fields from a two-dimensional to three-dimensional model-centric design processes in which the 3D model functions as database for project-related information as well as a visual representation. The ability of mobile devices to run apps with the functionality of desktop applications could yield substantive changes in design workflow. The rate of adoption of tablets and mobile devices among students and faculty is of particular interest to academics involved in preparation for professional fields in the design disciplines. However, research related to the effectiveness of tablet devices as either a standalone design platform or a means to enhance design processes is limited, particularly in terms of the role of mobile design in professional education. Therefore, this study was developed two primary objectives. First, it investigated the extent to which tablet and mobile devices were perceived by students, educators, and professionals in design-related fields provided an effective platform for the development of both 2D and 3D design skills. Secondly, it investigated the extent to which students and educators in design fields perceived that, by gaining experience during their academic training, tablet-based design processes contributed to their professional preparation. Participants were asked to complete 2D drawing and 3D modeling tasks using tablet-based apps and then completed an on-line survey structured to facilitate statistical analysis intended to support the conclusions and recommendations.
