HONG Bingbing-MA/MSc Experience & Service Design-UCA

Background

The proportion of single people in the world is gradually increasing. Due to the different regional cultural backgrounds, the single problem is particularly prominent in China. Most single adult want a love affair. However, as the difference between the current environment and the past, the pressure from family, society, and other aspects, as well as the improvement of personal mate selection standards, it is more difficult for them to get rid of the single.

Research

The present situation of the problem

1 Nowadays, the number of single people is increasing, and most of them have need for love.

According to the Ministry of civil affairs, China's single adult population reached more than 240 million in 2021.

81.9%

48.52%

The attitude of single youth towards love affair

According to the survey report released by the China youth website and a dating website, 79.52% of single youth have the idea of a love affair.

Urged to marry

19.1% Not urged to marry

Statistics on the situation of being urged to marry of 90s

According to the data of the "2020 30year-old single post-90s emotional report" released by the youth social platform Tantan, more than 80% of the post-90s have been urged to get married by their parents.

Pictures

The current situation and needs of single people are different from those in the past. 2

10.14% 1.35% 32.39%

29.70%

First-tier cities

New first-tier cities

Second-tier cities 26.42%

Third-tier cities

Fourth-tier or fifth-tier cities

Urban distribution of single youth

According to the statistics of the Sutu Research Institute,88.51% of the single youth settle in the first or second-tier cities.

30-year-old single post-90s mate selection

Tantan, a domestic youth social networking platform, indicated that the single post-90s generation thinks that the most crucial factor for choosing a spouse is their views (views towards the world, the values, and attitude towards life. )

57.4% 64.9%

The large proportion of single people has led to some non-ignorable problems. 3

49.9%

72.7% 2019 2020 2021 2018

Market scale of online dating industry(100 million)

The Tencent website estimates that the online dating market will maintain a stable growth by 2021, with total revenue of over 7 billion yuan and a further increase in penetration rate.

According to the data of "China economic life survey from 2019 to 2020", from the perspective of an emotional relationship, the lowest proportion of happiness is the single people with 43.96%.

The single trend first impacts the marriage rate and fertility rate. In 2020, the number dropped to 8.131 million, which has led to fewer and fewer newborns in China. In 2019, the annual birth rate was 1.048%, which is even far lower than the world average birth rate.

At present, many parks in the first-tier cities have blind date corners where some parents exchange their kids' information to find spouses for them, such as People's Park in Shanghai, Longtan Park in Beijing, etc.

The decreasing population increase will lead to a further reducing the working-age population in the future.

Conclusion

We can not underestimate the problem of a single population. And at present, people have come up with some ways to deal with it. To find the best solution, I first made a survey and analysis of some existing representative solutions.

taken in Shanghai People’s Park

The existing solutions

Offline

Blind date

Blind date has significant limitations, which have the boundaries of the social circle and is based on some external conditions to match, which are not the actual standards to decide whether two people are suitable.

Reality show of dating

The guests are not oriented to all the public, most people only show their perfect sides, and with more variety of effects, the guests can not understand each other well.

Offline party/ Activity

For some single people who don't like parties, this kind of activity is not suitable, and most young people don't have enough time and experience to participate in these activities.

Television dating program

The TV programs of love and blind date are only friendly to single people who are good at expressing themselves, and everything in the show will have a filter.

It is difficult for people who are not good at socializing to socialize offline and have limited time in many ways to get to know deeply.

Idea development

The survey concluded that a large part of why these people are single is that although they are thirsty for love, they still want to find their soul mate. Finding a soul mate is always time-consuming and laborious, so how can we help users be more efficient in finding a soul mate? This is the problem we need to solve.

Some external things, such as appearance, are not accurate enough to reflect our true personality and inner thoughts. Envisioning some scientific means with real biological information help, people match efficiently and accurately. Therefore, I did relevant research, which helped develop my idea for the project.

App&Website

Soul

Users will be given some personality tags after doing some personality tests to help match others with high adaptability. But users can attract other users by setting up fake personal settings.

Jimu

By recommending photos of other users to users, they can continue to chat deeply after selecting,which is unfriendly to some users who are not very outstanding in appearance.

User Pain Point

Have a new view of marriage and love.

Leaving home, and settling down in the first or second-tier cities

Have love and marriage needs.

Limited social circle.

Have work and life pressure.

Persona

jiayuan.com

By improving users’ data cards and real-name authentication, users can choose their favorite people to chat with and get to know each other through the data card and online video dating. But there is almost no anonymous way of online dating, lacking a sense of mystery.

The authenticity of online groups is not high, and many social approaches built on cosmetic conditions are not friendly.

My job is hectic, and I usually have to work overtime. When I'm off, I like to stay home and play games; it puts me in a relaxed mood. My parents are pushing me to find a girlfriend, but my social circle is narrow, with very few girls. Although sometimes I get a little lonely, I don't want to fall in love with just anyone casually. I don't pay much attention to the background of my partner but prefer to find a soulmate who is compatible with me.

