The Initial Concept

Concept Blog

After taking the mindmap as our starting point we tried to come up with proper concept. Taking in things like 3D spatial calligraphy and temporary art we tried to wrap the timelessness of the ottoman calligraphy in a user manipulated fast culture experience. We didn’t want to use buttons or levers and tried to use affordances as much as possible to come up with an intuitive model for user experience. We concentrated a lot on converting brainwaves, or other physical responses to different kinds of stimuli, into abstract calligraphy. After talking about psychopaths we came up with a shock experience to generate this kind of data. Using things like galvanic skin response and measuring the users expierence to bombardment of stimuli our concept started to take form.

Our concept is as follows.
An exhibition room is surrounded by ‘personal experience’ rooms. In a personal experience room a person sits down on a chair in the middle of the room. The chair measures galvanic skin response, brainwave patterns, pulse, etc. The user first gets put in a state of sensory deprivation to bring him into a kind of ‘null’ or trance state where he or she is suggestive to different types of stimuli. We do this by using darkness and anti-sound. When this state is reached, and read by the chair/system, the user gets bombarded by stimuli in the form of headlines from newssites or current events that are cut up and randomized. This happens for a few minutes to cause a reaction in the users mind which translates to a bodily reaction.

The data gathered by the system is interpreted and compiled, and projected as abstract calligraphy or imagery on the walls surrounding the chair after the period of stimulus is completed. This is the user’s mind/body experience calligraphy. The user exits the personal experience room into the exhibition room. Here the personal calligraphic representation is combined with those of the users in other rooms into a 3D spatial calligraphic ornament in the centre of the room using holographic projection. The environment is affected by the personal experience and the combined experience of the users receiving information from the global digital village.

We still need to consider these questions:

Do we need a test room so the user doesn’t get scared on first time use of personal experience room? (old people get heart attacks!)
An (chronological or otherwise) order to the pattern of the abstract calligraphy (2d & 3d) is needed.
What does the physical chair do to evoke body emotion/memory? Does it do anything?
How does our concept relate to everyday life? How’s it used in everyday life, practical application?

What would be my motivation to go there? What kind of interactions (slotmachines?) are possible or usefull? Decide on all the constraints. Size of room, prototyping the null state. Earplugs instead of antisound for prototyping.