👋 Announcements — Hang in there!
Hey UXA! As we get towards the last leg of our semester, hang in there and stay strong! ❤️ No announcements this week 🫵
🍎 Campus Compass — 05-499 A HCI Special Topics; Celebrating Accessibility
Written & edited by: 🥸 Kaitlyn Ng
Are you interested in designing for media within the context of augmented reality? If so, read one to learn more about Digital Realities: Introducing Immersive Technologies for Arts and Culture (82-250)!
🤔 What is 82-250 Digital Realities: Introducing Immersive Technologies for Arts and Culture?
This introductory course aims to allow its students to create mediated experiences within augmented, immersive, and spatial reality that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. Students will leave this course with a better grasp on how to blend technology with real-life creative experiences.
🧐 What do you do in 82-250 Digital Realities: Introducing Immersive Technologies for Arts and Culture?
You will analyze augmented experiences within cultural human spaces through play, exploration, and experimentation. Moreover, you will also create original narratives and prototype spatially mediated experiences while keeping in mind a creative and inclusive context.
🤔 Who should take 82-250 Digital Realities: Introducing Immersive Technologies for Arts and Culture?
Anyone interested in designing inclusive digital reality experiences can take this course. There are no prerequisites!
Check out the full description of the course.
💓 Editor’s Pick — Smart Materials, a Future Beyond Screens?
Written & edited by: 🕺 Arin Pantja
We use technology everyday — from our phones, computers to smart wearables, our reality around buttons, screens, and screen interfaces feels inescapable. Keiichi Matsuda — a designer and filmmaker — presents a vision of the future in a video project where physical and virtual realities have merged, completely drowned in media.
With the rise of Spatial Computing and Mixed Reality, this future doesn’t seem so far away. At the same time, there’s also room for futures that aren’t so interface driven. One such field is Smart Materials and the field of material science, technology, and design.
🧩 What are Smart Materials?
Simply put, they are materials that can be manipulated to respond in a controlled and often reversible way. Their properties can adapt and change in response to external stimuli such as temperature.
⚡ Piezoelectric materials: Generate an electric charge when mechanically stressed.
🪙 Shape memory alloys: Ability to change shape and return to a predetermined shape when heated.
🕶️ Electroactive polymers: Change shape when an electric field is applied.
💭 Thermochromic materials: Alter color based on temperature changes.
💡 Photochromic materials: Change color when exposed to light.
🧲 Magnetostrictive materials: Change shape in response to a magnetic field.
🔭 How can Smart Materials be applied?
There are many different ways Smart Materials are being applied — from creating new materials such as Synthetic Spider Web, healthcare applications, and more inclusive designs as assistive technology, keep an eye out for this steadily growing field of research. Here are just a few ways Smart Materials are being utilised:
1️⃣ Haptic cues within textiles and wearables for people with vision or hearing impairments
2️⃣ Pressure-sensing mats and shoes that could enhance healthcare and video games by sensing pressure input, heat maps, and deep learning models
3️⃣Smart Glass use in Airports — for many unseen benefits such as saving energy, protection against diseases by eliminating the need for shutters/curtains
Read more on Smart Material applications and its uses
🎭 Resource — Shop Offline With Unique In-Store Experiences
Written & edited by: 🍳 Evelyn Lui
💡 Sometimes, a purchase may be less about the product itself and more about the journey getting there. For the designers out there who are feeling a lil’ screen-crazy, here are some places to visit and get inspired in person!
🛌 IKEA
From its immersive showrooms to its infamous Swedish Meatballs at the food court, IKEA effortlessly anticipates the needs of its customers throughout the entire browsing and purchasing process. Whether you’re a growing family or college student looking to decorate your dorm, IKEA has something for you!
🧼 Lush
Walk into any Lush store and you’ll be greeted immediately by the friendly associates and fragrance of its many products. The pops of color coming from the various bath bombs and soaps effectively places them at the center of attention for any customers to easily browse through and purchase.
☕ Starbucks
The warm and cozy interiors of a Starbucks creates an atmosphere that is not only inviting to outsiders but also encourages customers to prolong their stays. The more time spent, the more likely they are to purchase additional drinks and food!
💡 What are some other brick-and-mortar stores that’s left a deep impression on you?
🌐 Fun — Arc: A New Way to Use the Internet!
Written & edited by: 🧸 Ahana Banerjee
Get ready to unlock valuable user insights in a whole new way! Imagine the excitement of Family Feud combined with UX research – where different teams compete to uncover the top user behaviors and pain points through survey-based questions, just like the beloved TV game. Let the games begin! 🚀
🤔 Who’s behind the scenes?
The editors behind this week’s issue are 🥸 Kaitlyn Ng, 🧸 Ahana Banerjee, 🕺 Arin Pantja, 🍳 Evelyn Lui, 🚐 Sherry Chen, and 🦝 Caleb Sun.
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