The M2.1 Semester Report Laurens Doesborgh - 2007/2008
Internship Philips Design Probes Master Class Design for Interaction Microsoft Design Expo 2008 Module Ethics in Design Final Master Project Proposal
www.laurensdoesborgh.com
The Bubelle dress on the front page is part of Philips Design Probes SKIN, picture courtesy Philips Electronics.
Deat Reader This edition of my Semester Report describes the activities I have taken part in during my M2.1 Semester. It started off becoming a regular semester with 7 modules, 1 master class and some weeks of preparing my Final Master Project, which will be in the M2.2 edition. Due to some unexpected changes, this semester turned out to be a very pleasant one. I’ve did a module called ‘Ethics in Design’, which took place in Florence, Italy where we stayed with students from the University of Florence; Took part in the Microsoft Design Expo 2008, which was part of the master class Design for Interaction, mainly led by members of the DQI (Designing Quality in Interaction) group of our department, took the first prize, which includes a trip to the Microsoft Research headquarters in Seattle, Washington; and got to do a brief internship at Philips Design, more specifically in the Design Probes group, which concentrates on what Philips calls “Horizon 3”: 15 years and further. Shortly, a very nice semester with a lot of things done, so please have fun reading my report.
Laurens Doesborgh, Student Industrial Design Eindhoven University of Technology
Master Class Design for Interaction In this class we’ll discuss, experience, analyse and reflect on the design of highly interactive systems through handson activities. We will touch upon different aspects such as classical aesthetic research, classical `formgiving’ including color, idea generation of dynamic systems, narratives, visualization & prototyping of dynamic info, aesthetic of interaction, social-cultural implications & vision development, and reflection on action. Next to running short assignments that help you to create insight into designing highly interactive systems (theoretical and practical aspects) we are invited to participate in Microsoft Design Expo 2008 and we will use this as a vehicle to apply and integrate your knowledge and skills obtained during the class. The best project will be presented by their creators at the Faculty Summit at Microsoft, Redmond, Washington, July 27-29, 2008
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taken from the class description
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Kansei Workshop
Lecturers: SeungHee Lee (University of Tsukuba, Institute of Art & Design) Kees Overbeeke (Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Industrial Design) Duration: 3 days Objective: In Japan, the terminology of Kansei draws back on the German philosopher, Baumgarten. His work AESTHETICA (1750) was the first study that influenced Kansei engineering. The aim of Kansei study is to seek the structure of emotions which exists beneath human behaviors. This structure is reffered to as a person’s Kansei. In the art and design field, Kansei is one of the most important elements which brings the willing or power of creation. In research by Harada, it was found that the attitude of a person in front of art work and design is not based on logic but on Kansei
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One of the intermezzo’s during this master class was a workshop about Kansei. SeungHee Lee, lecturer from the Art & Design Institute of the University of Tsukuba, Japan, came in and taught us the basics of Kansei in a concise lecture. In the next article I will shortly discuss the reasoning behind Kansei, and explain the way we implemented the Kansei-method in the concept presented.
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The word “Kansei” is interpreted variously
address Kansei, while if the external stimuli is in the form of a word, it is addressed to the Chisei. In 1997, the Kansei evaluation special project started as a five-year interdiciplinary project at University of Tsukuba in Japan. Because it was found that the term ‘Kansei’ was used in different meanings by different participating researchers, an initial study mapped there meanings1. The researchers in the project were asked to give their definition of Kansei. These statements were analyzed, and key words were clustered to five main aspects as follows.
and has been used in many researches
1.Kansei is a subjective effect which cannot
related, with
be described by words alone.
not only design but also
other research fields. It is a word which
2.Kansei is a cognitive concept, influenced
designed that was quite low-tech, using a
inclusively involves the meaning of words
by a person’s knowledge, experience, and
beamer and ‘sandals’ created from wood
such as sensitivity, sense, sensibility,
character.
and sawn-off metal elements of a bought
feeling, aesthetics, emotion, affection and
3.Kansei is a mutual interaction between
intuition. The opposite of Kansei is Chisei,
the intuition and intellectual activity.
describing the more logical knowledge of
4.Kansei entails a sensitivity to aspects
technology. An example is given in the fact
such as beauty or pleasure.
that external stimuli in the form of an image
5.Kansei is an effect for creating the images
xylophone. Using Adobe Flash, a program was made that displayed which color/ foot had to be stamped. The participants had to look at both the animation which
often accompanied by the human mind Most of all, it’s important to understand Kansei implies that human behaviors can change dynamically, and indicates flexible and dynamic approaches are needed in the various fields of study.
With this knowledge in the back of our mind we had to design a concept/product that would focus on addressing Kansei. We created a “physical Kansei Xylophone”, in were the participants were able to explore their individual limitations, and when working together, compose a melody, A system was 1) Harada A.(1998), Modelling the Evaluation Structure of Kansei using Network Robot, Report of Modelling the Evaluation Structure of Kansei II, pp 2
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was beamed at the floor, but also at their
The range of problems that today’s rapidly
faced by the community, search for the best
neighbors in order to keep the pace right.
advancing computational methods address
approaches to meeting those challenges,
is
Computing
and identify new research opportunities.
After experiencing the product herself,
researchers are investigating new and
A wide range of interests and a broad
SeungHee Lee very much liked the concept,
promising approaches in such diverse
variety of technical areas will provide a
which of course was a nice complement.
disciplines as biology, astronomy, physics,
unique venue for meeting with colleagues
economics, medicine, healthcare, film,
and friends across the full range of the
photography,
computing disciplines.
The participants of this group were:
increasing
dramatically.
information
storage
and
access, teaching, commerce, and social Laurens Doesborgh
improvement. We have come a long way.
Sjors Eerens
It is an exciting time to work in the field of
This years topic for the Design Expo was
Jaap Knoester
computing.
‘Learning & Education’. Within this topic,
Milou Pikaart Jurgen Westerhoff
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As explained earlier, the biggest part of the master class was the Microsoft Design Expo 2008 competition. This Design Expo is part of the bigger event called Microsoft Faculty Summit, an event including lectures, workshops and exhibitions of the work of Microsoft’s research groups.
we had to develop a concept which would This year’s faculty summit will explore such
incorporate both the Department’s vision,
questions as:
as well as create an interesting value
proposition for Microsoft.
How are advances in program analysis,
During this class, we worked from a ‘new’
verification, and compiler technologies
approach, as officially being called by dr. ir.
measuring up to the challenges of the next
Caroline Hummels and dr. ir. Joep Frens:
generation of computing architectures (e.g.
“The Reflective Transformative Design
multi-core computing, virtualization, etc.)?
Process”. A short summary of this process is given in
What are the technological and societal
the inlay on the right.
drivers to enable an “intelligent Web”?