Zhang Cheng programmer 28

Science research

Law of Attraction 1

People tend to hang out with their kind. Rhonda Byrne published a book called The Secret, which explains the basic principle of The Law of Attraction: All human thought produces a specific frequency, and this frequency attracts the same frequency, causing resonance, thus attracting to us whatever is involved in our thought activity.

Recognize emotions through electrical signals in the brain 2

The participants were asked to look at different images to generate other emotions. The researchers extracted signatures of five bands of brain waves called delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. Through the analysis of related potential, it is found that the three brain regions of the subjects have significant differences in some potential emotional characteristics, indicating that the possibility of these regions of the issues are involved in the emotional response and regulation, thus indicating that potential characteristics can classify emotions.[1]

People with more similar brainwave information are more likely to become friends. 3

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, conducted a quantitative study on a social network composed of 279 students. When friends watch the same video, the activities of the brain regions involved in interpreting the perceptual environment and emotional responses are more similar. For the two people newly met in the test, the researcher can predict their friendship status and social distance through the similarity of their brain activities, even after controlling for certain interfering factors(such as age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, etc.), researchers still get the result that they may be closer to each other in the social network they share. Based on this, the researchers proposed that friends may have similar ways of perceiving and responding to the outside world.[2]

[1][2]Carolyn Parkinson, Adam M. Kleinbaum,Thalia Wheatley.Similar neural responses predict friendship.[R].United States: Nature Communications,2018:5-6

Design process

Perhaps we can create a combined online and offline process to achieve an experience design.

mobile mobile

APP low fidelity

offline entities machine

EEG monitoring device background control

cloud databse personal data match data analysis and computation

The user logs into their account via mobile. Then during the test, the EEG data of the individual monitored by the device is visualized on the machine and transmitted to the control backend. The subsequent data analysis is built on a cloud database, and the final results of matching information will be displayed on the user's mobile.

Storyboard

1

2 Reserve on the app

5 Wear the device

3 Go to the offline store

6 Follow the instruction

Scan the QR xcode to login

Wathching the videos

7

8 Checking the tesing result

9 Chatting with the matchng user

You may start dating and become lovers

Registration requires verification of the user's identity information， which aims to improve the authenticity of the user community. And for this sensitive information, Pluto will inform the use.

To distinguish groups, as well as to help users understand each other, pluto requires them to fill in some information.

To ensure the experience's quality, users should book in advance. Based on the city location and date, Pluto will recommend suitable offline test stores to users.

Reservations can be selected in detail, and you can also check the availability of store reservations for other dates. For long-term thinking, the user's initial experience is free, and the second time starts to be charged.

After a successful booking, the user scans the QR code displayed on the machine during the offline test and starts.

Pluto covers basic features such as chat and the user's center. Special attention is paid to the fact that even between matched users, they need to be friends to have more chatting times.

The test results will be automatically displayed on the matching function homepage, and users can view the matches in two dimensions: from time or match score. And users can click on the avatars to view detailed matching information.

Considering that there are users with multiple tests, a filter is set up to display a list of users that the system has matched for itself by choosing either the time dimension or the score dimension.

Pluto will show the basis for matching brainwave information and help users understand the information visually.

Interaction screen and product design

Users need to scan a QR code to log in to their accounts.

Follow the steps to wear device.

Users learn about the movie content they are about to watch based on the image and the tags on the lower-left corner of the pictures.

Watching the film causes changes in brain waves, and the bottom area of the screen shows a visualization of the changes in the eight bands.

2 times

In order to reduce interference, the procedure of EEG band calculation is only entered when the data of signalquality is greater than 5.In order to make the data more intuitive so that it can reflect the degree of fluctuation, I wrote a variance formula in the program. When the variance is too large, the brain wave bar graph changes drastically, so I want to reduce the value of signalqality in order to reduce the number of data collection.

Three chips are attached to the front right forehead picks up brainwave information.

2 times

The elastic bands on both sides are designed to be used by people with different service head circumference.

There is a 20-second interval between the three-step movies, allowing the user to calm down during this time, making the collected brainwave detection more accurate when the next film is played.

After the program detects that the third movie has finished playing, the screen no longer displays the 20s interval.

At the end of all the movies, a prompt notifies users that the test is over and leave.

x1, x2, and y2 are fixed values. Put the constantly updated data into an array, and y1 is calculated from the updated data by the difference, thus making the height of the bar chart change consistently.

The running logic of the whole program is divided into four pages, when the user's mouse triggers the area of the button, it will realize the conditions within the if, thus realizing the page jump.

Build

I created a simple enclosed space to prevent the user from being disturbed by the outside world. This space gave a quiet environment to the person testing, which led to the accuracy of brainwave information collection. People can start by following the instructions on the screen, and the whole process only requires interaction with the device.

