Duration
individual Project
Instructor
Problem
The increase new waste causes negative impacts on air, soil, water, creatures and human health.
Each year, more than 9 million tons of furniture in America are discarded and sent to landfills. As people's possessions have increasingly shorter lifespans, leading to a significant amount of waste and environmental harm.
Solution
This was an individual Capstone project. I designed an interactive furniture that integrates technology and art, and at the same time is fun to play with.
Situated with my work with sustainability, I aimed to promote long-term use. I tried to arouse people’s awareness to motivate people to use used furniture rather than dispose of them via ‘ sustainable technology ’.
I focused on wasteful consumption that the current furniture recycling system facing and came up with corresponding potential solutions on the basis of the desired goals that United Nation has set through primary research and secondary research.
Should Do__Desired Futures | Long-term visions corresponding to the problem
Make cities inclusive. Sustainable consumption and production patterns. Everyone access to sanitation. [1]
Can Do__Build emotional connections and foster attachments
I used the strategy of promoting quality and equality of the object to motivate reuse and achieve longevity of use.
Can Know__Long-term user engagement
I focused on the long-term user engagement with the object that allow owners cherish and personalize the memory with the object-I used one metaphor to integrate users fingerprints, tree trunk rings on wooden object and rings on the music record to build the connections among human, nature and art.
Forms__“Ring” system
I created a tree-trunk-appearance smart chair that promote people to retain objects longer by encouraging long-term use and build connection with the interactive furniture.
The appearance of the chair is in the shape of a tree trunk and there are tree rings carved on the surface to visualize the appearance of its raw material. These rings also embody the image of circles on vinyl records. The user leaves different amount of fingerprints on it everyday and the chair gives one different color of pixel lighting on the ring and a music note per day through their phone. The user also gets visible instant feedback while using.
System scenarios
Research & Analysis
After several weeks of research ( interviews and literature reviews), several areas that impede furniture recycling are identified.
I integrated key findings into potential concepts (Design Opportunities) toward identified challenge.
- Traceable components and furniture | Reduce recall costs and make recycling easier.
- Being mindful of the consuming and disposal choices | Motivate customers to change their consuming behavior.
- Give moving stories and aesthetic values to furniture | Increase reuse awareness.
- Gather the geographical location of waste easily | Improve recycling supply chain management.
Design Opportunities
Through the research, the following ideas and directions were found to address challenges.
Who is Directly or Indirectly Affected by These Problems?
I analyzed the most important two stakeholders in the supply chain and two stakeholders who play essential roles in the recycling and reuse phases.
Concept Development
“Personal Data History hold personal and nostalgic value”.
Aesthetic Values
Fingerprint. Tree Ring & Music Record
“ With each tree trunk exposing rhythm and poetry, akin to the way a Vinyl Record exposes music and lyrics through a needle traversing around its contours”. [7]
When users use the chair, their fingerprints will activate the tree rings on the chair. Users will get a music that belongs to them and their family and friends after long-term interact with the chair.
Fingerprints Give Life to Furniture
Low-fi Prototype
Testing
Testing Output
- How well the music feedback is received by users is important.
1. Generated music is available in original and processed versions.
2. Pre-programmed music can be selected by users as the basic melodies. - Immediate responsive feedback should be shown.
1. Daily generated notes can be rendered a pixel on the chair.
2. When the user leaves a fingerprint on the furniture, there will be an audible feedback, like a vibration or audible feedback from the phone to the user when the finger taps on the phone screen.
+ Participants think that incorporating user input and interaction with the chair in the form of fingerprints and generating music feedback is an interesting idea.
- Participants think rewarding(music) may not enough to let them to keep it for a long time.
- Participants not appreciate the music feedback because they are not confident about whether the music would sound good. (The sound they make may not enjoyable)
Participants needs more responsive feedbacks immediately when they use the chair. (wood clicking sound or visual effects ) eg. It may play the sound when the ring is growing.
Participants don't want music generation as a task, suggesting that they do not want to record and clock in daily on a mobile app, but rather wanted to see their usage reports in a novel and more surprising way.
Participants wants to build connection with their family and friends through the agent(furniture).
- Repetitive actions such as daily journaling or work punching are boring.
Participants mentioned that an annual report might be a modest period to let them see the progress of music generation, but also more of a surprise. (show on their birthday day or a day that means a lot to the them)