Working conform this process wasn’t entirely
What is required to transform the current
new to me; most of the elements have been
Web of data into an “Information Highway”
unconsciously used during most of my
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that goes beyond Search to include tasks,
other projects, which also kind of proofed
accounts for the shift from consumers to
the concept of the design process. It was
producers of information, and supports
nice though that it has been extensively
The following text was taken from the
information integration and reasoning?
explained now, and some structure has
website of Microsoft Research, it is their
been given to all the separate parts of the Where are we with the status, goals, and
design process. Developing different design
promise of artificial intelligence?
tracks at the same time was one of things I
This July 27-29, 2008, the Microsoft
liked during the class. Especially since we
Research Faculty Summit will once again
In which new directions is the quest for
were working in a team, the opportunity
bring together more than 400 thought
scientific discovery taking the field of
to elaborate on multiple things was very
leaders from academia, government, and
computing research?
feasible.
the computing disciplines has opened an
This is the ninth annual Microsoft Research
The first thing we had to do during the
exciting range of opportunities for research
Faculty Summit. Each year, leaders from
design class, was developing a vision that
and development.
academia join with Microsoft researchers
fits the topic of the Microsoft Design Expo
to explore the latest research results,
“Learning & Education”. I really liked doing
collectively discuss the challenges being
this because I think it is of great importance
description of what it is:
Microsoft to reflect on how the maturing of
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An Exciting Time for Computing
in order to guide the overall process; in times of considerations, this vision can be of immense importance and be seen as a guideline, in order to proceed in the right direction. We started of on an individual bases, where each group member created their own animation, clearly depicting the vision they had in mind. I liked the discussions afterwards where each of the students had to pick just one word to describe their movie; this really forced you to consider the essence of the message. After this individual exploration, the visions were combined and molded into one new one. Even though the vision was adapted and revised for a few times, in the end the vision became clear to all of us. The thing that I have always found a bit different when firstly creating a vision, is when to stop developing and altering this vision. Therefore I think the coach meetings and expert meetings were very useful. They acted as some kind of check-points in order to see whether the message we were trying The design process exists of five activities
continuing process the designer gains
to implement in the vision are also really
that take place within the societal setting,
insight into the design opportunities.
clearly implemented in this vision. The
but without a specific order (see figure
During the process these insights are
next big step after creating the vision was
1). Dependent on the person, context,
physicalized and result into a final
the looking for proof in order to re-enforce
or phase within the design process, the
solution. The development of these
this vision; eliminating assumptions and
student determines where he starts,
solutions is guided by a vision (top circle),
base it on real life data. The arrangement
how often he swaps from one activity to
in our case a vision about transformation
we made with the highschool were for all of
another (although we stimulate frequent
from our current reality to a new one
the team members a clear deadline, which
changes), and the order of
through an intelligent system, product or
was a good thing. Action was taken and
activities. This way the process supports
related service. We encourage students
we executed a co-design session with our
flexibility and individuality. Moreover,
to search for innovative solutions that
user group, highschool freshman. This was
every time he switches activities an
are meaningful and valuable for users
for me personally very nice, I liked the way
opportunity for reflection occurs (grey
and our society. Among other things that
the co-session turned out. We got almost
lines). This could help novices in design
means that students need to develop a
all of our assumptions acknowledged, and
to train their reflective practice. The
sense of the ethical aspects of what it
new opportunities appeared. I did however
central activity of the process is ideating,
means to intervene in people’s lives.
find out that in case of a co-design session,
integrating and realising interaction
“DESIGNING FOR THE UNKNOWN: A DESIGN PROCESS FOR THE FUTURE GENERATION OF HIGHLY INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS AND PRODUCTS” Caroline HUMMELS and Joep FRENS, 2008
this session has to be planned quite strictly,
solutions between users and systems in a context of use (central circle). In this
and should have different directions it could lead to. This is where you have to anticipate on and for next time I will make sure this bit
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gets worked out a bit better. Finally we were still kind of struggling with how to implement all the elements we wanted into the concept, mainly because we were trying to cover quite a difďŹ cult problem. We’ve had so many discussions about how it might work, but in the end the only way to really check this is by making working prototypes and check it in real life. Therefore I was very pleased when we decided on the different elements of the concept, so that these could be worked out in a parallel manner, instead of one by one. Even though some parts of certain elements weren’t totally clear in the beginning, making decisions in other elements created clarity for the other ones. I think in the end we created a very intelligent solution to the complex design opportunity, which was also why it was chosen as the winner of the competition. The end-results of all the groups were in my opinion all extremely well done. The quality level was very high, and I was very pleased to see all the people at the exhibition also quite amazed. I liked the design process in terms of the highly dynamic way of switching from one parallel process to another, and basically work on all aspects at once. I look forward of applying the same way of design process in my Final Master Project, and get even more out of it. On the next page you will find an overview of the final product, the images on the left and right give an impression of the process in terms of the things done.
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Ennea is an educational platform that stimulates social Monitoring social contact development through reflection upon real-life student-based The tutor gets only a very limited amount information, simultaneously of information about the students’ (lack providing tutors with an online of) social contact with other students. device to monitor, guide and This information comes from the students support high school freshmen themselves. During the meetings with the through their first semester’ tutor, the students and the tutor talk about
Freshmen finding their way
of a six-week design project. It takes reallife data from the students’ contact with other students. This is measured by mobile networked objects of which we built four working prototypes. These can be carried around by the high-school students. The data of the social contact between students is converted into easy-to-understand social roles in the shape of animal-icons. The knowledge of their social roles allows the
What we wanted to do is design a device that
students to reflect upon their social contact
High school freshmen go through a lot
combines the students’ social contact with
during the meetings with the tutor. Ennea
of transitions during the first semester
the tutor meetings, providing a platform to
also comes with a poster describing the
of their first year of high school: meeting
stimulate social contact between students.
system, the icons and the rules which can
new people, making new friends, and
Besides this, we also want to provide the
be hung in the tutor-classroom. The tutor
coping with new responsibilities and a new
tutor with information about the students’
is provided with an online service which
environment. In addition to being burdened
social contact with others to help the
allows him to keep track of the actual data
with lots of homework and coping with a
tutor guide the students through their first
from the students’ social contact. Co-design
new environment, they also have to find
semester of high school.
sessions with students and tutors indicated
a place within the group and make new
the value of providing both the raw data for
friends. To support the students during this
the tutor and an interactive platform for the
phase, each class has an assigned classtutor and the class meets up with this tutor once a week.
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general social issues as outlined in a book.
symbolizes a turning motion, is the result
What ‘Ennea’ does Ennea, which is Greek for nine and
students to learn from.
