Computation in Design

Coding is a workshop by Andreas Schlegel that looks at the creative application of code in the design process. The students were introduced to 4 different briefs; sound, motion, pattern and imaginary and were to choose one to work on in groups of 3. With my classmates Jun and Kai, I worked on the AR application module, and thought of what the term “Nature Encounters” could mean in the context of “Love”. I drew out an idea for an AR project of encountering shapes symbolising the stages of love in nature. Because love is a pinnacle force of human nature and is encountered everywhere, I thought that it would be interesting to see “love” visualised and shown in scenes that had a close relationship with the “nature” around us. As the project was in groups of three, our group divided the stages of love into three; an inflating and blinded and forming stage, a stabilising and hardening stage, and heartbreak.

For our project "Love in Nature", we wanted the three stages (shapes) to be unique individually, but also have a coherent balance between them when seen in the AR application. Thus, we decided to fix the colour to a bright red, as bright red has symbolic ties with “love”. To create a distinction between the shapes we assigned different materials to each stage that strengthened and matched with its symbolic meanings. As this was my first time making an AR project, I was unaware of the technical limitations such as the glb file size, and animations of the shape. However, overcoming these limitations and learning more about AR applications made me realise that AR projects could also become a piece of art itself. Although AR applications are mostly used commercially or as interactive projects, I felt like ideas such as an “AR Art Gallery”, which would shine light on the artwork itself and approach AR not as a tool, but as a medium to express an artist/designer’s vision had great potential.

In the Screens workshop led by Jo Ho, we delved into the world of projection mapping using the p5.js coding template. Through the workshop, we learned to adapt and customise the code to suit the needs of our unique shapes, ultimately enabling us to project and map images or videos onto non-rectangular surfaces. For the concept of "Other Worlds", my teammate Jun and I were inspired by the idea that every individual is like an independent world, shaped by their unique experiences and perceptions of the world around them. This led to the idea of “love” and how the act of love is basically two “other worlds” colliding, as it can bring two separate worlds together. This was done by making an hourglass shape and projecting two complementing visuals on each half.

During the making process, we encountered some challenges in creating a planar figure for the irregular shape we had in mind. We had to manually cut out each shape and try different angles until we achieved the desired outcome. Although it was a tedious process, it helped us to develop a more concrete and successful shape. This experience made me realise that even in coding, hands-on approaches and material-related problem-solving are crucial for achieving a good outcome. As a designer, it is important to explore different approaches and materials to broaden one's knowledge and skillset. Solving material-related problems can also be useful in future projects. Overall, the "Other Worlds" project taught me the value of persistence, experimentation, and the importance of hands-on approaches in creating successful designs.

The Play workshop, conducted by Jake Tan Zi Jie, focused on physical computing and bridging the gap between the physical and digital realms. Students were introduced to Arduino and how it can be used to create physical interactions by translating data into movement. Additionally, the workshop explored the possibility of collecting and translating data from the physical world, such as detecting motion, sound, light and turning it into digital information. The outcomes from this workshop provided viewers with a physical interaction with the object, allowing it to react to their actions.

Amongst the analog sensors, the "Light Sensor", caught my attention due to its symbolic significance. My teammate Jun and I were inspired by how natural light impacts our daily lives and decided to create an interactive heart shape that changes size based on the light input. Jake's feedback helped us make the piece more interactive by allowing viewers to 'hug” the sensor and make the heart bigger and more colourful. Controlling the light input was challenging, but by adjusting the input/output numbers, we were able to keep the heart stable. Overall, this workshop was rewarding, as we learned to deal with unexpected challenges and felt accomplished when our code worked in a stable manner.