Leaves Leaves DPI37 Everyday Living: Web of Light Student: J.Y.J. Huberts M1.1 s070991 Coach: L. Reindl
Abstract
Web of Light
Every day, hour, minute, second data about us, our movements, our behavior is recorded. This happens often without our knowledge and permission. Sometimes, we do have access to this data, most of the times we don’t. The Everyday Living; Web of Light project tries to open up these data streams to give people back the ownership of their data.
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Index
Introduction
Web of Light _ Abstract
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Introduction _ Index _ Project description _ Vision on project _ Process
_05 _06 _07 _08
Research _ Start of project _ Strijp-S _ Research questions _ Plans Strijp-S _ Data visualization _ Lighting _ Inspiration in practice _ Data information knowledge _ Research conclusion
_11 _11 _12 _12 _13 _14 _15 _19 _19
Idea phase _ First brainstorm _ Individual analysis _ Social friction _ Characteristics high urban _ Inspiration _ input, feedforward, feedback _ Position of social friction _ Friction points on Strijp-S
_21 _22 _22 _23 _24 _27 _28 _29
Interim exhibition _ exhibition set up _ Feedback interim exhibition _ Meeting Lorna Goulden
_35 _36 _37
Concept phase _ Traces _ Concept of physical traces _ Goal of changing behavior _ Green-S _ Brainstorm in context _ Moving screens _ Form giving _ Point of reflection _ Explorations with paper _ Tests MDF and fabric _ Development _ New prototype
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_39 _40 _41 _42 _43 _44 _45 _46 _47 _48 _49 _49
Leaves _ Concept description _ Persuasive behavior of Leaves _ Construction Leaves _ Material Leaves _ Behavior Leaves _ Scenario _ Software Leaves _ Production of Leaves _ Context of Leaves _ Future experience Leaves _ Future advice
_51 _52 _55 _56 _57 _58 _59 _60 _61 _62 _63
_ Reflection on project
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_ Appendix
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Project description Everyday Living poses three important challenges on design: First, personalization for everyday use is important for truly embedding designed objects and systems into our life. How can we design for a natural fit, not just in terms of aesthetics, but also matching the unique way we as individuals use the design over time (during every single day, and for months or years). The second challenge is the design of adaptive systems, which goes beyond the design of (interactive) products. Systems can be extremely dynamic, might grow and change over time. Third, systems are often working in a system themselves; how can we design for that, how can users make use of such complex systems.
Vision on project How to support inhabitants, professionals, and visitors with information in the Strijp-S area everyday is a major question.
In my vision on design and society I state that I want to make people aware of the world around them. The world we live in is quite a nice place, but not everyone experiences this since people get hastier and don’t take time to look around. I want to design experiences and services that provide people the chance to get to rediscover the world around them. In this, I want to learn people to use their own bodily skills to get back to who and what they really are.
In this project, I want to show people the beauty of the area they live in. For this I will ask active participation in the system through inherent meaningful interaction based on the bodily skills of the users of the area.
In my opinion, the Web of Light project gives the opportunity to investigate the opportunities in developing open systems that translate abstract data to concrete information in a simple way. For me this provides the opportunity to design an installation that makes people conscious of the world around them.
Appendix A: Project description
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Process
Decisioning
direction social friction
Thinking
research questions
first brainstorms
Making Exploring Envisioning
Research project description
analyzing Strijp-S
Introduction
research data visualization
research light
Research conclusion
vision on project
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inspiration
data-informationknowledge
direction traces
individual brainstorm
inspiration
exhibition set up
interim
input, feedforward, feedback
position of friction
recap vision
final persuasive concept behavior
concept moving sunscreens
concept phase
concept physical traces
idea phase
characteristics
context Green-S
brainstorm
development
context
construction material behavior software leaves leaves leaves leaves
MDF and fabric tests prototype form generation paper prototype
production leaves
Leaves
development
meeting Lorna Goulden
point of reflection
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future experience tests
future advice
Research
Start of project
Strijp-S
At the beginning of the project, time was needed to get accustomed to the project. The project description is very broad and provides a lot of opportunities in a lot of directions. To get an overview of this, several group discussions were held with the proposers and students of the project. Regarding (interactive) ambient lighting, already a lot has been commissioned within the Strijp-S area. Most outstanding requests are already assigned to (well known) light designers. To keep the results from this project realistic, the results should not interfere with these plans that already exist.
Strijp-S1 used to be an industrial site of Dutch electronics concern Philips. From 1922 till 2000 it has been a closed part of the city that was only accessible for people that worked there. In the 1920’s and 1930’s most of the big characteristic buildings were built as factories. At first, mainly light bulbs and radios were produced. In later years this changed to television screens. The area also hosted the laboratories of Philips where research was done about light, radiation and sound engineering. In the late 1990’s Philips moved the production and research facilities out of the area. More and more buildings got abandoned. In 2000, the area was opened for people. At this time the redevelopment of Strijp-S started.
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www.strijp-s.nl
Research questions
Plans Strijp-S
The project description was still very broad, leading to the fact that design choices could be made in several directions. Therefor, a set of research questions was set for the start of the project. These questions focused mainly on the area of Strijp-S and the possibilities regarding data and light in this project.
Since 2000, plans have been made to give the Strijp-S area new functionality2. Old buildings were demolished and new activities were pulled to the area. Particularly the creative/design sectors were attracted. The building activities will take until 2020. During this time several new buildings will be built and old buildings will get new functions like houses, offices and retail facilities. The Strijp-S area will be used as a testing ground for LED lighting by Philips. This is an interesting point for this project, since it provides interesting opportunities for the future. In this refurbishment of Strijp-S, a lot of stakeholders are involved, of which the most important are:
_ What are the plans with the Strijp-S area? How will it be developed and who are the stakeholders? _ What data can be acquired? How is it translated into information at this moment? _ What kinds of light can be used to visualize data?