Animal icons All students get an Ennea they can carry
an average social role will be displayed.
how they can learn from each other and
After the weekly tutor-hour, the Enneas will
complement each other. If two students
be reset so the tutor gets a weekly social
have opposing social roles (based on the
development update.
mapping of the social roles) they will see
around in their bag, or in their pocket. Before
a golden animal-icon and the Ennea will
and after school, between classes and
vibrate to indicate something special has
during breaks social contact is measured by the relative distance between two or more
Social role changes
happened. The students and the tutor now know that these two students have opposing
students. Students are ‘socially connected’
Whenever a social role changes, the Ennea
roles so they should be able to learn from
when they are close enough to one another
will vibrate but it won’t show the social
each other.
to invade each other’s personal space.
role. Students need each other to see their animal-icon. This stimulates social
Awareness
By measuring the time of social contact
interaction. By moving and rotating two
(intensity) and the number of students
Enneas close to each other, students can
involved (diversity), social roles can be
search for the right orientation to see their
When students are aware of their social
mapped. These roles are represented by
icon. The icon appears for a short period
roles they can talk about this during the
animal-icons. Each of these has its own
of time, which allows the students to either
tutor-hour. The tutor can review the social
strengths and weaknesses. There are no
share each other’s roles or to keep them to
contact of students and their development
good or bad roles.
themselves.
by browsing back in the online service provided. These two elements provide
The social roles evolve over the course of the week. At the end of each day, a social role can be determined. The next day,
Learning about social roles
the social role of the previous day will be
Through Ennea students can also learn
added to the whole so that after one week
about contrasting social roles and find out
content for reflection and discussion based on actual, real-life information about the students themselves, instead of generalized situations from a book.
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Master Module
Ethics in Design
Lecturer: Kees Overbeeke Why do we find anything good? Why do people of different eras and regions value different things? Why was Braun’s intelligent and structured ‘Gute Form’ so different from the superhuman Third Reich design and architecture? And why did Voltaire’s followers like gothic architecture while Rousseau’s liked natural landscapes? Is this just coincidental fashion or is there something deeper that underlies these differences? Philosophy can be of help in dealing with these questions. Whether designers and consumers are aware or it or not: what we find beautiful is linked to a set of values we all have, or put differently, to the way we think things should be. These values are subject to inquiry in philosophical ethics. Ethics can roughly be defined as the inquiry into what we ought to desire, feel, be, or do. text taken from the module description
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This module took part in the city of Florence, Italy, where a group of approximately 15 Dutch students teamed up with another 15 students from the University of Florence, for a one week course that would include excursions to three local, very traditional companies and the Florence City Hall, followed by a three-day workshop on developing a concept and designing the product which would implement one of the articles of the Declaration of the Human Rights.
.............................
fabric manufacturing. After entering
The second company was SAPAF, a
we got informed on the history of the
leather
institution, which was also doing new
designs under its own label, but also
designs for brands like Fendi, Louis
for private labels like Gucci and Prada.
goods
manufacturer
which
Vuitton et cetera. I was very intrigued by the amount of human labor that had to be put in to get to the final result. On the one hand it was the beauty of the people operating the machinery which made them almost one with the machine that was really beautiful to see, but on the other hand I could imagine the revolution it was when this amount of labor was replaced by automatic machines.
I liked their concept of using state of the art machinery, combined with details of traditional handwork in order to create truly different bags, which
The first company we visited was a
are of perceivable high quality. Seeing
traditional weavery named Fondazione
also here the amount of labor being
Lisio. This company was also an
put in every individual piece made me
educational
realize why some of these bags are so
institute
focussed
on
passing on traditional methods of
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expensive.
The quality checks are all done by
I thought was a very good way of doing
or crushed diamonds, but varied a bit,
people from the company and are
business. Related to our own field of
giving it also a bit of a vintage look.
performed not only at the final stage
industrial design, it becomes more
of production, but starts already at the
and more important to create a feeling
Summarizing the company visits, I was
stage of inspecting the sheet of leather
of
your
very impressed by the many hours of
from which the elements for the piece
customers, let them know you are aware
work which are put in the products to
are being cut out.
of the more and more dynamic market
reach the maximum level of quality.
we are in nowadays, and that you know
You could feel the reluctance most
The third company visited was Decobel,
how to deal with these dynamics by
of the people working for one of the
specialized in interior textiles.
offering more than only one element of
companies had against mass-produced
the concept.
imitation goods from countries like
professionalism
towards
China, who offer low quality for low Decobel provides customers a plan
pricing, which was also understandable
which targets all elements possible,
since it was in fact an infraction to their
e.g. wall covering, floorings, furniture
direct customers. The thing I liked most
fabrics, curtains, et cetera.
was to see the combination of high tech
Regarding the materials used, they only
equipment with old-school traditions,
used printed fabrics, but then printed
as seen at SAPAF. I think this way of
with only truly natural materials. This
working can, and should be applied in
gave the fabrics all a very interesting
elements of industrial design, in order
Decobel’s approach of providing the
extra; not every inch was covered with
to create something that has just that
complete package of service was what
exactly the same amount of gold, silver,
bit of extra quality in it.
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The final three days were used to work on concepts about articles from the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights. The idea The next part of the module was was that group was split up into a visit to the Florence City Hall. smaller groups, of which each This city hall is the oldest city one got assigned on article. The hall which is still being used person that would eventually as such. Dating from 1322, the interact with the product to be Palazzo Vecchio is one of the designed, would experience the Using this method does help a lot to most impressive buildings of article in its purest form. bind people from a group very fast. Tuscany. One fact that really It is therefore in my opinion a very amazed me was that there was handy tool for one-day workshops or an above-ground walkway, On the first day of the workshop, we other short-duration activities between called the Vasari Corridor, used the interaction relabeling method people who are relatively new to each which led all the way from the to get to the true essence of what other, which might come in handy palace, through the Uffizi, over our article was all about. Our article, during upcoming activities of my own. the Ponte Vecchio to the Palazzo number 19 stated: During the rest of the workshop, I felt Pitti, bridging a huge distance. that the Dutch students were overall This walkway was built to let the - Everyone has the right to freedom the ones leading the process. This was Grand Duke Cosimo I de’Medici of opinion and expression; this right partly due to the language, compared walk freely from his house to the includes freedom to hold opinions to the Italian students our English palace, without having to walk without interference and to seek, is much further developed, but also between the ‘normal’ people. receive and impart information because of the joining staff. There
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and ideas through any media and
were almost none Italian professors or
regardless of frontiers. -
teachers, opposed by 3 of Eindhoven. It
It was very interesting to get to know
was although good for me to be able to
more about the history of the city. I
Instead of using existing products for
make up a balance compared to other
am
really developing a true interest
the interaction relabeling session, we
students, and I think we’re doing pretty
in history. This interest goes in many
used each others body to interact with.
good on a conceptual level as well as
different directions; linking certain
Sticky notes would indicate ‘action
in estimating the feasibility of the work
social movements to industrialization
possibilities’, and people from the
to be executed. This is definitely due to
makes me interested in what has it
audience we invited to participate,
the many one-week, mostly stressful
actually brought us in our current
without any talking allowed. Although
modules. Speaking for myself, I started
generation? Thinking of these questions
it was a bit strange in the beginning,
planning on the minute we got the actual
also makes me realize the importance
I quickly liked the method because it
assignment, and estimated the time it
of some of the decisions made by
really forced me to think about what
would take for at least the electronics
nowadays designers. If it would be
I wanted to achieve before I trying out
and presentation. On the one hand I
possible, how would you want people
things at the people I barely knew.
would have liked to be more involved in
to look back on your designs in a 100,
the design of the wearable, in contrast
maybe even a 1000 years?
to my main focus on the technology
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and the programming of it which was now the case; on the other hand, if I would have done that, the entire thing would possibly not have worked at all, which I thought was more important since that is what shows the story without words. During the years I definitely learned that it is sometimes better to chose to do what your good at, for the good of the project; I think this experience clearly confirms this statement. In Summary, this module definitely contributed
to
my
development
as a designer, but also a lot to my overall
development.
