Trip To Future World @ ArtScience Museum

The trip to Future World by TeamLab at the ArtScience Museum was certainly enriching as it was my first time going for the exhibition. Upon entering the exhibition, I was greeted with an immersive experience through 4D projections and it was definitely eye-opening. I felt like I was being brought into another dimension with the combinations of light and sound.

Moving on to other exhibits, what fascinated me the most would be Sketch Town. TeamLab made use of several technologies which I was really interested in. There were paper with outlines of a car and a house printed on it and the public could use the crayons provided to express their creativity on it. Its just like childhood all over again for me. After which, we could actually scan our drawings and it will be brought in to the huge display of a town, almost in an instant.

Just when I thought that was the end of the experience of this section, I was told that I can use the same drawing I created, scan it, and it would be printed out as a cut-out template and be formed into a 3D model. From 2D to digital and to 3D, this process is to me, the freshest and the most interesting interaction I had in the exhibition.

This trip to the exhibition was an eye-opening experience for me, and through this experience, it would aid me in conceptualizing for the iLight project with a wider perspective as I am aware of the technologies that could actually be implemented into the project, such as incorporating sounds and converting intangible pieces to memorable souvenirs.

Response: Past years’ iLight Installation

My favourite piece of installation from past years’ iLight installation would be (ULTRA) LIGHT NETWORK (featured image) by Felix Raspall, Carlos Bañón, Manuel Garrido and Mohan Elara (Singapore).

This piece of installation made use of geometrical arrangements, incorporating lights within. With more people nearing the installation, it would produce different patterns of light strobes, as well as increased light intensity.

In context to sustainability, this could be used in a way to increase the awareness whereby us as individual could actually do a big part in sustainability. Material usage could also be taken into consideration, whether to make use of environment-friendly materials, or other alternatives.

Image retrieved from: https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/-/media/User%20Defined/URA%20Online/media-room/2017/pr17-05a.pdf

Week 4 Response: You Are What You Carry

After reading this chapter and also having to watch his TED talk earlier on in class, I can better understand his point on how technology has benefited us. He has used the three most important things to elaborate several new terminologies which I found was very interesting: Range Of Distribution. This is a very good way to observe a certain culture at the particular place, in terms of security and trust level an individual has to his/her surroundings. In Singapore, there are also different range of distributions at different places. When we are at the coffee shop for a simple meal, we tend to leave our bags at our seat, only carrying our valuable items with us. In contrast, when we are out in town, we do think twice when we want to leave our bags at our seats due to the increased crowd level at town.

Another point to note about this chapter would be the point of reflection. I believe most of us, if not all of us, will tap on our pockets to make sure we brought what we need to bring, pausing for a moment to recall if we have missed out any essential items. These are little things we do often but fail to actually notice them. I feel that as designers we should train and equip ourselves the ‘eye’ to look at the details which other people could not see. This would then in turn make us better designers.

In the later part of the chapter, Chipchase talks about how technology could actually do more inconvenience than convenience. I feel that in this tech-savvy era, we should intelligently tap on technology as a bonus and not relying on technology so much so allowing them to control our lives, eventually.

All in all, within the past years, technology has advanced so quickly, everything is getting a piece of technology infused in them. All that we need would be available in a smartphone. But what if we lose our smartphones, how would we then survive in this world?

Week 3 Response: The Anthropology Of Mobile Phones

In Jan Chipchase’s talk, I couldn’t agree more to the points he mentioned. Out of all the things that we own, he managed to filter 3 most important items that we have to bring when we leave the house. These 3 items are, keys, mobile phone and money.

If I were to weigh them in terms of importance, I would say that money would be the most important element to actually survive the day out.

If i left out my keys, I could wait for someone to get home and I would have access.

If I were to leave out my mobile phone for a casual outing, it might be a good thing, in a way that I can observe my surrounding, people, and what other people do when they are not on their phones. People nowadays are obsessed with technology, so much so that out of 5 people I see on the train, 4 could be on their mobile phones.

However, if I had to leave house without any money, it is basically having access to nothing. No food, no transport, nothing. Without money with me when I am out there, I would definitely feel like part of me is missing and I cannot do anything about it.

I also find that the strategies which Chipchase mentioned did apply to me. With my center of gravity being my bedside desk, I would place all the things that I have prepared to bring  at the table, so I will not miss anything out. After which, the very last moment before I leave the room, I would tap on all the pockets that contained my essential items to ensure that I did not miss them out.