Data visualization Park Strijp Beheer; the organization that administers the development of the Strijp area and is the official owner of the area. Trudo3; the housing corporation that will manage most of the rental housing facilities on Strijp-S. Municipality of Eindhoven; the municipality is one of the promoters and contributors to the redevelopment of Strijp-S. They benefit from the added value to the city that Strijp-S will create. VolkerWessels; the contractor that is doing most of the building activities in the area. Woonbedrijf; develops the bigger homes in the Strijp-S area. Philips Design; responsible for most of the lighting applications in the plans of the redevelopment of Strijp-S. 2 3
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In a high urban environment like Strijp-S a lot of data can be acquired. This can range from social data (amount of people, paths of people, social friction) to external factors (weather, pollution), to technical data (energy usage, internet usage, money flows) or a more abstract level like mood of people in the area.
data like InfoGraphs. For this project, the physical solutions to represent data will be of more value. Physical representation has more opportunities to create interesting interactions in public space that suite the vision on this project.
At the moment, data visualization is a rising trend in the field of design. To provide information to people, data is translated in more understandable figures or language, mostly in a digital visual way. One way of visualizing data is to represent a data set in an abstract manner. An example of this is the Datafountain, a fountain that shows the values of the most common currencies by adapting the height of the beam of water. This is one of the examples to embody data, more used is an appealing graphical representation of
Strijp-S, the Creative Stad, P van den Hurk, TU/e, 2009 www.trudo.nl
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Lighting Strijp-S is an old Philips factory. Partially because of this, Eindhoven is known as the City of Light. Eindhoven has a rich history in innovations in light. For a long time Philips has developed his incandescence bulbs in Eindhoven, at Strijp-S, now they are developing new uses for LED technology at the High Tech Campus, situated in the south-west of Eindhoven.
opportunities to work with shadows, but also regarding the transport of natural light through fibers. Besides these two conventional applications, opportunities lie in the use of natural lights like alleges and fireflies.
Inspiration in practice
Internet of things
To elaborate more on the last two questions, concrete examples were put together. This was to create an overview of what there already has been done in the field of this project and to gather inspiration.
description: Pachube4 (“patch-bay”, currently known as Cosm) connects people to devices, applications, and the Internet of Things. As a web-based service built to manage the world’s real-time data, Pachube gives people the power to share, collaborate, and make use of information generated from the world around them opportunity: Pachube can be an interesting service to manage and use the data of the people in the Strijp-S area. Data can be transformed real time into visualizations.
For visualizing data, different kinds of light can be used. Due to the history of the area, electric lighting would be most obvious. This can range from old light bulbs to new technologies like OLED. These technologies would fit the area good, but are also the main part of the already developed light structures. The big buildings and long avenues in the area provide another opportunity for using light. These structures cause interesting interplays with environmental light. This creates
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www.cosm.com
Nederland van boven
Studio Roosegaarde
Wall-E
Aaron Koblin
description: “Nederland van boven�5 is a series of documentaries about the Netherlands. Filmed mostly out of the air, it gives an interesting view on the data streams in the Netherlands. Central themes like transport, waterways and energy consumption are discussed in short documentaries.
description: Studio Roosegaarde6 creates interactive artworks that explore the dynamic relation between public space, people, and technology. The studio develops its own technology and is internationally known for interactive projects such as Dune and Sustainable Dance Floor.
description: In the distant future, a small waste collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
description: Aaron Koblin7 is an American digital media artist best known for his innovative uses of data visualization and crowd sourcing. He is currently Creative Director of the Data Arts Team at Google Creative Lab in San Francisco, California.
opportunity; The way of visualizing data and interpreting data can provide new insights on the data gathered in the Strijp-S area
opportunity: At the moment, most of the interactive art of this studio does not reflect any peripheral data. Only more recent plans, developed in co-operation with the city of Almere and the city of Eindhoven uses data gathered from the direct surroundings. The pieces of art made by the studio can be used in a wider scope to visualize data.
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www.vpro.nl/nederlandvanboven
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opportunity: If we emphasize too much on integrating all everyday objects in one overarching system (the internet of things), the danger arises that people get used to a world that is fully re-active. This will transform people from pro-active to non-active. We do not want to become the fat people, driving around in small carts and watching movies the whole day, that can be seen in the movie Wall-E.
opportunity: Aaron’s work takes realworld and community generated data and uses it to reflect on cultural trends and the changing relationship between humans and the systems they create.
www.studioroosegaarde.net
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www.aaronkoblin.com
Access
Moodwall
Data information knowledge
Research conclusion
description: ACCESS8 is an an interactive installation that lets web users track anonymous individuals in public places, by pursuing them with a robotic spotlight and acoustic beam system.
description: The Moodwall9 is a pilot project for a 70 meter long media wall proposal by Urban Alliance which won a competition for ideas to improve the public space of the social unsafe area of the Amsterdam Bijlmer.
Based on the research done, three goals were set for the project:
opportunity: In this relatively old interactive art installation, web users are already able to influence and direct other people in an unconscious way.
opportunity: While this wall interacts with the people passing by, the concept could also be used differently to represent data from the area. This can be the Strijp-S area, but it can also reflect data from different areas around the globes and visualize this on a big LED wall.
Data is produced at any time, at any place, by every object10. Data exists all around us. But on its own, data does not have an absolute meaning. In fact data does not have an absolute meaning at all. Data gets a meaning when it is translated into information. This translation can happen in ones head, in a system, or in a machine. People are not always aware of this translation. When one looks out of the window for example and sees dark clouds, it may be perceived as that rain is coming. This is a translation from data (the dark clouds) to information (it may start to rain). Knowledge is generated based on experiences with information. If one experiences that some kind of information means something, it can be seen as knowledge. This process of translating data into knowledge has to be taken in account when designing data visualizations.