I invited several people to test it and got comprehensive feedback and suggestions for improvement. Relying on science and technology to find a romantic partner was new to them. Although they were unfamiliar with the approach based on brainwaves at the beginning, the positive and exploratory mood allowed them to enjoy the whole experience gradually. Finally, simplifying the details of the process and improving the richness and accuracy of data matching will take additional time to achieve.

Social impact

personal

This project may bring some comfort and new hope to many single people, even if it is through a cold machine, but it can help them find their soul-matched another half.

family

The rise in the rate of love is conducive to the formation of new families, which also gives peace of mind to the older generation, because, in the eyes of the older generation of Chinese parents, they see their children having a family before they are considered a successful outcome.

Prospect

society

A rise in the relationship rate mitigates the decline in the marriage and childcare rates, ultimately affecting the ageing trend. China has entered an ageing society, so it is essential that the newborn population increases.

Various countries and regions are increasing investment in brain science year by year, and brain technology will involve more application areas in the future. Brain technology is promising and feasible in various fields in the future, so brain-related technology is a suitable choice to help us solve the pain points of target users. So I think the project has a lot of potentials, and I sincerely hope humanity will flourish for the continuation of civilization because of love and desire.

View the video

Motortrip

User Experience Design App Design

Motortrip is a motorcycle riding route generation and sharing app that aims to help riders improve their riding experience while riding recreationally. The number of motorcycle riders is increasing yearly, while the corresponding supporting software and entertainment programs are still missing.

Motortrip has built a platform that can customize personalized routes for riders to suit motorcycle riding while adding more ways for riders to play based on AR technology. For the missing motorcycle navigation, Motortip allows riders to reduce the risk of not knowing the route or having the wrong information about the route, which adds terrible experience during the ride.

Inspiration

motorcycle market size reached

In the last year or two, I've noticed an increase in the frequency of motorcycles on the streets of China. The cool look and loud engine sound get my attention whenever a motorcycle passes me. And the city has spawned many themed facilities and events.

Motorcycle consumption has gradually shifted from a tool to a social attribute and a riding culture, becoming a symbol of consumers' attitudes and personalities, bringing long-term growth to the industry.

Worldwide motorcycle distribution No data Recorded

On a global scale, the market for motorcycles is concentrated in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, an area that accounts for 80% of total annual global sales. Since the 1960s, the world’s motorcycle production facilities are now in Asia. The world’s most significant producers of motorcycles are China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

The adoption of advanced technologies by manufacturers boosts the market growth. With the increased adoption of cutting-edge technologies, motorbikes have become more complex and modish in safety, comfort, and luxury.

Several manufacturers invent techniques to build bikes that will run on eco-friendly solar energy, gas, or electricity resources. These efforts are gaining the attraction of environmentalists.

I also noticed the popularity of motorcycles on the internet. The "motorcycle" hashtag on Weibo has been read 1.9 billion times, and the number of motorcycle-related videos on TikTok has reached 51.5 billion. These discoveries made me want to explore the reasons for them, and I hope to enhance the riding experience for this group through my design.

Conclusion

In recent years, the motorcycle market has grown at the micro and macro levels, but there is still a vacancy for programs close to riders' lives. So I want to design a program that is really close to the users' riding life and helps them improve or even solve some pain points in riding.

Riding record

*

What is your usual cycling scene?

I ride a motorcycle when I commute or go out with friends on weekends to party somewhere, mainly for transportation, but there are friends around me who play competitive motorcycles.

*

Do you have any memorable riding experiences?

Once I went riding in the mountains, and at the entrance, many riders were asked to remove the spotlights from their motorcycles; they all did not know the rule in advance as I did. After I was forced to remove it, I was not in a pleasant mood because I had to spend extra money to install it.

Tomas Age 31 12 years riding experience

I would meet up with my buddies to ride in some scenic places, and even though I'd been riding for a long time, I am still afraid to ride in the remote mountains by myself because I am not familiar with the road conditions.

Quantitative analysis

In the interviews, I found riders use their motorcycles as daily riding tools in the city. Still, their favorite thing to do is ride in the wilderness with their friends, so my questionnaire contains some questions about their experience riding in nature.

I distributed the questionnaire to motorcycle communication platforms, collected questionnaires from 73 motorcyclists, and compiled the results into visual data.

Susan Age 27 6 years riding experience

In recent years, many more girls have played with motorcycles, so I've made many new friends. Sometimes We like to ride to some trendy spots, then take pictures and share them on our social platforms.

What do you feel is the worst part during the ride?

Dylan Age 35 14 years riding experience

I am a motorcycle fanatic, have ridden many routes, and sometimes try to ride competition motorcycles; I often share some riding experiences and stories with other riders.

Friends

Unfamiliarity with the routes

Peers ride at a different pace

Unforeseen circumstances Hills

Scenery does not meet expectations

What do you hope to gain from the route? Beautiful scenery 76%

Remote roads Other Long-distance tour route

Who do you usually ride with on unfamiliar routes?