I
enjoyed
the collaboration with the Italian students a lot, and definitely made many
new
friends.
Moreover,
I learned to appreciate the meaning of true craftsmanship and was impressed by the quality of all the products that I’ve seen during the
days
in
Florence.
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Master Module:
Leaving the Cocoon, Facing the World. Lecturer:
Ronald van Tienhoven.
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This module gives you insight
During the module we discussed the
as a person. Therefore
into
of
summaries students had to read about
this should be done more often.
outstanding artists, designers and
articles and manifestos of different
architects have influenced their
important designers, architect and
What I would like to keep building
respective disciplines by means
art movements like Dada in a very
on is to reinforce and reshape my
of their essays, statements, and
informal way. I liked the way the
vision on things through my work. I
manifestos. In some cases their
assignor dealt with the issues, it was
remember one of the panel members
attitude, opinions, and prophesies
also his knowledge that was for all
of my bachelor panel presentation say
influenced a whole generation.
of us a very interesting source for
that ‘she could see a line in all the
What
inspiration and information.
work I’ve done so far’, which I thought
the
is
way
a
essential
number
is
to
have
developed a bird’s eye perspective
I also think
was a nice observation.
on what the world of (industrial)
The creation of my own manifest
design and cognitive culture is
wasn’t that easy. Although I have an
Supporting the manifesto through an
about, and what discourses abound.
opinion about many things regarding
animation was a nice way of creating
For many artists, architects and
design, and I also feel the urge or
a more interesting way to present it.
designers, their written statements,
obligation to do so, I sometimes
I thought this would also be a good
manifestos and essays turn out to
feel I miss the words to do so in a
way to introduce my topic of the
be essential during their formative
powerful manner. Thinking about, and
manifesto.
years. Because it is not only their
the eventual writing of the manifesto
art and design that make up their
definitely helped me to develop this
All in all I think more modules should
development, but also their writing,
skill.
be done like this, but I realize that the
and the way they materialize and contextualize their viewpoints.
success of it greatly depends on the Being able to clearly express my own
assignor.
vision about things contributes to my text taken from the module description
overall identity as a designer, and also
Appendix 2 is the manifesto that was handed in as a module deliverable.
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Master Module: Complex Sensors Lecturer: Jean-Bernard Martens
During this module, I learned to develop a more thorough understanding in selecting appropriate sensory tools. Regarding this module, I found it rather hard to do, since we, as almost master graduates, have already developed a certain technique or method to quickly select sensors for specific tasks. The thing I did learn during this module though was to critically look at what the essence of the problem is which has to be tackled, looking in more detail
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to also the more specific sensors new sensor which is specifically instead of using one which is created to do (just) that job. often a kind of ‘overkill’ for the Concerning the module’s problem. lectures, what I found specifically Due to this module I remembered interesting were the methods one of the ideas I had a while used for Image Recognition. I ago; there are so many sensors had never wondered that inand actuators in the world, depth about actually ‘creating’ which are already invented, filters. Normally I only use which can be used in so many them in applications such as new and novel ways that I think photoshop et cetera, but now it is very important to firstly I understand also the more look at what we already have, mathematical side behind it, combining existing sensors into and its implications for creating new ones, instead of creating a image recognition filters.
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Philips Design P
Internship
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Probes Philips Design Probes is a dedicated
With the aim of understanding ‘lifestyle’
‘far-future’ research initiative to track
post 2020, the program aims to identify
trends and developments that may
probable systemic shifts in the social
ultimately
mainstream
and economic domains likely to affect
issues that have a significant impact
our business and create intellectual
on business.
property in new areas. It challenges
evolve
into
conventional ways of thinking to come The Probes generate insights from
up with concepts to stimulate debate.
research in five main areas; politics,
Deliverables range from scenarios and
economic, culture, environments and
narratives to the creation of experience
technology futures.
prototypes and IP fortressing.
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One of the 2007 Probe project areas was SKIN, which examined the future integration of sensitive materials in the area of emotional sensing – the shift from ‘ intelligent’ to ‘sensitive’ products and technologies. As part of SKIN, Philips developed two ‘Soft Technology’ outfits to identify the future for high tech materials and Electronic Textile Development in the area’s of skin and emotional sensing. The dresses show emotive technology and how the body and the near environment can use pattern and color change to interact and predict the emotional state.
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During the Final Master Project preparation weeks, I’ve
are displayed. During the 7 weeks, I would take part in
had contact Stephan Wensveen to see which contacts
setting up a new Probe direction from scratch, create the
were interesting and available through the department.
electronics for a continuation of the SKIN dresses and also
Discussing my previous projects we also talked about
continue my search for my Final Master Project topic.
my previous project in which I created, together with costudent Jing Wang, a device that could wirelessly transmit
I very much enjoyed working on the start-up of the new
the heart rate of one person to another and vice versa.
Probe direction. I took part in several workshops which
After a while I received an e-mail from Stephan, stating that
started of with one presentation by Lucy Mcrae, body
Philips Design was looking for someone who had electronical
architect at Philips Design, about the general idea behind
knowhow and experience with obtaining physiological data
the direction of the Probe, and one by Slava Kozlov,
which included emotions. I was immediately interested
Senior Research Consultant, Foresight, Trends and People
and replied, which led to a few talks at the Philips Design
researcher, about the evolution of mankind including
Headquarters in Eindhoven. Eventually it was decided to
view on future aspects. The general direction of the Probe
do a brief internship of approximately 7 weeks within the
is about “Tangible Atmosphere” a new direction generated
Probes team of Philips Design.
from a combination of previous Probe directions. The
a
different elements incorporated in the new direction are As stated before, the deliverables of the Probes group
displayed in the diagram below.
are mainly exhibitions in which scenarios and narratives
Probes Performance
Ambient Future
Packaging
Food
Poeme Electronique
Interactive Probe
Emotional Sensing
Tangible Atmosphere
29
The presentations that were given
has to exceed the age of 100 in order
During one of the first workshops I
were really inspiring, especially since I
to even see the birth of its child’s
wrote a small statement describing
am currently looking for an interesting
child, making it impossible to pass
the direction of the vision:
topic for my Final Master Project. The
on traditions. Another thing related is
in total 5 days of workshops have
how come if people are able to live
“The intention of the Atmosphere
really been eye-opening for me; the
longer that puberty starts earlier and
project is to indicate the relevance of
topics we discussed varied so much,
earlier? I do not know the answer, but
pursuing a more spiritual satisfaction.
which was right because of this so
it is worth thinking about.
Everything around us is speeding
nice to do.
Another
was
up, becoming bigger, better, faster,
the digitalization of all things around
further, et cetera. All with the help of
way
us. Because of this digitalization, our
technology.
to filter the actual message to be
bodies don’t have grip on it anymore
In this provocation we want to make
communicated
exhibition-
and sensorial data is mainly aimed
people think of what it is that they
audience. It was about creating a
at getting into the brain in order
really pursue in their lives. Enjoying the
vision to start elaborating on trough
to be processed.