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www.accessproject.net
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www.urbanalliance.nl
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_ Personalization for everyday use, natural fit: no passive role of the system, but not overwhelming/obstructing. _ The design of an adaptive system, dynamic and growing: a system that adapts to the environment and grows physically or virtually. _ Design a complex system that can function as a system in a meta system.
http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm
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These goals were combined in a rewritten design goal that was used to start the idea generation: Show people the beauty of the area they live in. Create a system that gives the illusion that the user has the power to see how the area evolves during the everyday cycle. The system has to ask for participation during the everyday of people in the public areas they visit. The relation between feed forward, action and feedback should be clear, assuming that there is feed forward. Creating inherent interaction can be hard but should be focused on. The danger lies in the peripheral character of the system as it may disappear in the environment.
First brainstorm To start developing ideas, a start was made with an orientating brainstorm. Goal of this brainstorm was to get an idea of what opportunities there exist within this project. During the brainstorm, the context of the project was analyzed. Involved people were categorized and possible sets of data were made.
Idea phase
People, companies and associations that are involved: Park Strijp beheer, Municipality of Eindhoven, VolkerWessels, Trudo, Woonbedrijf, Philips Design, Spoorzone NV, inhabitants of Eindhoven, workers, visitors (professional), visitors (recreative), companies (big/ small), High Tech Campus, TU/ epersonalization, smell, mood, creativity
Group behavior Accidents
Data
Crime
Human
Social media Agenda Crowds
Internet usage
Parking places
Wind
Foot steps Cars
Logistics
Temperature
Environmental
Everyday
Transport Busses
City
Energy Money flows
Innovations
Friction Health
Sun
Abstract
Cultures
Social data
Weather
Layers
Labels
Traffic jams
Pollution
Pedestrians
Greenerey Light
Speed
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Traffic lights
Interests Mood
Subjective Smell
Personalization Creativity
Individual analysis
Social friction
After paying a visit to Strijp-S and categorizing the data sets, an individual brainstorm was done. In this brainstorm, each data category was discussed to look for opportunities. In this area, there will be a lot of social activity in the future. People will live, work and recreate in the area. This means a lot of traffic, by foot, car, bicycle, bus and train. Interesting relations can be seen between this transport activity and how people perceive the area. A lot of motorized traffic will give another impression than transport by foot or bicycle. Also the greenery in the area ads to the value people give to the area. This value is important for a good quality of living.
Inherent to places where people live is the appearance of social friction11. People leave traces wherever they go, these traces influence other people. This can be in a direct way (bumping into each other) or in an indirect way (irritation about waste on the street, graffiti). Social friction can occur between individuals or between groups. The existence of social friction is not necessarily a negative happening, it can bring people together and can function as an exchange of values. This can bring different (sub)cultures and classes closer to each other. Besides social friction between different human agents, friction can also be seen as an interplay between a human and the environment. This is not necessarily seen as social friction.
Characteristics of high urban areas Since a high urban area like Strijp-S will see a lot of social friction (a lot of people living and moving in the area), this project was an interesting opportunity to elaborate more on social friction. People will leave their traces in the area, these traces will cross each other and influence each other.
Strijp-S will be developed into a so called high urban area. A high urban area is characterized by intensive and multipurpose use of space in the vicinity of high quality public transport12. In this area, a lot of functions are available on a small surface of land. Functions like living, working and relaxation are combined in this area. Currently, multiple old industrial areas are redeveloped into high urban areas. This leads to upcoming creative sectors in the centers of big cities. Strijp-S is an example of this trend.
ondergrond
ruimte
Kralensnoer van groene Trail of greenery
tolu Big parts low-traďŹƒc w
Gebruik van daken en Use of roofs & ground
kna View of nature
e kij
Meerlagig Multi-layer buildings Designing for Social Friction, R.H. Jensen & T.U. Lenskjold, IT University of Copenhagen, 2004 11
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Grote delen au
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tuur
encold koude Heat and storage
Factsheet hoogstedelijk gebied, Ruimte X Milieu, 2007
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Inspiration To gain inspiration about the context of Strijp-S, high urban areas and light installations, collages were made.
When looking at other high urban areas, for example New York city, what strikes most is the activity in the areas. Living and working happen on the same spot on every time of the day. All kinds of traffic pass each other the whole day.
Looking at Strijp-S, a transition can be seen from old factory area to high urban area. The old factories will become houses, offices and cultural places.
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Data input, feedforward, feedback Already a lot has been done in the field of interactive light or light art. For inspiration for this project, existing projects were gathered that showed potention to visualize data in some kind of way.
In the concept, a division can be made in stages of interaction. The first would be data input, where data is gathered. This data is translated to a function in the system. The first step that is visible for people is the stage where people will get persuaded to emerge in interaction. If this feedforward is not clear and convincing enough, people will not approach and interaction will stay out or less intensive. When successful, the feedforward will result in action. Following the feedforward, people will act and have interaction with the system. The final step, feedback, is important to commit people to the system. If the feedback is not convincing, or does not show any relation with the action, there will be less reason to get committed to the system, and thus, to keep using it.
Traces
With these three phases, a brainstorm was started to come with ideas in the different stages and combine those to ideas. This means that every feedforward method could lead to several action/feedback methods.
Travel times Time Heartrate Ceelphone data
Data input
Patterns
Crowds
Weather
Routes Kinect
Groups Speed Identity
Curiosity
Intuition
Cognition Wondering
Light
Feedback Form
Projections Billboards Flushes Lighting traces Movement Perception Moving light roof Dome of light
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Colors
Perception
Feedforward
Steam vents Nature Sound Moving natural roof Water
Greenery
Space
Shape
Place Phone
Falling leaves
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Movement
Screens
Position of social friction
Friction points on Strijp-S
Social friction is an abstract concept that can be interpreted in different ways. In a high urban environment, social friction can occur at almost every public spot13. Some spots will get more influenced by social friction than others, these spots are called friction points. When looking at the role of the friction points in the concept, it can be seen as a central spot in the interaction structure. The friction points get influenced by the inhabitants of the area and the environment. Assuming that there is a peripheral sensor system in the area, an interplay can be seen between the sensors and the friction points, influenced by the central point of interaction. This central point of interaction will consist of the output of this project. This process of exchanging data and influences is shown in the diagram.