Strangers

Problems

Internet friends

Oneself

Motorcyclists need someone to lead to open up new riding routes.

Riders need to understand and integrate piecemeal route information on their own.

Riding with several people at different speeds may interfere with each other or lose contact.

Interviewee

Persona&User experience map

Stages Preparation phase Riding

Got home Back Journey Set off Ready Preparation Awareness

phase

Story Book

Name Jacob Ray

Age 30 yaers old

Goal

I want to ride freely and not encounter many motorcycle unfriendly conditions.

Finish riding

phase

I'm not particularly eager to stop all the time, but I'm worried about losing contact with my friends; it makes me feel bad sometimes.

Activities

* Confirm accompanions’locations Confirm accompanions’locations Visit motor community Chat with friends Got the idea to organize trip Search route information Date friends Check trip information

Thinking

*

I often meet and chat with other riders.

Feelings

I like browsing various motorcycle communication platforms.

* I will be inspired to ride by the sharing posts on the platforms.

*

I will choose the route with beautiful scenery or some fun places to ride.

* I often ride with a friend or a guide to reduce the number of situations I can't handle alone.

*

I will worry about some unexpected situation on the road that cannot be dealt with.

* I need to know some primary road information of routes in advance.

* I need to consider bringing insulated clothing or food, depending on the situation.

*

relaxed interested

Attract users by increasing the diversity of platform content.

concerned uncertain

* Create a route information collecting platform that allows riders to reduce the time spent on route selection.

Navigation routes are sometimes inaccurate, and we must judge ourselves.

* I would be very uneasy about the sudden appearance of vehicles or pedestrians, making me feel very nervous for fear of an accident.

*

Feeling Prepare needed items Fuel the motorcycle

* I need to stay awake all the time for the ride.

The return journey will be more dangerous than the coming if it is downhill in the mountains. Arrive at the destination

Accompanions ride at different speeds may lead to losing contact with each other.

excited nervours pleased concentrated hungry tired satisfied

talktive anxious time-consuming

Users can know more details of the route in advance to improve the riding experience.

*

* Allows users to know some real-time updated information, such as the weather and population density of the route.

* Prompt users to rest and information about nearby facilities.

*

* Users can know the location of other friends through their cell phones.

*

Prompt users information for nearby hotels or other places to stay.

tired increases the probability of traffic accidents Follow the navigation Opportunities

* Users can record their riding process more easily.

*

Users can create their own riding routes in some way.

I discovered that riding recreationally is an activity that riders feel conflicted about; based on user research, I was able to summarize some of the factors that degrade their riding experience, and these factors all basically revolve around routes, so I envisioned using routes as an essential point to help improve their riding experience.

Most motorcyclists have the habit of putting their phones on the front of the car to view the navigation or record video to record their riding process. And riding is a mobile process, so considering the convenience of riders, an app may be a higher degree of compliance with the program.

Route generation and sharing is the primary function so that motorcyclists no longer follow the navigation of regular car rides, but through the app, process to reduce some hazards and concerns while adding more play to improve their riding experience.

Design opportunity

Riders must gather much information about the route to ensure a smooth trip, but much internet information is not comprehensive and authentic enough.

Create a route generation platform that can customize routes based on riders' riding experience and preferences.

The icons on the routes refer to the locations where AR interaction is possible, such as digging for treasure including money, and discount coupons for motorcycle devices.

The darker the route's colour, the more clogged the traffic is represented, prompting the user to the traffic condition of the road ahead.

Real-time radar on the route can indicate the rider's friend's location. And when a friend's icon changes color means a possible accident has occurred.

Riders need to confirm each other's positions to ensure safety.

Show the location of companions on the route with radar.

There are some icons of rest stops or gas stations on the navigation to indicate where users can pause along the way.

Some riders need to be led by riders who are familiar with the route but will not be able to keep up with speed.

Record the detailed data of riders who have ridden this route so that riders can ride alone according to the tips.

Some routes can't meet riders' expectations because of the lack of scenery, food, or other reasons.

Riders can interact with the actual scene based on AR technology along he ride.

Multiple customized routes are available for users to choose from; for example, the route on the right is more suitable for sightseeing, and the way on the left is more suitable for riders who like to stop and play.

How might we create an intriguing route generation and sharing app to help motorcyclists enhance the riding experience?

Origin

High fidelity

The color scheme for this app match motorcyclists who like to highlight their personality.

Riders can filter the appropriate route by setting the conditions. The filtered route is built on a rideable motorcycle section, thus improving the rider's satisfaction with the road and the riding experience. The filtered states are divided into two categories: one is quantifiable conditions like distance and cost, and another is the type that can be directly selected, such as types of scenery.

Riders who want to create routes need to allow access to data from sensors on their phones or external devices (such as Apple Watch), which are then automatically analyzed by the platform and translated into navigation cues, including speed, gear,

Riders interact with natural scenes with virtual objects through mobile AR. These virtual objects need to be collected on the way of riding. The virtual items are mainly divided into three categories, the first one is the blind box, the second one is the items with real value, and the third one is the items with commemorative value.