What we see is a
smaller things in life seems to become
making
a
shift away from humans being in
something that is only for the more
way of working that perfectly fits the
touch with their ‘human technologies’
elderly people. Enjoying the sun and
departments
(pheromones,
etc.),
the constant changing composition of
the reflective transformative design
having lost their ability to navigate the
the clouds is something most people
process.
world intuitively. Thus, we stated the
do not see relevant anymore, it is so
we are evolving into a world were we
obvious it is there. Since globalization
from
want to experience the world through
is now a fact, we can switch between
sociology, technology, sustainability,
our mind, instead of through our
cultures whenever we want to.
et cetera, and making links between
body. Does this mean that technology
all of them is something we could
makes us lazy in terms of sensing the
Keywords:
elaborate on for hours, without making
environment?
giving meaning to things, why do we
The
workshops
Taking
acted to
the
experience
into
new
as
a
prototypes; design
account
process,
topics
mind-boggling
topic,
bio-electricity,
it less interesting. We’ve elaborated
spiritual
satisfaction,
do certain things, instead of ease of
for example on what did technology
One of the outcomes of the workshops
bring us as mankind, but also: what
was also closely related to this topic;
has it taken away from us? Things
It is called ‘Alienated by Technology’,
After the 5th workshops I had to focus
like ageing became very interesting:
describing the relation between three
on another part of my internship, the
Due to technology we are able to
elements ‘Body, Mind & Soul’ and how
creation of a continuation of the SKIN
extend
mankind,
they are related to ‘Space’. Together
dresses. Looking back, I am very happy
people become older, but this is not
this falls under the topic of Tangible
that I had the opportunity to take part
in line with the different phases in
Atmosphere.
in the workshops. As said it opened
the
lifespan
of
life; women can get children till their
use.”
my eyes in many more direction than
50th year, while puberty shifts more
To
Sony
only in design, which I think is a key
towards the beginning. A result is
patented a “technique for aiming
factor in developing good ideas for
also that children often do not get to
ultrasonic pulses at specific areas of the
future products. Meeting all these
see their grandparents anymore. If
brain to induce “sensory experiences”
new people at Philips Design has also
a person of 50 years old gives birth
such as smells, sounds and images.”
given me a new boost in diving deeper
to a child, who on it’s own gives birth
(see inlay).
in things like human evolution. As a
to a child at age 50, the grandparent
30
illustrate
the
direction:
short example, Slava Kozlov briefly
mentioned the Spiral Dynamics framework. I found this framework and it application within design LONDON — If you think video games are engrossing now, just wait: PlayStation maker Sony Corp. has been granted a patent for beaming sensory information directly into the brain. The technique could one day be used to create videogames in which you can smell, taste, and touch, or to help people who are blind or deaf. The U.S. patent, granted to Sony researcher Thomas Dawson, describes a technique for aiming ultrasonic pulses at specific areas of the brain to induce “sensory experiences” such as smells, sounds and images. “The pulsed ultrasonic signal alters the neural timing in the cortex,” the patent states. “No invasive surgery is needed to assist a person, such as a blind person, to view live and/or recorded images or hear sounds.” According to New Scientist magazine, the first to report on the patent, Sony’s technique could be an improvement over an existing non-surgical method known as transcranial magnetic stimulation. This activates nerves using rapidly changing magnetic fields, but cannot be focused on small groups of brain cells.
very interesting. Below I will give a short summary of the Spiral Dynamics, because it contributed to my knowledge of what has been and what has to come. So, for your interest: Spiral Dynamics is a practical framework to understand societal developments and evolution of human mind. Human nature is not fixed: humans are able, when forced by life conditions, to adapt to their environment by constructing new, more complex, conceptual models of the world that allow them to handle the new problems. The term vMeme refers to a core value system of any given stage that acts as an organizing principle and expresses itself through various memes (selfpropagating ideas, habits, or cultural practices). The framework was introduced by Don Beck and Chris Cowan, based on the studies of human psychology of Clare Graves. Ken Wilber has popularized these ideas in a series of his books. (an extended overview of Spiral Dynamics can be found in the Appendices Section of this report).
Niels Birbaumer, a neuroscientist at the University of Tuebingen in Germany, told New Scientist he had looked at the Sony patent and “found it plausible”. Birbaumer himself has developed a device that enables disabled people to communicate by reading their brain waves. A Sony Electronics spokeswoman told the magazine that no experiments had been conducted, and that the patent “was based on an inspiration that this may someday be the direction that technology will take us”. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.
31
One of the other activities I carried out at Philips was
structure of the dress. Since no experimenting was done
part of the continuation of the SKIN dresses. The SKIN
yet in both the field of aesthetics as well as in technology,
probe project challenges the notion that our lives are
I could start with a fresh approach. For the fashion part of
automatically better because they are more digital. It
the dress, I’ve been working a lot with Ollie Niemi, fashion
looks at more ‘analog’ phenomena like emotional sensing,
designer and freelancer originally from Finland, and Nancy
exploring technologies that are ‘sensitive’ rather than
Tilbury, also freelance fashion designer from London.
‘intelligent’.
Nancy Tilbury joined the project later on. I tried to use a process in where I would work on multiple things at the same time, also because I was interested in the fashion design part of the project; something I have never done before. Also Ollie was very pleasant to work with, showing and telling me a lot about the properties of the materials used, how to work with them, et cetera. Initial try-outs were made from transparent plastics, creating triangular shapes which would encapsulate the electronics (see images below). Later we agreed on the idea of vacuum forming the fractals since it would make them easier to work with (the sharp edges kept tearing the fabrics). I sanded the mold and vacuum formed the first series of fractals. These turned out to work very good and are being used in the final model as well.
“Bubelle”
“Frisson”
The direction I have been working on, is called ‘Fractal’. The idea of designing a new dress which is responsive to physiological data really appealed to me; the dresses would be a nice way of creating an application for the technology developed during my previous project. The Fractal dress would be responsive to heart rate, which would change the pattern lights inside of the ‘fractalled’
32
Working at Philips Design had many pros, for attaching the fractals to the underlaying fabric we made use of a Sonic Welder. This welder can attach two ‘man-made’ fabrics, mostly polyethers, to each other on a molecular level. The final model is being put together at the moment in London, during the upcoming weeks I will work on some of the electronics to get them finalized for the public display at the Picnic conference the 24th till the 26th of September 2008. Summarizing my internship at Philips, I think it has been a very good choice. Both of the things I’ve done there have had a big impact on me and has broadened my vision on design, but also on a lot of other different aspects of life. I went there with the hope of learning more on how to develop interesting future visions and I learned a lot about it. The timing couldn’t have been better, the start-up phase of a project was for me the ultimate learning experience. Also in terms of networking it has been a good step. I got acquainted with a lot of new inspiring people, who I can definitely contact for future projects. If I ever decide to work for Philips, the Probes group is the one I would most probably want to work for.