When looking at the Strijp-S area, different friction points can be pointed out. These points change position, according to the time of day. In the morning, the friction will show up mostly at the borders of the area, when people enter and leave the area for working and studying purposes. At the end of the morning and in the afternoon, the friction points will be situated more inside the area, at these times people living in the area will visit the local shops and business men will go for a lunch break walk. Towards the evening, the friction points will move more to the borders again, since work and study transport will be there again, now in opposite direction. In the evening the points will be spread over the area, depending on the activities in the areas.
peripheral sensor system
friction points
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tra
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ap p
av
co
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in be flue ha nc vio e ur
appearance change
friction
influence people
central poi
nc
inhabitants
subjective data
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data
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meet people + environment
Morning 7:30 AM
Residential Offices Retail/Horeca Entertainment Greenery
environment
13 Designing for Social Friction, R.H. Jensen & T.U. Lenskjold, IT University of Copenhagen, 2004
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Afternoon 13:00 PM
Morning 11:00 AM
Residential OďŹƒces Retail/Horeca Entertainment Greenery
Residential OďŹƒces Retail/Horeca Entertainment Greenery
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Afternoon 17:30 PM
Evening 22:00 PM
Residential OďŹƒces Retail/Horeca Entertainment Greenery
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Residential OďŹƒces Retail/Horeca Entertainment Greenery
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Set up interim exhibition For the interim exhibition, a small part of Strijp-S was built in cardboard, including people and trees. This model was used to explain the three directions based on scenarios that could happen. The traces were represented by wool wires. The goal was to get in dialogue with people and come to new scenarios with the help of the model
Interim exhibition
To show the process until then, a look book was made as interim report. This book contained pictures and diagrams of the process and the design decisions.
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Feedback interim exhibitions
Meeting Lorna Goulden
During the interim exhibition feedback was given by several visiting students and coaches. The main idea that was discussed is the value people will get out of the concept. How will people experience it and what will it add to their everyday life? The questions came what kind of awareness there will be created. There has to be considered if people will get more aware of others in their surroundings, of their surroundings or something else.
On the second exhibition day, a presentation for Lorna Goulden, Lead creative director at Philips Design, was done. In this meeting the participants in the project showed their ideas and had time to discuss these. The look book was used to explain the design directions. Notable feedback was mainly on the behavior of people. All people behave different, dependent on context, but also on identity. For body language, the same principle goes. The body language of every person is different in different contexts.
If an interactive installation like this is placed in public space, you have to watch out that it doesn’t get boring. People will pass it regularly, maybe even everyday. It has to stay interesting every time they pass. Take care of this slight change in behavior.
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with just visualizing activity in an area in an abstract way. Focus on this and start with changing behavior at a later stage. An interesting phenomenon to look into are elephant traces. These are paths created by people, without paying attention to how architects planned the area. This unintentional behavior is interesting since it shows the real behavior of people.
Creating awareness is difficult, an experience like this is dependent on previous experiences. This means that no experience is the same for any person. To get deeper in this you have to emerge in the context of people. But most important is to leave room and space for own representation, to create ambiguity. Lorna advised to start
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Traces
Concept phase
Based on the discussions held during the exhibition, the phenomenon of (elephant) traces was elaborated more. There are many appealing examples of elephant traces. Snowboarders create paths while riding a mountain. Other snowboarders see those traces and participate on them. They start following them, cross them, or perceive them as warning and avoid them. Wild animals create paths on the fields they walk on, for certain reasons they keep using the same route, creating a path. Other animals and humans see this path and use it as a safe walking route. People do the same, when they need to walk around a field, instead they have the tendency to cross it, thereby eventually creating a path.
on stairs, in metros and at squares, this behavior can be seen. People leave traces everywhere they go, this can not only seen by the wear on the places they walk but also by physical objects they leave like thrash or used public transport tickets.
This interesting unintentional behavior happens also at a smaller scale, at places where the result is not directly visible in snow or grass. Also
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Concept of physical traces
Goal of changing behavior
Analyzing existing traces and the way they are produced, the idea arose to create physical traces on friction points. These traces would show the traces of people that have just passed, but maybe also the traces from longer ago. Eventually they could show one’s traces from the previous day to create awareness about the routes taken. With these physical traces, people could be persuaded to start using other routes, thereby discovering new parts of the area they live in. To elaborate on this concept, concrete ideas were created. Those ideas can be divided in two categories; tangible and non-tangible. The tangible ideas focused on the idea of carving a path on the everyday routes of people, this could be done with grass like fibers, sand or moving objects. The non-tangible ideas would be more abstract, using LED light, glass fibers or projections.
In a coach meeting, the idea of physical traces was discussed. In the following discussion the idea of changing the routes of people was elaborated. Changing behavior is a big step to make. Giving people the feeling that they are distracted from their daily routine can already be enough to reach the goal of making people more aware of the beautiful area they live in. Besides that, visualizing the traces of people in a convincing way is a goal in itself. The goal of changing behavior of people was discarded, the emphasis was put on visualizing traces in a way that people would get more aware of their surroundings and their fellow citizens.