1 type 2 type 3

Storyboard

Search Route

Riders search for routes when they set off and pick their favorite routes based on the information on the page.

Create New Route

Riders can create their routes, and Motortrip will obtain authorization from phone sensors or external devices to record the ride's speed, lean angle, etc., thus enriching the route information and improving the accuracy of riding tips.

User test&Feedback

I have received positive feedback from drivers. They see Motortrip as a useful and pleasureable driving app that helps them avoid many obstacles or misinformation about motorcycles when planning their route. And they feel that there is still a lot of room for exploration and improvement in some areas.

Personalize Route

If riders can't search for their preferred route, they can filter by conditions and let the platform personalize the route for them.

Select Route

Before starting navigation, Motortrip will plan at least two schemes according to the same route, considering different road conditions, riders can choose one to start.

1 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 3 2 1 3 3

Start Navigation

Keep Motortrip on all the time and place the phone in front of the car holder.

One tested user Lee thinks that AR brings great fun to driving and can be combined with novel games to attract more people to participate, so I think the scalability of AR technology can be further thought.

Riding

Motortrip will display icons of rest stops on the navigation, suggesting to riders the distance of the stops ahead, such as cafes and attractions, so that riders can rest and replenish their energy on the way.

AR Play

When the navigation notices hidden items ahead, riders can stop and use the phone's AR function to find items along the road; riders can also conceal their items along the route.

Share

After the ride, riders can share their experience and stories or introduce the route, showing their hidden items on the route, and attracting more riders to follow it.

Tester Shu Ze believes that Mototrip is very helpful for novice drivers to explore new routes and build riding confidence. In this regard, Motortrip can incorporate improved equipment that simulates riding for beginners, helping them build trust on new routes faster.

When testing in the mountains, I found that some roads may have natural obstacles that make it uncomfortable for the motorcycle to pass and need to incorporate terrain sensing technology. However, the technology cannot yet be used for small objects, which is also an aspect of progress. A measure now is to add a function that gives feedback on pavement information exceptions, so I made some adjustments and modifications to the original design.

BEETLETRANSPORT

In the context of the impending sixth mass extinction, the diversity and numbers of dung-beetles have plummeted; human activities have caused fragmentation of the species' habitat, and to slow its diversity and population decline, Beetle-Transport is a vehicle designed for dung beetles to be used in habitats separated by roads, by which transport allows dung beetles from similar fragmented sites to communicate.

S us tainable Design Inscet Protection Interaction Product

Background Research

The fifth report on biodiversity issued by the United Nations in 2020 states that humanity has only a few years to avoid a sixth mass extinction of species on Earth. And insects could become extinct within a century if their rapid rate of decline continues.

What has caused the massive decline in dung beetles?

Dung beetles are one of the most affected by the decline in insect species diversity. However, dung beetles have an irreplaceable role in the ecosystem compared to other species.

Without dung beetles, the continued exposure of mammalian feces on the surface would breed many dinoflagellates, many of which are spreading diseases affecting the survival of domestic animals. This can destabilize ecosystems and impact the entire global environment.

What would be the impact if the insects disappeared?

Many species that depend on insects for food will face a shortage of food sources and die of starvation.

Insects will not continue contributing an average of 29% to the decomposition of dead forest wood if they die out.

Insects have many symbolic uses, essential in medical science, art, literature, religion, and mythology, influencing people's aesthetics and values.

Three-quarters of human crops depend on insects for pollination, and the extinction of insects would mean the elimination of most human food sources.

Deforestation Insecticides Abuse

Agricultural Intensification Nitrification

Urbanization Polarized pollution

Species Introduction Climate change Species Invasion Droughts Storm Intensity

Hardening of Urban Roads Urban Heat Island Effect

Finding of the Research

Develop Design Opportunity

Deforestation, overexploitation of land, and unregulated appropriation of natural resources are human activities that exacerbate the destruction of habitats for dung beetles and ultimately lead to habitat fragmentation.

Fragmentation reduces habitat size and quality and increases isolation. It creates ecological boundaries that are very different from the actual core habitat. The isolation caused by disruptions has deeply impacted dung beetles by reducing their species richness and abundance.

I contacted researchers at the Institute of Entomology at Zhejiang University to find out more solutions. I learned more information, which inspired my project.

Q: What is the underlying cause of the vulnerability of insects in localized habitats to extinction?

A: Small size of the habitats can accommodate fewer creatures. And the inability of species to communicate between fragments increases the chances of cryptic purity in the insect's offspring. Therefore, small groups of species will die out without the migration of surrounding species.

Q: Is there any current solution to habitat fragmentation?

A: One solution to habitat fragmentation for larger animals is to build ecological corridors to link habitats that are similar in ecology and not very far apart.