33
34
then convert it to more applicable ideas for products and
Overall Reflection, M2.1 Phase
services. I really enjoyed this opportunity and I know this experience will help me cope with projects the future will
This M2.1 Phase turned out to be completely different than
bring.
the curriculum originally proposed. But to my personal opinion, it turned out to be a phase in which I’ve learned
To me, both the module Leaving the Cocoon, Facing the
more relevant aspects that fitted my personal development
World and the start up of the new Probe project at Philips
much better.
contributed to my overall view of the world, in more ways than in just design, or just art. I’ve got a refreshed view
Looking back at terms of competency development, and
of the importance and the need to remind myself to look
development of the areas design, user and technology, my
broader than only the intentional field, but I have to keep
masters course has been very balanced; during the M1.1
looking at what also happens in other areas like sociology,
phase I’ve developed mainly the design part by doing a
politics, et cetera. Within this understanding, I have
design-focused project, during the M1.2 phase I have
definitely grown to a higher level.
gone deep into the topic of research and mainly focused on
The last thing for me that waits for me now is to implement
the technology, which also turned out to be a very fruitful
all the aspects covered in the M1.1, M1.2 and M2.1 phase
semester. Combined this research topic with the Business
into the final M2.2 phase; my graduation project. I really
Class because I left I was still lacking on this competency,
look forward to work within the sports related context and
even after graduating from the Bachelor’s, and finally
am eager to meet all the new people in the field of ice
my M2.1 phase in which I’ve concentrated on the user
hockey. Doing this sports related project also feels like
during the design class, finding ways to get relevant data
completing the covered topics along the years, although
from the user by using co-design session techniques and
I realize these are just the topics I think are nice to do,
doing extensive user observation helped to build on this
there are many many other topics that are just as much
competency. Also during this phase, due to the internship
or even more fun to do. Well, I look forward to them as
at Philips Design Probes, I was able to continue to build on
well!
my preference for developing far-future visions in order to
35
I ‘traded’ the last few weeks of Final-Master-
with Ollie, talking about wearable electronics and
Project-Preparation-weeks for the internship at
the increase of attention it gets at the moment.
Philips Design, with the idea that I would come
His experience was a source for very interesting
across new ideas to distill my FMP, and I did. My
stories, and combined with his experience in ice
FMP tured out to become something completely
hockey made it a very attractive alternative.
different than I would have guessed before.
Because of the concrete context and the very
In the beginning of this semester I was (and still
specific goal of a product within this context, I
am) very interested in a continuation of my M1.2
thought it would be the perfect project topic.
Research Project on heart rate transmission. In this
Elaborating on the project of connectedness has
project 2 bracelets were designed that vibrated
always kept me doubting if it wasn’t going to be
in the same pace as the heart rate of the other
too much of a research project.
person. I was intrigued by the phenomenon that
Moreover, the field of sports has always interested
people were referring to the bracelet as if it were
me a lot, but I never managed to actually do a
the other person. This ‘feeling of connectedness’
project in it.
would make a nice topic.
Ollie and Ronald were both convinced that these
Eventually, due to the collaboration with Ollie Niemi
were good arguments of doing the ice hockey
at Philips Design, and discussing it with my coach
project over the other.
Ronald van Tienhoven, I completely changed this. During the internship I had a lot of discussions
36
This is the proposal I wrote for my FMP.
Final Master Project - Proposal Laurens Doesborgh Faculty Coach: Ronald van Tienhoven
Eindhoven University of Technology - Department of Industrial Design - June 2008
37
Preface
+ Introduction to the topic
38
Welcome Reader, The document in front of you is a proposal of what will be my Final Master Project (FMP) of the Departement of Industrial Design at the Eindhoven University of Technology. This proposal should indicate the feasibility of the project, in terms of time management, but also in terms of the academic level of the project. Therefore, an indication of the project’s (possible) directions will be given, including some examples of other sports and/or applications, giving a better insight in my own preferences concerning sports. The timeframe of the project is limited to 17 fulltime weeks.
Together we have been talking about all kinds of ice hockey aspects, from getting a better audience engagement to training tools, but all related to wearable electronics. I discovered that there hasn’t been done a lot on combining werable electronics in the field of ice hockey, even though many interesting applications could be designed. Because of the clear context of ice hockey, it would enable me to do a very concrete project for my FMP. Why I am very much interested in doing such a project is that I believe that my FMP end-result should be a finalized product, which means a lot of attention should be aimed at the actual integration of technology into clothing or sports gear. Looking at comfort will also be one of the attention points during this project.
Introduction to the topic: The project’s general topic is ice hockey. The idea of doing a project in the field of ice hockey came to me from various directions.
A close relationship with Ollie Niemi and also his friends, who are either still playing in the Finland National Team and at the New York Rangers, or are coaching ice hockey teams, provide me with the neccesary information to bring this proposal to the next level.
First of all, I’ve been working with Ollie Niemi, a person with a rich background in fashion design, with a special interest in electronic wearables. During the many discussions I’ve had with Ollie, I discovered his passion for ice hockey. His many years of experience were always a good source for interesting stories related to ice hockey.
Page # 3
39
Background Information + Design Opportunities
40
During my previous project I have been working on obtaining different physiological data from a subject (e.g. heart rate, respiration, galvanic skin response), in order to give them a new sensorial experience of this data. The aspects of re-coupling the physiological data to other senses, known as the phenomenon of synesthesia, was what I very much enjoyed working on. What I would like to develop further during this project is trying to couple physiological data to easy to interpret data, creating a new way of listening to (ones own) bodily signals. Also, in this project the opportunity of making the product or device truly wireless/wearable was something I knew I needed to grasp with both hands; things shouldn’t be tied up to computers in my opinion. This also explains my interest in the collaboration with Ollie Niemi as a wearable/textile expert. As for this project, I am interested in a couple of directions. These directions are what I identify as design opportunities. One should notice that this indication was created without in depth discussions with the experts, under which I mean ice hockey players and or coaches. So far, I have identified the following areas, including its subthemes: Training tools: -Game Tactics -Team Effort -Action / Movement Commercialization: -Audience Involvement Physiological: -Condition -Physiological Data Feedback (heartrate, respiration, hydration, muscle saturation) One concrete problem I encountered while doing background research was the fact that ice hockey players have a major risk at dehydration. The factors influencing this are mostly environmental; the
temperature and humidity of the ice rink or training facility, the amount of clothing that the player wears, and their activity level. Obviously, with the higher temperatures and higher stress on athletes during tryouts, there is a higher risk for dehydration during this timeframe. Other major risk factors include prescription medications and supplements, and medical conditions such as recent fevers, sleep deprivation, asthma, sunburn, and obesity. Any or all of these risk factors can affect the heat load which is placed on the athlete’s body and their ability to release heat. Ice hockey players are at increased risk for dehydration, even in indoor ice rinks, because of the fact that it is difficult to have enough sweat evaporation occur because of the amount of equipment they wear. A great majority of heat loss in athletic activities will occur at the skin surface by the evaporation of sweat. If the body cannot produce enough sweat to evaporate, the body temperature will rise, which will lead to dehydration. The most important thing for an ice hockey player can do to prevent dehydration is to have proper endurance training so their body can adapt to the higher levels of activity and the heat produced by it. The following examples of projects act as inspiration for one of the design opportunities directions: Compass Belt - Sibrecht Bouwstra , Eindhoven University of Technology. Own interpretation: A wearable system or product which enables the hockeyplayer to get feedback on the placement of his body in relation to the space; giving him a better perception of where the puck is, and enabling him to act upon this. Use of accelerometers to identify various aspects of the game; visualize g-forces on body-checks, indicate sudden changes in gameplay, changing from defense to offense.