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Green-S
Brainstorm in context
The ideas generated before were still broad and could be applied in almost any context on Strijp-S. A new trip to Strijp-S was made to analyze the possible contexts in the area. A big part of the area is still under construction but is getting its final shape. While checking all the friction points-to-be, it appeared that most of these points are situated on or around the two big lanes, the Philitelaan and the Torenallee. These lanes will consist of long broad streets with trees along the pavements. Pedestrians will walk between those trees. At the moment these places of greenery are indicated as Green-S. Since most friction points are situated in these areas, Green-S was chosen as context.
With a defined context, a new brainstorm session was held in context. A solution based on electric light did not fit the context of greenery. Lamps would distort the scenery. More interesting would be to use the natural movement of the trees and the wind, maybe combined with a natural light source. A drawing brainstorm was done on this, focusing on moving objects between the trees. Objects between trees will create shadows, since they interfere with the sunlight coming from above. This direction of playing with sunlight was seen as a starting point for the concept development. A disadvantage is the lack of sunlight at nighttime. At night time, there lie possibilities for the use of other natural sources of light like light emitting coatings or bacteria.
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Moving screens
Form giving
Sunlight is a natural distributor of light that is present all the time. The light of the sun creates shadows on the ground and on the people passing under the trees. What if the leaves of the trees would react on the passing people underneath? If one passes a tree, the leaves would open up and a projection of the path will appear, created by sunlight. When passed, they slowly close, showing a fading path. By coating the leaves with a light emitting substance, the feedback process could work the other way around. At daytime, the light is absorbed, at nighttime, this light will be emitted. Traces will now be dark, instead of light. Interaction at day or night will be different, creating curiosity among the passers by.
The form of the moving screens was still not defined at this point. In the first sketches, the screens were triangular and covered almost the whole ceiling of the alleys. Explorative sketches were made to come to different forms of the screens. Inspiration was retrieved from existing patterns in art and mathematics. The challenge was found in letting those patterns open when interacting with passers by. Complicated forms can not always be simplified to a screen that grows and shrinks on demand. Another disadvantage of these forms is that they look strongest in a big field, which would mean the whole ceiling would be covered, leaving no view on the trees. Therefor, the focus changed to creating forms that would blend in the background of waving leaves.
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More organic shapes were created to get a better association with the context of Green-S. These shapes were based on the form of leaves, particularly the leaves of plane trees, since this will be the trees planted in the area.
Point of reflection While working on the development of the concept, questions arose about the value people would get from this. Was it still valuable for the people in the area and how would society benefit from it? For this a couple of questions were stated to get the overview on the project. _ What do people get from it? The simple area they pass regularly starts to show their moving patterns. Not only their own patterns, but also the patterns from other people living in the area. People will gain the value of awareness of the things that are outside their own world. _ What does society get from it? Different sub groups of people will get to know traces in their environment. Due to the day-night interplay, people get triggered to change their patterns.
Explorations with paper _ How does it create value? The system records movements of people at several times of the day. This data will be used to create behavior in the opening screens in idle mode. Passing people can extract and add data by participating.
While experimenting with the opening of the screens, inspiration was retrieved from the way thin MDF can be made flexible. By making short cuts in the MDF in certain patterns, it gains the ability to bend. When applying this to paper, the paper gets the ability to open when stretched. In this way, light can shine through or light can be blocked by stretching or letting go the paper.
several leaves, the leaves could open and turn apart from each other. The other form could move in itself, making the incisions open or close, dependent on the direction the leave moved.
Different patterns were created to test how this principle worked. To open up equally, the cuts have to be divided all over the surface, making it possible for the material to stretch. The length of the cuts should not differ too much. More organic patterns were created based on the organic screen forms. Out of this, two possible forms were chosen. The forms were again inspired on the form of the trees that will be planted in the Strijp-S area. One of the forms had Appendix B: patterns paper test
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Test MDF and fabric First prototypes were built of both designs. In the end, the leaves had to be able to produce shadow and light based on their movement, this had to be tested. A requirement was that with subtle movement the transparency of the screens would change significantly. This would add to the persuasiveness of the concept. The models of the frames were made out of 2mm MDF. This is cheap and easy to adapt when cut. Later on this proved to be useful when slight changes had to be made in the models. The screens were made of thin black stretch cotton. Different patterns of incisions were cut to see what worked best.
Development
New prototype
since not every part of the screen was able to move. So extra cuts were made with a scalpel. The model with several leaves turned out to be to blunt. The frames blocked most of the light and the screens did not open that far. The model with one big leaf opened up in a more interesting way, showing different patterns based on the direction it moved.
For a next test, the patterns of incisions had to be elaborated more. The few lines in the previous version turned out to be too large and too scarce. A new pattern was designed with 2mm space between every incision. The incisions followed the form of the screen to make it open in a more natural way.
The new pattern was cut in fabric to see how it would behave with light. When mounted, the pattern looked more natural with the rest of the frame, making it a whole. When the frame was moved, the screens opened gradually. When the frame was moved the other way, the screens opened in another way, showing a different kind of pattern. These different patterns provided opportunities for a richer interaction than the model with several leaves. The strength lay in the subtlety of movement that changed the appearance of the screen.
Appendix C: laserfiles first test
Appendix D: developed patterns
After cutting, the models were mounted. It appeared that more cuts were needed in the fabric. With three or less cuts, the leaves did not open
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Concept description
Leaves
Leaves is an interactive installation of sunscreens designed to show traces of passers by. Leaves consists of dozens of 1,5 meter high oval sunscreens placed between the trees of a big alley. When people pass underneath the screens, the screens will open, giving sunlight the chance to light the path. Based on the patterns of traces people leave, Leaves will open in different ways. At night, the feedback will be opposite, showing spots of light that fade to black when people pass. Leaves tries to pull people’s gazes to the skies, makes them wonder what happens and shows them their surroundings.
they live in by interacting with it. Leaves is the means in this process. Different people will perceive Leaves in different ways, creating their own meaning through interaction.
