Advanced Prototype ✢
Week 03 | Nov 25
Despite starting the day with the intention of creating an advanced prototype for our concept, we somehow ended up experimenting with materials—again. Not that it isn’t fun to walk around like the Michelin Man with inflatable wearables, but we all agreed that a more clear direction was needed. Here are a few images and a video compilation of some of our material experiments from today before our mentoring (see below).
The feedback from our mentoring session today with Joëlle and Andrés was extremely helpful. While we had taken their previous advice into consideration and explored what it means to cry, we hadn’t really given meaning or context to our concept. They therefore suggested to develop a guiding narrative that would help us to move forward and make decisions. This meant considering the goal of the wearable. For instance, will it be a tool used every day by the user? Or is it single use only? Will it be intended for an individual or collective experience? These are just some examples they mentioned.
With only a few hours left in our day, we walked to a café around the corner from ZHdK. We needed to get some fresh air and enjoy a coffee before discussing our topic of emotional literacy and what it means for us individually, as well as a group.
We now asked ourselves what the aim is with our project. What are we trying to do? So far we had decided—more or less— to create a wearable that embodies the act of crying. But why? What would be the purpose of such a device? And are we focusing on crying specifically, or emotional literacy in general? The discussion we had in the café was inspired from one of our previous talks about being aware of one’s emotions. This led us to consider the question, “What is our relationship with our emotions?” What if we could create a wearable that would allow the user to have a conversation or dialogue with their emotions on a daily basis? What would this conversation look or sound like? Would the wearable then not just raise awareness about emotions, but also help people to have a healthier relationship with them?