Separated by roads

Separated by crops

Design Scope

Types of Fragmentation

Separated by farm

Separated by wasteland

For dung beetles to communicate between localized habitats, a connectivity channel must be constructed; localized habitats divided by roads in forests that are close together have a higher likelihood of species and environmental similarities, so localized habitats separated by roads are more suitable for connectivity.

Safety of transporting bugs

Attractive effect on bugs

Metrics

Surface Flexibility

Resilience to environmental stress

Transport comfort

Prototype&Experiment

Conveyor Belt

Vehicle

Drone

Biological discovery&Iteration idea

Dung beetles are less affected by the attraction of ultraviolet light in the daytime.

In the case of external intervention, Dung beetles will have a stress response.

Dung beetles like to punch holes into corners and bury themselves inside.

Dung beetles like to hide in their dwellings on rainy days and do not come out to move.

UV light is set at the conveyor belt entrance and is turned off when the dung beetles are attracted to climb up into the belt. The movement of the conveyor belt affects the crawling of dung beetles, causing them to behave in a panic and always veer right off the conveyor belt area.

The vehicle side has a board that can be opened and closed, making it possible to enter and leave the carriage height.

The effect of transporting dung beetles was tested by suspending the box and simulating the shaking of the drone in flight.

No robotic arms or other coercive means get dung beetles into the delivery box.

The transport machine should operate in low light when the dung beetles are less disturbed by the sun's rays

The interior of the transport box should have no corners but smooth walls.

The inclination of the board will make it difficult for the dung beetle to crawl upwards; the roughness of the board is also essential, as the dung beetle needs a rough surface to have a grip, which affects the ease of crawling.

Dung beetles will leave directly from the boundary of the plate after shaking, which may cause them to fall, considering that, in reality, there is a height difference between the plate and the ground.

Safety Attractive effect

Resilience Drone Vehicle

Conveyor Belt

According to the radar plot, the graph area of the vehicle is larger after connecting the various indicators, so the vehicle is selected for iteration.

Flexibility Comfort

Iteration

ultraviolet radiator pressure sensor

Field experiment

Declaration

UV light is used in area A to attract dung beetles into the transport cart, and when the weight sensor senses that the weight has reached a set value, it closes the gate and starts moving. After crossing the road, the cart reaches area B and lowers the gate to allow the dung beetles to leave.

Process

1

Press the button to start, the gate will be lowered, and the UV light inside the car will light up to attract the bugs to enter.

The weighing component detects the total weight of the existing bugs.

Reflection

The vehicle automatically closes the gate, turning off the UV light after reaching a certain weight amount.

Once reach the destination, the doors of the vehicle will open.

Put the car into the natural environment after the test found that the vehicle needs bigger wheels to better drive in rough and weedy places; at the same time, dung beetles can enter and leave the car faster, and the vehicle’s internal temperature regulator is needed; also need to consider the car's charging problem, solar charging is preferred, charging station for the auxiliary.

CMF illustration

Color Most body materials choose not to paint the frosted plastic, on the one hand, to save costs and not pollute the environment; on the other hand, to make the car's light in the dark time can be dispersed, attract dung beetles into the small car. The remaining materials are also green as the first principle of choice.

Material Considering the cost and environmental safety issues, the product is not finished by the appearance, and I choose plastic with high plasticity as the main material of the product.

Finishing When production is considered, the product is mainly realized through the injection molding process to meet the complexity of the product's structure or appearance and the components' precision.

Forestry Bureau

Responsible for the financial expenditure of the vehicles, including purchasing and maintenance, and gives them the right to run. And communicates the associated responsibilities with the relevant departments.

Charging Station

The vehicles will arrive at the charging station when the electricity is running out; the auxiliary charging way is to get electricity with its solar charging panel, and the Forest Service directly controls the charging station.

Road Transport Bureau

Plans the timing of the travel and the vehicle’s route with cloud-assisted control to avoid affecting oncoming traffic when traveling across the highway.

Factory maintenance department Sells vehicles and after-sales services; contacts the factory's maintenance department when repairs are needed; and keeps records.

Feedback

I communicated with some of the workers involved through phone and email contacts and got some feedback.

Dr. Lou Zhejiang University professor

The project is a bold attempt. Although the actual implementation requires a lot of research, this idea also provides us with ideas to study the habitat separation of connected insect populations.

Insect Research Institute

Collects information from the inspection station, adds data, and advances research on maintaining ecological balance.

Manufacturing Company

Receives broken-down vehicles, takes care of the repairs, and sends someone to check the running condition of the vehicles regularly.

Wildlife Inspection Station

The Forest Service regularly hands over deliveries of dung beetles, and the monitoring station gives feedback and recommendations.

Forest Service

Makes mission planning and monitoring. Supervises by real-time vehicle video, and in exceptional cases, human intervention is necessary to perform the task.

Forest Public Security Bureau

Hands cases of theft and vandalism of small vehicles by people, etc.