People will experience the world around them through their own bodily skills. This refers back to the constitution of meaning in interaction of Merleau-Ponty. Meaning is created through interaction, so people will only experience the meaning of the area
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Persuasive behavior Leaves Leaves is a concept that has to create a different mindset for people. People have to become more curious for their environment. To gain this stage of awareness, people have to start realizing that is nice to see more of the world, starting in their own everyday environment. When looking at the Trans theoretical model of Prochaska14 it can be stated that there has to take place a transition from the contemplation stage, where people start to think their environment is interesting, to the action or maintenance phase, where people will start to look around and discover their environment.
Blue
Purple
Gray
Black
do new behavior
do familiar behavior
increase behavior
decrease behavior
stop behavior
behavior
behavior
behavior
behavior
transition
Dot
behavior
is done one time
precontemplation
contemplation
preparation
action
maintenance
behavior
has speciďŹ c duration
Path
Green
a permanent change
a new permanent change
behavior
To analyze the reasons why people would see the usefulness of Leaves, the six influences16 from Cialdini can be used. The main influence that would be applicable is the principle of Commitment and Consistence, people are likely to keep using the system when they once experienced it. Besides this, the principle of Social Proof would be applicable. When more persons are using the system, one will be more likely to follow.
Span
behavior
14
Green
In Fogg’s behavior grid15, this would be a behavior change in the GreenPath category, indicating that it is a new behavior that will last permanently. People will start to discover their living and working environment. With the envisioned result, they will become more curious in general, wanting to discover the world also outside their everyday.
path
Prochaska, 1983, 1988)
15 16
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B.J. Fogg, 2009, The behavior Grid Cialdini, 2003, Six influences
Construction Leaves The above mentioned can be analyzed with Fogg’s Functional triad17. When looking at the three areas in this model, the Tool function would be represented by the peripheral sensor system that measures the presence of people, surveillance, this increases the capability of the system to interact with the passers by. The Medium would be to motivate people by object simulation, helping people to rehearse a certain behavior by showing their traces. The Social Actor role will mostly be in the field of physical representation; opening and closing of the screens.
Tool peripheral sensor system
Medium
object simulation
17 B.J. Fogg, 2003, Persuasive Technology, Using computers to change what we think we do
Social Actor physical representation
Along an alley with trees, for example the Torenallee, groups of Leaves have to be placed in a long pattern. For this, steel wires will be mounted between the trees to provide a network of cables where the leaves can be positioned on. In this way the positions of the Leaves is not fixed, but can be adapted based on the form and growth of the trees. This means that Leaves can emerge more naturally in the environment. The whole Leaves concept is modular and modules will be standalone, all connected to a network. Since the modules are standalone, it is easier to replace on module when it is broken. There is no need to replace the whole system, one part can be taken out and replaced. This way of managing a system saves material, time and money.
Appendix E: technical drawings Leaves
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Material Leaves The leaves will be hanging outside in all weathers. This means that the materials used have to be able to withstand all kinds of wear. There will be wind, rain, snow and sun. For the stretchable screens a light material has to be used that can block the sun. For this screens of acrylic fiber can be used, like in regular sun screens. The advantage of acrylic fiber is the wear it can withstand. Besides that, it is water resistant and has a high elongation at break. By cutting the screens with a laser, the incisions can be made, making the acrylic fiber stretchable. The frame of the leaves has to be strong enough to pull the incisions in the screens open and it has to be strong enough to endure heavy gusts of wind. For this, stiffness and a low break index are required. Aluminum
Behavior Leaves could have been an option, but to make the leaves more wind resistant, fiberglass beams were chosen.
Every Leaves module is stand alone. This means that every module can work on it self when mounted in the trees. Every Leaves module has its own hardware (the frame, the screens, mounting points and CPU). When more Leaves modules are combined, they can communicate to expand their behavior. The behavior of a solo module will look as follows:
For the joints, aluminum connection pieces will be used. On every end of a beam, one connection piece will be placed. The connection pieces will be connected with of the shelf screws that are also attached to the steel wires between the trees.
Idle mode - the screen remains closed, letting just a little light through the incisions. When windy, the module will slowly open and close with the rhythm of the trees. If it is in idle mode for a longer time, it will start to show patterns it remembers, showing traces.
Every module will have a sonar sensor to track if there are people walking by. Based on the input of this sensor, the module will determine its behavior. A more crowded area will trigger different behavior than a quiet area with some lonely passers by.
Approach mode - the screen is approached by someone. The screen will react on this by opening a little in a breathing like pattern.
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more modules will participate in the interaction with just one person. If a series of modules is in idle for a longer time, they will start to show traces they remember together. In this way previous traces are reconstructed, showing people new possible traces.
Pass mode - the screen is passed by someone. The screen will open and the path of the passer by will be lit on the ground. Return mode - the screen will slowly close again, the trace will fade out slowly, leaving enough time for other people to discover the trace. When more Leaves modules are combined in, for example, a long corridor, the behavior of the modules will change. A module will know when someone is approaching, based on this information the behavior of the module can be adapted. Modules can start opening a bit to show new paths to passers by, or they open all up to enlighten the path. This behavior is context dependent. In a crowded environment, the system of modules will be more dynamic since it reacts on more people. In a quite environment
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Scenario
In idle mode the Leaves modules are hardly moving, they will start moving when someone approaches to attract attention.
When someone approaches a module closely, the module will attract attention by changing it’s appearance. The module will try to create more shadow. When a module is passed by someone, the module will produce a spot of sunlight behind the person, showing the persons trace.
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As the person walks on, the screens that are passed will slowly close, showing a fading path on the ground. If a person starts walking in the other direction, the modules will spread their attention and will focus on the movement that is closest by.
When a module has closed again completely, it will go into idle mode again. If it stays in this mode for a longer time, it might start showing traces it remembers from previous passers by.