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Design Brief + deliverables
42
The project brief: Within the context of ice hockey, design a wearable which creates an hightened awareness of the player’s own physiological state, enabling him to act upon this data and prevent physiological damage, resulting in a better balance between game play and physiological limitations. Finding the right electronics in order to cover an initially broad area is one of the attention points. The final deliverables: As for the final deliverables I want to design and develop a completely working system, one high-end fully functional prototype of the concept, which was redeveloped by at least one iteration on an extensive user test. This system should be able to run stand-alone and, as indicated, be able to be used for user testing purposes Furthermore, for all the stakeholders of the project, I will create a document describing the entire design process, prototyping, user experiments, recommendations and reflections.
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Experts & Clients The expertise during this project comes from various channels; first of all Ollie Niemi, wearable expert and ice hockey player with years of experience. Furthermore, coaches and players within the teams of the New York Rangers, JYP and Oulun Karpat, two teams from Finland have been contacted and are very interested in participating in this project, which
JYP
&
contact person: Mika Paananen, Head coach, A-juniors
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44
enables the opportunity for extended user study/tests in a real-life setting. Initial contact has also been made with Pallas Hockey, a company from finland specialised in ice hockey gear, and Polar, a company that works in the area of physiological data gatehering for sports applications. Further information should be available soon.
Oulun Karpat contact persons: Mikko Haapakoski, Assistant coach Ari Hilli, Goalie coach
/
/ Page # 9
45
Planning + Design Process
Page # 10
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Week no.
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
1
2
3
background research concept development user co-design session concept iteration technology development prototyping user testing reporting final presentation
The Design Process During my previous masterclass Design for Interaction, we used the ‘reflective transformative design process’, which I really enjoyed as being a flexible yet structured way of working. In my previous 2 projects, both master-course, and during my internship at Philips Design1, I worked in a similar manner, using a defined vision statement as a both a starting point as well as something to fall back on.
1] Philips Design Probes is a dedicated ‘far-future’ research initiative to track trends and developments that may ultimately evolve into mainstream issues that have a significant impact on business. The Probes generate insights from research in five main areas; politics, economic, culture, environments and technology futures. With the aim of understanding ‘lifestyle’ post 2020, the program aims to identify probable systemic shifts in the social and economic domains likely to affect our business and create intellectual property in new areas. It challenges conventional ways of thinking to come up with concepts to stimulate debate. Deliverables range from scenarios and narratives to the creation of experience prototypes and IP fortressing.
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appendices - Intro to Spiral Dynamics - Manifest Module Leaving the Cocoon Facing the World
48
People think in different ways. A brother and sister, husband and wife, manager and employee, corporation and client company might have very different world views and values. People in adjoining cubicles or families living right next door to each other sometimes doní t seem to be inhabiting the same neighborhood. Colleagues in an organization have wide ranging ideas about vision, mission, and purpose. Countries sharing one planet often seem to be in totally different worlds with their policies. Why?
A Mini-Course in Spiral Dynamics Æ
Spiral Dynamics is a way of thinking about these complexities of human existence and bringing some order and predictability to the apparent chaos of human affairs. It provides a framework for tracking the evolution of worldviews and a scaffold on which to stand while analyzing situations and planning the most appropriate actions. Based in the original research and theory of Dr. Clare W. Graves, this point of view describes how waves of consciousness emerge and flow through individuals and groups. It describes bio-psycho-social systems along a continuum that form an expanding spiral.
What people in each world seek out in life... BEIGE Survival; biogenic needs satisfaction; reproduction; satisfy instinctive urges. PURPLE Placate spirit realm; honor ancestors; protection from harm; family bonds. RED Power/action; asserting self to dominate others; control; sensory pleasure. BLUE Stability/order; obedience to earn reward later; meaning; purpose; certainty. ORANGE Opportunity/success; competing to achieve results; influence; autonomy. GREEN Harmony/love; joining together for mutual growth; awareness; belonging. YELLOW Independence/self-worth; fitting a living system; knowing; good questions. TURQUOISE Global community/life force; survival of life on Earth; consciousness.
www.spiraldynamics.org © Copyright 2001 NVC Consulting. All Rights Reserved.
49
The basic landmarks are designated by the colors in the spiral diagram ó
beige, purple,
red, blue, orange, green, yellow, turquoise, coral, and others to come. There are sub-systems between each pair where the thinking represented by the colors blend together. For example: Many business people are in the ORANGE-TO-GREEN transition seeking a return to more community and spirit in their lives. A number of politicians are in the BLUE-TO-ORANGE range trying to move from structured bureaucracy to entrepreneurism and free markets. Many activists are living in the GREEN-TO-YELLOW zone as they work to achieve positive results on a human scale through interaction, involvement, and purposeful learning and teaching. Some developing regions are still in the PURPLE-TO-RED transition as ancient tribal ways confront well-armed dictators, while others are in the RED-TO-BLUE as centralized authority tries to contain factional battles. Hotspots emerge as corporate interests from the ORANGE zone overwhelm indigenous peoples in the PURPLE-BLUE range with ideas of progress and development schemes that doní t fit the realities at hand and which ultimately destroy the less complex cultures, languages, and knowledge. Rescuers from the GREEN zone sometimes romanticize the primitive and non-functional, thus slowing natural emergence as much as exploiters from ORANGE
seek to transform it to their own image. YELLOW thinking begins to question and
analyze all of these human processes as parts of an integrated spiral. TURQUOISE is looking for solutions on a global, holistic scale. The next zone, CORAL, may be the implementer, but thatí s in the future. The warm color family exhibits a focus on the external world and how to master it (with an internal, I-oriented locus of control). The cool colors focus on the inner world and how to come to peace with it (with an external, we-oriented locus of control). The spiral winds between the individual ì Iî and collective ì weî poles as it turns between cool group systems and warm individualistic systems. As individuals, most of us are mixtures of both. This broad swing from individualism to collectivism and back is one to watch as societies move through time. The SD/Graves model is not a typology for categorizing people into boxes. In fact, the eight levels of existence and the transition states between them are only the visible signs of much deeper forces at work. Those energies arise from the interaction of two elements: (a) the Life Conditions the person or group encounters and (b) the brain/mind capacities available to cope with such conditions. Thus, the term biopsychosocial suggests a moving blend of the biological nature, the psychology of experience and learning, and the sociology of group interaction with the world.
A Mini-Course in Spiral Dynamics Page 2
50
www.spiraldynamics.org © Copyright 2001 NVC Consulting. All Rights Reserved.