Anna Sorokin

A worker in Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves

The forest reserve I work in has a lot of fragmented habitats, and the project has brought our attention to these smaller animals. These transported vehicles are helping to ease the burden of maintaining the ecological balance of the forest.

A worker in Forestry Bureau

Protecting the forest resources is fundamental to preserving the organisms in the area; this project is a reminder that we also need to focus some attention on the endangered insect populations that are easily overlooked.

Anika Palmari

#Project 3

Adventure Bloodball

Covid-19 has turned human life upside down, and everyone seems to be focused on covid-19 resistance and recovery. Yet, one group cannot be ignored: people suffering from the aftermath, whose lives continue to suffer. They are searching for a cure, and many are risking their hopes of recovery on blood-washing technology without scientific validation. The project uses blood-washing technology as an entry point to contemplate the misuse of technology as humanity fights the new epidemic.

REASEARCH

Most people who develop COVID-19 fully recover, but The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 10%-20% of people worldwide experience a variety of mid- and long-term sequelae known as long Covid. It creates significant restrictions on their daily lives for at least two months after they recover from their initial illness.

Online communities also made a giant distinction. Online dialogue boards resembling Reddit and networks on Facebook and Twitter have made a massive distinction to long Covid group. However, such online networking has potential risks – the potential to unfold misinformation.

Some people or teams are profiting from folks’ desperation, utilizing long CovidSupport Network to benefit from providing therapy plans or various therapies resembling vitamin dietary supplements, ozone therapies, and blood washing.

Thousands of patients in the UK who suffered from long Covid-19 are either spending or planning to spend large sums of money on expensive but scientifically unproven "blood washing" in private clinics in Germany, Switzerland, or Cyprus to eliminate "long covid-19".

"Blood washing" therapy is a hemodialysis filtration treatment that involves inserting a needle into the arm and passing the blood through a filter. The plasma is filtered and recombined with the red blood cells and returned to the body through another vein And the rationale for the treatment is the assumption that the plasma of patients contains clots.

DEBATE

Estimated number of Britons reporting long Covid symptons

1,988,000

Does "blood washing" really have a therapeutic effect on long Covid?

1,209,000 Nov 2021

1,266,000 Jan 2022

1,957,000 Oct 2021

1,528,000 Feb 2022

1,724,000 March 2022

1,795,000 April 2022

British scientists expect that the number of people with long Covid will continue to increase, by the end of June, it is estimated that about 2.3 million people were infected, up 32% from the previous week. Dec 2021

1,332,000 May 2022

There are 400,000 people in the UK with long Covid whose daily life is greatly restricted. What takes minutes to complete now must take an hour or more, and efficiency is significantly reduced.

THINKING

I began treating patients with "blood washing" therapy after reading reports that Covid caused blood clotting problems. Two of my patients reported that their symptoms improved after just a few sessions.

If we don't know the mechanism by which micro clots form and whether they cause disease, then it seems premature to devise a treatment to remove them because neither blood lavage nor triple anticoagulation is without risk.

As one of those patients, I was in the same position as some of the patients, we could not wait for the results of a trial that would take years, and we were afraid that we would face a life of disability in the future. I have spent nearly £40,000 on treatments such as 'blood washing,' which has improved my symptoms dramatically.

I learned about the "blood cleansing" therapy from a Facebook group for patients with long Covid. I spent more than 50,000 euros for more than two months, receiving six rounds of "blood cleansing" in Long Covid Center. But the symptoms continued to show no improvement.

Germany's health minister recently said that long Covid will cause problems for the labour market and prevent many people in Germany from returning to their previous level of work.

With this project, I want to convey something that engages humans to think about the misuse of technology to fight new epidemics, as is now the case with the use of blood washing technology to treat long Covid, some sufferers have spent massive sums of cash on this questionable therapy. The action increases severe moral considerations and the potential for hurt and deterioration of individuals’ well-being from the treatment.

Gitte Boumeester Patient

Asad Khan Respiratory doctor

Robert Ariens

Professor of vascular biology

Dr. Beate Jaeger

DESIGN PROCESS

IDEATION

ineffective treatment possible uncertainties of blood washing treatment

blood is stolen blood functions are impaired blood is polluted

PROTOTYPE DISCUSSION

I created four simple prototypes based on the summarized keywords and intention pictures above. Then I interacted and discussed them with my classmates. Before I showed the illustrated models to them, they would make some visions, and I found that they were not so interested in models that could not disperse the illusion and relate to things in life. During the discussion with my partners, I listened to their ideas and collected some suggestions for improvement for my next iteration.

ITERATION

The look of this prototype is inspired by my collection of intention pictures in the 3d pinball game and Galton board. The ball is thrown from the entrance above, then it will be fixed on the board obstacles collision, and finally fall into the A or B exit. I wanted to present a random outcome, but also have an interactive part for the audience.

This prototype was finally chosen for iteration because it was the best received, perhaps due to its simplicity, ease of association, and some markup. In addition to keeping some of the features of this prototype, I've summarized a few of the main directions for iteration below.