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Software Leaves
Production of Leaves
The behavior mentioned above has to be programmed. Every Leaves module will have its own separate micro controller that has to take care of the execution of this behavior.
Leaves will be an installation that is only placed at one spot, Strijp-S, in the beginning. Therefor, mass production is not needed. This also influences the way it is produced. Production will take place at a small scale, assembly will probably be done by hand. The following parts are needed to assemble one Leaves module:
If the sensor gives a value that does not indicate that someone is passing, the module has to execute the idle method. This means the screen does not open, but after a while it will start to show patterns it remembers.
_ 4 long beams, 10mm fiberglass, 850 mm
If the sensor gives a value that does indicate that someone is passing, the module has to execute the approach method. The screen will start opening slowly to attract people. When the person passes the screen, the screen will be fully opened, showing a spot of sunlight on the ground. When the person has passed, the screen will return to idle mode via the return method, making the screen close slow.
_ 4 short beams, 10mm fiberglass, 400 mm _ 16 joints _ 4 screens A _ 4 screens B _ 6 8x16mm bolts and nuts
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Context of Leaves The 10mm fiberglass beams can be ordered from the shelve in the right sizes, 850 mm and 400 mm. The joints have to be custom made at an iron hardware store. This will only be efficient when enough modules of Leaves will be produced, therefor, more applications have to be found. The screens of the modules will be made of regular acrylic fiber. With a laser cutter, or cutting plotter, the incisions can be made. This has to be very accurate, if there is too much difference in the cuts, the screens will not open equal. The edges of the screens will be sewed in tubes to fit around the fiberglass. In this way the screens will be fixed tight to the frame, giving it more weather resistance.
Leaves is designed with Strijp-S in mind as context. It is placed in the context of Green-S with trees surrounding it and many people passing by. When this context of social friction points in the Strijp-S area is taken away, Leaves maintains its function. Leaves can be seen in other contexts as well. If it is exploited in different contexts, possibilities for mass production would appear. This can lead to a more profitable production process. Although the original concept can be lost, the use of the interactive flexible sunscreens can be interesting for other utilities. _ Consumer market. Leaves can be sold as modular interactive sunscreens for domestic use. People can create their own set of Leaves in their garden, home or balcony. Since Leaves will be sold as modular sunscreens, consumers can make combinations.
_ Inside buildings. For governmental institutions, Leaves can be an interesting addition to big main halls. Leaves can be used as moving sunscreen on glass roofs, creating interesting play of shadows can show up. _ Festivals. On music or art and technology festivals, Leaves can be used as temporary sunscreen. For these festivals, Leaves can be enlarged to create more shadow. Leaves can form the roof for a meeting point on these festivals. _ Third world. Leaves can be a cheap solution to create shadow when necessary in less fortunate countries. It can be created out of bamboo and simple cotton to make an analog version of Leaves and to be used on fields or houses.
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Future experience Leaves Leaves is designed with Strijp-S in mind as context. It is placed in the context of Green-S with trees surrounding it and many people passing by. When this context of social friction points in the Strijp-S area is taken away, Leaves maintains its function. Leaves can be seen in other contexts as well. If it is exploited in different contexts, possibilities for mass production would appear. This can lead to a more profitable production process. Although the original concept can be lost, the use of the interactive flexible sunscreens can be interesting for other utilities. - Consumer market. Leaves can be sold as modular interactive sunscreens for domestic use. People can create their own set of Leaves in their garden, home or balcony. Since Leaves will be sold as modular sunscreens, consumers can make combinations.
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Future advice Inside buildings. For governmental institutions, Leaves can be an interesting addition to big main halls. Leaves can be used as moving sunscreen on glass roofs, creating interesting play of shadows can show up. Festivals. On music or art and technology festivals, Leaves can be used as temporary sunscreen. For these festivals, Leaves can be enlarged to create more shadow. Leaves can form the roof for a meeting point on these festivals. Third world. Leaves can be a cheap solution to create shadow when necessary in less fortunate countries. It can be created out of bamboo and simple cotton to make an analog version of Leaves and to be used on fields or houses.
Before Leaves can be realized, some additional steps have to be taken. In a next iteration round, user tests have to be performed to see how people perceive the system of opening and closing Leaves. Based on the results of these tests, the behavior of the modules can be adapted. Parallel to the user tests, the material research has to be elaborated by creating a life size prototype. By using the right materials in this prototype, the durability can be tested outside. After these tests, adaptions can be made to the module to make it ready for production and for proposing it to the client. Before the modules can be distributed in the Strijp-S area, the stakeholders involved have to give their permission. Park Strijp beheer and Philips Design have to be consulted, in consultation with them the final design will be created. It is important to do this last iteration with the stakeholders since they will provide
financial support and will be the owner of the installation in the end.
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Reflection on project Starting with the Everyday Living: Web of Light project, I did set several goals for myself. The main reason to choose this project was to learn how to put my vision on society and design in practice in a design case. The vision I developed the past years emphasizes on how people behave in their natural environment and how this behavior can be changed. Besides this overall goal, for me it was important to focus on the socio-cultural context of the concept and the role the users have in this context. People behave different in different contexts, and this project was an interesting opportunity to investigate this. In my Bachelor I started to investigate the use of light and what it means to people. Goal of this project was to investigate the use of light, beyond the applications that I already did use like projections and LED light. The feasibility of a concept is important for me, therefor I focused on concrete
By visiting the area regularly and doing brainstorms in the context of Strijp-S, I was well able to incorporate the cultural values of the area in the concept. For me this was a good and structured way of working since I constantly had the reference of Strijp-S in mind.
projects before. This project I wanted to make a feasible concept that does not have to be realized in the close future, meaning there is room for the use of new materials and techniques. Concerning the design process I wanted to focus on the reflection on action principle, forcing myself to do short iterations of gaining information, designing, testing and starting over.
