13. Implications and applications¶

Humanizing Sensing¶

A portal between different communities to re-empathize with each other's humanity.

An interactive installation piece that translates data from one community to another through an (wearable) artefact for the purpose of celebrating the heritage, similarities, and differences of said communities in a human and proportional way.

It is called Humanizing Sensing because we, collectively as humans, are at a point where we are constantly bombarded with information at a quick pace causing us to interact with it passively. We have grown to be de-sensitized to the information we see but partially notice.

This project aims to bring back the senses to the human who is designed to sense so naturally but has forgotten to do so.

Throughouht this project, the goal is to collect inputs from one community and outputs from the other and connect them through the artefacts. Ideally, the project will be presented through an exhibition both in Barcelona, Spain and Doha, Qatar. In this way, I am just the medium between the two for the transfer of the information.

I am looking at designers, material researchers, makers or artists from or based in Doha, Qatar and Barcelona, Spain. The inputs would be selected by those in Doha while the outputs are selected by those in Barcelona. Once these inputs and outputs are selected and connected to different emotions, I will act as a 'DJ' that will shuffle these inputs/outputs to project different emotions.

As emotions are a very intangible and abstract concept, I plan to work with a group within the community to translate them into tangible and concrete representations of themselves.

Some potential inputs could include sound, touch (or lack of), and light. While some potential outputs could include expansion, contraction, lighting, vibration, and colors. The artefact that will represent the outputs would utilize learnt skills from Soft Robotics, E-textiles, and Skin Electronics.

Project Pitch Slides¶

Projects from slides above¶

Feedback from Project Pitch Session¶


Oscar	Look at it as an ecosystem. Look at ecologies of production and reuse. Use locality as a way to frame your project too. Can also be situated in your life? In yor suroundings? How can it help you to care more about nature?
Cecilia	Love how your mind map worked, made it very clear. Will you create some sort of glossary based on the communities? as you say they are very different for very different people - could they easily be relinked to different outputs?
Anastasia	i remember a simple project that is community driven > its a button that you put on your bicycle, connected with a gps that tracks your trajectory and you can press a smiley face or an angry face to give feedback about the road * for example if there is too much traffic contamination or if the road is bad or if the root is beautiful . why am i saying that? i thought when you showed the emotions, that you could ask for feedback from the community/ case users that is quite straightforward and simple. also, when we are talking about heritage, i enjoyed a lot the expats community case of barcelona, its a great specific group you can work with
Claudia	Hala, check the past project about data memories values garments and communities around the world https://class.textile-academy.org/2023/silvia-lugo/ / I think the beauty of the installation would be showcasing the making of - that gets shaped in time rather than a finalized outcome
Rico	Humanizing Tech...seems to be a more apt title for your thesis...since humans sense naturally. The concept of making long distance communication less about tech and more about human connection is great. Perhaps the answer is to step back from the non-tactile Output devices associated with technology...and make the output more tactile and visceral. For example, instead of holding a cold, hard mobile phone...we could be touching a bundle of vibrating yarn.
Diane	Super interesting topic to work on :) So many questions: How are your going to define the "common language", what translates to what, in other words, what kind of inputs trigger what kind of outputs and why? Do you want to create this on your own, or decide with the communities during the project (the communication between the communities could start before the project is finalized) Actually, do you want people who get the output to understand the language, or interpret the output on their own? Like others said, I would encourage you to think about the materiality of the output. Something they can touch, feel, maybe bring a part of it home...
Marion	Which is the "best" way, for you, to make connexions, links between these differents cultures?
ChungHan	Awesome diagram and research, I really enjoy that you put yourself in between both information and realstic application and try to link different communities, the innovation and break point alwasy happen in the gap, bridge inbetween different things, great start point and looking forward the final outcome you create!
Stephanie J.	Such a lovely presentation, so inspirational, thank you Hala! I really like this idea and the prospect of performance
Ruby	I think the process of creating a binary like language to explain complicated cultural ideas will be very interesting, how you break down these things to be able to be used in analogue systems