I found that my students were more interested in models that resembled products they had seen, which they felt helped them to develop their imagination; on the contrary, too strange a shape would only make them feel puzzled. When seeing the model, my classmates' first question both is, "How does this thing work?"

The device should look more like some common products in life, extracting their features and adding them to the device

The installation presentation should be more in line with the theme I want to consider, with the keywords being technology, medical, blood, etc.

The parts that can be interacted with should be more straightforward and intuitive, such as setting buttons with text prompts, which are more understandable product symbols.

It was difficult for my students to relate to the theme I was exploring based on the rough model, which had no material or color, making it even more challenging to connect.

random metaphorical items of blood Interactivity all-in-one machine multiple results

Intention pictures

Intention keywords

The red spheres are used to represent the blood, including the cells and plasma in it. The track of the spheres is then altered by interoperable machines so that the spheres will fall in different containers to change, representing the unpredictable and various risks of blood washing technology.

People can press buttons to start the rotation of parts and let balls fall. The rotating parts can make the balls’ falling tracks become random, eventually making them enter different containers. And some parts of the device are designed to be tilted so that the ball can roll down due to gravity.

The first container will be placed in some items to block the ball and spray sensing components to create a sense that the ball may disappear so that the audience can guess what will happen when the ball falls into this container. The second container does not have any parts to change the ball, so the ball just fell into the container. The third container will put mud or powder that can make the ball look stained and like it has been contaminated. The fourth container will be glued to the side walls of the blade; the ball will slide into the container and cut by these blades out of the marks, and the surface will be damaged.

The uno-compatible development board controls the circuit, consisting of three more buttons, eight servos, a pressure-sensing component, and a spray component. Three buttons control the program's operation, and two hold the servo's rotation. The different rotation angles of the servos are due to the various cycle duration. The servos are programmed to be able to choose a point in time to stop rotating within 0-3s and press the button week after week. The other button controls the ±90° rotation of the servo, first in reverse and then forward, to act as a gate to automatically drop the balls.

When the ball smashes into the symbolic stolen container, the pressure will be sensed by the pressure sensor, which activates the sprayed object, and the sensing range needs to be adjusted by testing.

multiple tasks perform in the same time

Modeling needs to consider the thickness of the 3d printing problem, as well as parts assembly needs to be reserved for the space, so the model after the hidden some unit rectangular body used to accommodate parts.

The final output colour scheme was decided to chose in black, white and red, avoiding the choice of more colourful colours, to fit the somewhat serious theme of discernment. Although the device is similar to the look of the game machine, the issues explored are worthy of deep thought.

ASSEMBLY

small flat

This is the flap controlled by the DROP button. When the button is pressed, the flap will flip down with the rotation axis inside.

This part is not controlled by the button and is only used to collide with the ball

shaped rotate parts

A shaped rotating part will rotate around the center and stop at any angle after ALTER button is pressed.

rotate rods

The marked rotating lever will rotate 45° back and forth with the white circle as the center of rotation after ALTER button is pressed, and they can affect the trajectory of the falling ball.

INTERACTION LOGIC DIAGRAM

red bloodballs

The red balls are a metaphor for blood, which is the subject of change during the interaction.

ALTER button

This button controls the rotation of the black parts, which turn to random angles.

DROP button

This button controls a part of the plate that receives balls to flip over so that balls can fall below.

Change and significance of different containers

containers

The four containers are different and the balls will change differently when they enter different containers.

The ball obscured by cotton and mist is like some operation in the blood washing process that is unknown to the patient; perhaps someone is making some trade in which there is no evidence that the patient's blood is unhealthy, so their blood may be exchanged to a small group of patients who need it very much.

The absence of any change in the ball represents an ineffective treatment, which may be the best outcome, but patients also spend a lot of their savings, which hits them financially.

The ball falling among the ash, mapping the blood washing process may be contaminated in the external environment, becoming an invisible danger threatening patient safety; however, these contaminations are not necessarily as intuitive as the ash-soaked ball.

The ball dropped into a container covered with sharp blades, its surface was scratched, intended to map the blood cells or the blood washing machine will damage plasma when they return to the patient's body, no longer as regular as before to serve the body.

INTERACTION

AUDIENCE COMMENTS

“The way this project presents the problem is interesting to me. Medical technology and game consoles don't seem to be linked together but have the same random nature in this problem.”

REFLECTIVE THOUGHT

In this project, I rethink techniques to fight new epidemics. Not only bloodwashing therapy but also other techniques have been controversial. Misusing medical technology raises many ethical questions, and the unknown risks can bring new blows to people's lives. When the technology of therapy is accompanied by various uncertainties, which blur the relationship between technology and human beings, we need to rethink and re-examine. Hopefully, my project will engage the audience in thinking about what I am contemplating.

VIEW THE VIDEO

“I’m shocked that people who suffer from long Covid need to take such terrible risks to heal their bodies, and I can hardly imagine what I would do if I were one of them.”