It’s both nature and nurture ó
the genetic heritage and biochemsitry interact with the
learning and experiences of living. It is this interaction between mind/brain systems within and existential conditions outside that is central to Gravesí work and energizes of emergence of the spiral. Within the spiral is a double helix. In the diagram below, the alphabet letters on the left represent the Life Conditions ó
a perception of ì what the real world is likeî ó
The letters on the right represent the mind capacities ó
mindsets required to deal with such a reality. The combinations ó HU, IV,
at each level.
the neurobiological equipment and AN, BO, CP, DQ, ER, FS, GT,
etc., are represented by the colors which symbolize their interaction. (These may also
be presented as a series of 6 core themes which repeat after moving up a level, a part of Dr. Gravesí hypothesis as yet unproven but fascinating to consider. Thus, AN through FS represents a first tier of thinking systems. The next series, a second tier, is represented by the letters primed; thus A’N’, B’O’, C’P’, etc. These suggest the base systems plus an additional set of mind/brain capacities brought online.) The landmark coping means and neurology activated by such a world... BEIGE PURPLE
P
Q Absolutistic: obediently as higher authority and rules direct; conforming; guilt. R
Multiplistic: pragmatically to achieve results and get ahead; test options; maneuver.
S
Relativistic: respond to human needs; affiliative; situational; consensual; fluid.
T
Systemic: functional; integrative; interdependent; existential; flexible; questioning; accepting.
Full of resources to develop and opportunities to make things better and bring prosperity.
F
The habitat wherein humanity can find love and purposes through affiliation and sharing.
G A chaotic organism where change is the norm and uncertainty an acceptable state of being. H A delicately balanced system of interlocking forces in jeopardy at humanityí s hands; chaordic.
TURQ
E
I
CORAL
D Controlled by a Higher Power that punishes evil and eventually rewards good works and righteous living.
YELLOW
C Like a jungle where the tough and strong prevail, the weak serve; nature is an adversary to be conquered.
O Animistic: according to tradition and ritual ways of group; tribal; animistic.
RED
Threatening and full of mysterious powers and spirit beings which must be placated and appeased.
BLUE
B
N Instinctive: as natural instincts and reflexes direct; automatic existence.
ORANGE
A State of nature and biological urges and drives; physical senses dictate the state of being.
GREEN
The landmark life conditions...
Too soon to say, but should tend to be I-oriented, controlling, consolidating if the pattern holds.
Egocentric: asserting self for dominance, conquest, and power; exploitive; egocentric.
U Holistic: experiential; transpersonal; collective consciousness; collaborative; interconnected.
Note that the letters are not locked together. They can shift and, to some extent, can be shifted. Thus, it is possible for someone to live in an E level world but only have access to Q means of dealing with life; the world will seem beyond the personí s understanding at times
A Mini-Course in Spiral Dynamics Page 3
www.spiraldynamics.org © Copyright 2001 NVC Consulting. All Rights Reserved.
51
ó
the old-time government bureaucrat suddenly in a privatized agency that must prove its bottom-line effectiveness. Some things from the more complex level will not ë registerí in this personí s awareness and coping may be stressful, perhaps impossible. Some people can learn the more complex ways; others are less likely to. Another person might have T capacities, yet work in a situation with a performance appraisal system concentrating on D or E measures; such a person is often underutilized and frustrated by a management system that appears to lag behind the thinking and focuses on issues that seem secondary and narrow ó
the IT professional working where punctuality and compliance with a dress code matters more than competence or creativity. If wise, the organization will adjust its management system to fit the person; if not, it
will lose mind/brain power as the person moves elsewhere. Getting the right person into the right job with the right materials at the right time within the right systems and structures is what SD is about.
Consider the following ideas... The spiral is a framework for how people think about things, not the things they think about. It represents containers that shape worldviews, not the contents that fill them (beliefs, values, etc.). There is no direct link with intelligence, gender, age, ethnicity, or other demographics except as those variables influence the world around the person. No level is inherently better or worse than another. They do become more expansive since each builds on all that came before. The theory is hierarchical in terms of conceptual space (the inclusion of progressively more factors and ways of understanding), but not in terms of intelligence in the conventional sense. The general trend is up the spiral because thinking in more complex systems offers more degrees of freedom to act appropriately in a given situation by using more fully the mind/brain which is there. A person is not generally locked at a single level. The Gravesian systems are ways of thinking about things, not typologies for people, so several can coexist. Systems are rarely discrete and often run in combinations, though one often will be the dominant state. Individuals and organizations may appear to be largely of the warm-colored individualistic approach or the cool-colored collective world views. A Mini-Course in Spiral Dynamics Page 4
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Gravesian systems do not go away; they are subsumed within more complex layers and can rise to the surface if life conditions warrant. Beware of finding simplicity which is not there. The ì emergent, cyclical, double-helix model of adult biopsychosocial systems developmentî of Dr. Clare W. Graves is more complex than many presenters suggest. Beware of complications which do not serve the theory. The model is elegant in itself and is sometimes wrapped in details which contribute little of substance and only add confusion. People may talk about more complex systems without actually operationalizing the ways of thinking and being they describe. Look for ì stretchî versions of systems that talk a good game but do not live the worldview. People may shift their thinking to fit the conditions at hand and operate quite differently when under pressure or stress. There are entering and exiting phases between systems where most energy lies; the pure colors are only the theoretical peaks of waves. People value different things because they think in different ways. They think in different ways because the mixes of thinking systems (vMEMEs) in the biopsychosocial complexes in which they exist are different. Different organizations ó
companies and governments ó
occupy different positions on the
spiral and need to develop managerial/governance strategies that match their people, their visions of the future, and the jobs they perform today. Managers should develop a consistent and systemic approach to all the issues within the organizational loop - recruitment, selection, placement, training, internal management, and external marketing - so they all align, integrate, and synergize. Organizations should be constructed from both ì the top downî and ì the bottom upî to link the functions, intelligences, and decision structures that the more complex new problems ahead will demand. Successful organizations are in danger of failing if they continue to manage people in the ways that made them successful in the first place. Many people need to be managed quite differently today because they have moved on the spiral even further and faster than most of their bosses, teachers, and even parents. Marketing efforts, strategic plans, and M&A efforts often fail because the designers look into mirrors and assume the audiences and cultures they are attempting to reach share the same values systems they do.
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The question is not ì How do you motivate people?î but how do you relate what you are doing to their natural motivational flows. A person has a right to be who he or she is. Issues with productivity, quality, political instability, and restructuring are signs of growth and not decay which will force us to find new and innovative ways to manage people based on who they have now become. Since people learn in different ways form different kinds of teachers, the task of education is to match learners, instructors, learning situations, and technologies designed for fit, function, and flow. Dealing with the whole spiral at once is the great challenge for second tier thinking (YELLOW and beyond). We are now at a point of transition between the first six subsistence levels and the next series of human existential states, the being levels. It is a time of both danger and opportunity as new ways of thinking, indeed, new sorts of human beings, emerge to prominence.
NVC Consulting The Spiral Dynamics People For More Information.... CALL: (805) 962-0366 MAIL: NVC Consulting, PO Box 42212, Santa Barbara, California 93140 GO ONLINE: www.spiraldynamics.org
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