The proposed means of visualizing data was light. For me this was a good opportunity to elaborate on the knowledge I gained during my internship at Studio Roosegaarde. I recognized that exploring the boundaries of light is very inspiring and can give new insights. Choosing a context did help greatly to set requirements for the light usage. I think context and light solution are closely connected when designing interactive light structures. I hope to experiment more with this in my research project in my M1.2.
The focus of this project was on visualizing data in the context of Strijp-S. The research I did was mainly done in literature and in the area by exploring. I experienced this as a good way to get a first experience of the area and subject. However, I hardly interviewed people in the area, since there is almost no one living there at the moment. Subsequently, I missed this human factor in my research. In my research project, I want to be able to pay more attention to this.
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Since the design case was quite concrete, I challenged myself to come up with a concrete idea for this. The hard part was that the context of Strijp-S is not finished yet. However I tried to make the concept as feasible as possible. I experienced how important it is to think about everything, the construction, materials and behavior. This gives certain boundaries to the concept development that can be of big influence. Creating these boundaries was for me a good way to provide more direction in the development. It also made me think about how real the concept is. To be sure of this, more tests have to be done with real life size screens. This is something that has to happen in the next iteration round. During this process I did not have the contact with a clear target group as I would like to. Design decisions were
based on discussions with coaches, students and myself. These points of reflection proved to be very useful to me to make new goals and keep the project realistic. I do not think this is a legit replacement for the contact with a focus group, it is more like an addition. Particularly in the concept development phase I did iterations at a high speed. I constantly reflected on action and adapted my models to create the desired effect. This model making showed me how important it is to be able to quickly create working models. I want to make use of this skill in my research project, where I want to focus on research through design to investigate the perception of people. In this project I was able to project my vision on a concrete design case. The problem in this was that there was no existing target group that could be questioned. However, I think
I have to be less pessimistic about how people see the world around them. I do now think people are already looking around but not experiencing. This result is something I have to take in account when formulating my concrete vision on design and society. The means of interaction that I envision to use, the use of bodily skills, proved to be a good starting point in brainstorms and analyzing interaction. In the future I hope to elaborate more on this subject. To recapitulate on this, this project showed me how to put my vision in practice and combine it with concrete design challenges. I experienced the importance of reflecting on the goal and the realization of the concept. However, the user involvement did not work out as hoped, this proved for me that contact with a focus group is of great importance.
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Appendix A: Project description Everyday Living: Web of Light Introduction and background project Every day, hour, minute, second data about us, our interaction, and our living spaces is collected, often without our knowledge and consent. Sometimes, we do have the access to such information, e.g. from open streams (see Pachube). How can we design interfaces for such data and let people take back ownership of ‘their’ data. The aim of this is to utilize open data sources over the Internet that represent data about living conditions, light, humidity, noise, and temperature (there is more!) and design an interface or even a tangible device that visualizes relevant data for everyday use.
How to support inhabitants, professionals, and visitors with information in the Strijp-S area everyday is a major question.
Design challenges / research questions Everyday Living poses three important challenges on design: First, personalization for everyday use is important for truly embedding designed objects and systems into our life. How can we design for a natural fit, not just in terms of aesthetics, but also matching the unique way we as individuals use the design over time (during every single day, and for months or years). The second challenge is the design of adaptive systems, which goes beyond the design of (interactive) products. Systems can be extremely dynamic, might grow and change over time. Third, systems are often working in a system themselves; how can we design for that, how can users make use of such complex systems.
Stakeholders TU/e ID coach Mathias Funk wants to support students on feedback mechanisms and networking / web related topics. Dr. Mathias Funk is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Designed Intelligence group, focusing on remote data collection and adaptive systems, but enjoys working ‘out of control’ with technologies from sound/video processing to the web. In this project, he is most interested in the way people interact with and take ownership of intelligent everyday systems. He is also co-founder of the TU/e spin-off UXsuite. TU/e ID coach Sander Mulder will support students in business related topics like ‘open innovation’ and cocreation.
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Ir. Sander Mulder is lecturer/ coach in research capacity group ‘Business Process Design’. Assignments he teaches are related to creativity, innovation, co-design, co- development, co-creation, business process design and design methodology. He is the owner of Yppah, an organization that focuses on the co-design with teenagers and he works on the start-up Devoyd, cocreating light experiences. S.S.Mulder@ tue.nl Lucian Reindl is a model builder and industrial / automotive designer, owner of the A1 PRODUCTDESIGN company in Cologne, Germany. His expertise is in industrial form-giving, technical industrial design, interface design, exhibition design, sketching, and model making. He has developed a broad range of products for industrial clients and successful exhibitions for
a setting is a current but even more future challenge: how to investigate daily activities, patterns and built design from is part of this project.
museums and industry. Dr. Jun Hu is an Assistant Professor in the Designed Intelligence group, interested in social networks (internet of people) and Internet of Things, and the connection between these two, where the digital and the physical realities merge and blur in everyday living in a sustainable manner.
References / information sources Keywords: Internet of Things, sensors, lighting and light installations, shaping the city, data visualization, and improving daily life.
Development theme
http://www.strijp-s.nl/light-s
This project relates to the metaproject ‘Everyday Living’ of the ‘Out of Control’ theme as focuses on ways to improve Everyday (work) life in the special setting of Strijp-S. Given a new data and sensor backbone that will be installed in the area, lots of different types of data can be sensed and used. The project aims at the original idea of ‘Out of Control’, being an open system of systems that act and interact autonomously. Designing for such
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Appendix B; Patterns paper test
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Appendix C: laserfiles first test
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Appendix D: developed patterns
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Appendix E: technical drawings
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28 mm
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340 mm
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J.Y.J. Huberts Student Master Industrial Design TU/e www.jobhuberts.com j.y.j.huberts@student.tue.nl +31 6 23586791
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