The 3rd This happened took place at the Roxy Bar & Screen in London, and had presentations from Jussi Ängeslevä, Schulze & Webb, Kenichi Okada and Snug & Outdoor. This happened is a "series of events focusing on the stories behind interaction design [delving] into projects that exist today, how their concepts and production process can help inform future work". It was started by Chris O'Shea (Pixelsumo), Joel Gethin Lewis (United Visual Artists) and Andreas Muller (Nanika). In some ways it is a successor to the Experience Design events I programmed from 2000–2006, in particular the show and tell and project-based presentations that characterised the earlier events. Notably, this event focused entirely beyond the screen, and no Web site designs were shown. Interaction is now quite naturally discussed in the context of objects and physical systems. Of course, this was always the case the the Royal College of Art and other institutions from which a number of the presenters graduated. The Web was a kind of sub-story in this narrative.
The organisers also talk about the need to "get to know some people beyond the screen", and with 120 people squeezing into the Roxy this objective was certainly achieved. It is amazing that one can put on such an event today and get this level of interest. The Interaction Design Association (IxDA) is also planning London-based events which I am sure will be well attended, albeit by a slightly more studious crowd. Interaction design has really come of age.
My notes remain in item format, and only capture the key points. For biographies please refer to the event programme:
Jussi Ängeslevä
Ängeslevä "talked about the process of creating Duality at ART+COM, a public space art installation in Tokyo".
- "To do new media innovation today you really have to get your hands dirty"
- Lessons? Manufacturers were working blind, not clear what we were trying to achieve. They weren't up front about concerns.
Schulze & Webb
Jack Schulze "discussed the Olinda project, a prototype DAB radio that shares listening with friends, is customisable with modular hardware, and aims to provoke discussion on the future and design of radios for the home".
- "You have to make a drawing of it if you want someone to pay you to make something"
- Cites Chris Heathcote on designing for flows of information as opposed to products
- Project aimed at embodying sociality and revealing flows
- We are working with model maker Paul South, ex-IDEO, to make prototypes. Hardware API will be open.
- Lessons? Make a working hardware rig before drawing anything
Kenichi Okada
Okada "talked about the process of creating Animal Superpowers, a series of toys as sensory enhancements for kids to experience special abilities such as 50x magnified ant vision, the perspective and voice of a giraffe and sensing tsunamis".
Snug & Outdoor
Hattie Coppard of Snug & Outdoor "discussed the design & development of Snug, a family of large-scale modular objects that children can use in any combination to create their own dynamic play landscapes".
- The value of funding (from NESTA and other) was that it gave us time to think
- We worked with writers on stories: arenas, pathways, obstacles, territories, gateways, private spaces, and so on.
- On testing: we adapted the objects to allow all things to connect
- "Every time the children do something different from what you would imagine"
- We designed the system so there are no hidden traps (hand, neck, etc)
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