Visual melodies : design and evaluation of an interactive art installation for clinical environments

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.Over the past decades there has been a growing recognition of the value of art activities, such as visual arts, music, drawing, dance, poetry and writing, as therapeutic approaches to enhance healthcare settings. Numerous studies have identified the value of art and design in decreasing depression and anxiety and creating a holistic healing environment for hospital visitors and patients, as well as offering a positive working environment for staff. Therefore, I propose that interactive multimedia art offers an important new therapeutic avenue as a service for engaging visitors, patients and staff in hospitals. Visual Melodies is an interactive art installation that engenders feelings of calm and relaxation in users. In this exegesis, I describe the theoretical background, development and evaluation of Visual Melodies. This creative trajectory draws on practice-based research, with the aims to create an interactive art installation, to evaluate its therapeutic potential, and to identify the semiotic dimensions of multimedia art that are most generally effective for producing therapeutic effects. Based on the literature of the different techniques used in art therapy, colour therapy and music therapy, I propose a bridge between these three therapies through a platform of an interactive multimedia installation – harnessing images, colours and sounds. Eight design principles that form the foundation of the practice were developed along with the discussion of the design elements that have been shown to be effective for enhancing relaxation. In line with the design principles, the design practice was then developed as a series of original landscape artworks and interactive animations accompanied by music specifically composed for the researcher. Audience feedback to the installation in a hospital waiting room was studied as a way of assessing its therapeutic potential. The evaluation feedback has been very positive and welcoming from visitors, patients and staff of all ages. Overall, Visual Melodies provides a relaxing and playful experience for the participants. The feelings most often reported were that of being relaxed, followed by calm, diverted, evoking memories and happy. This project demonstrates that it is beneficial to create a relaxing and supportive therapeutic interactive multimedia artwork for promoting holistic healing environments. The practice-based research and findings in this exegesis extend our understanding of how we can fuse artwork and technology, to transform our healthcare settings from sterile treatment spaces, into healing places where ‘care’ is built into the environment itself

Designing Inclusive Playscapes Across Sensorial + Socio-Spatial Boundaries

Our emotional experience in public environments is considered to be superficial, although their configurations impact how well we can see, hear, move around, and interact in them daily. ‘Lonely, but not alone’ describes many of today’s urban dwellers. For some people, participation in civic life can be challenging, especially since the barriers (physical, psychological, etc.) faced by some are not always apparent to others, even to designers. This Major Research Project explores the relationship between the level of playfulness expressed in an urban space and user experience. Along with case study investigations and the Delphi method, 42 citizens (estimated to be 21 years of age or older) participated via interviews in Toronto, Canada. An urban design framework of 64 playful design features called The Multi-Playscape Toolkit, which can be used by urban designers and architects, has been developed and now contributes to the knowledge base. Using the Toronto context, recommendations are provided to promote more urban playfulness, more lenient policymaking, and more inclusive design practices in our public spaces

Visual Flow-based Programming Plugin for Brain Computer Interface in Computer-Aided Design

Over the last half century, the main application of Brain Computer Interfaces, BCIs has been controlling wheelchairs and neural prostheses or generating text or commands for people with restricted mobility. There has been very limited attention in the field to applications for computer aided design, despite the potential of BCIs to provide a new form of environmental interaction. In this paper we introduce the development and application of Neuron, a novel BCI tool that enables designers with little experience in neuroscience or computer programming to gain access to neurological data, along with established metrics relevant to design, create BCI interaction prototypes, both with digital onscreen objects and physical devices, and evaluate designs based on neurological information and record measurements for further analysis. After discussing the BCI tool development, the article presents its capabilities through two case studies, along with a brief evaluation of the tool performance and a discussion of implications, limitations, and future improvement

Designing Playful Urban Installations: An Exploration of Participatory Methods

For decades the human dimension has been neglected in urban planning topics. With the emergence of modernism, streets started to get larger in order to accommodate more cars, and step by step, the space for pedestrians has been reduced, dictated by the rhythm of the automobile flow. With the invasion of cars into cities, the high-rise buildings and towers made cities less and less pleasant for inhabitants. In return, city life studies demonstrate where conditions for pedestrians are improved, social and recreational activities increase extensively. In light of this situation, a number of cities have integrated playful urban installations to revitalize city centers. In this research, the creative practice of designing four concepts of interactive urban installations through a research through design (RtD) approach combined with a reflective practice is described. Then since incorporating the notion of play in a way that encourages social interactions requires a good understanding of human behavior, site observations of two urban installations were also conducted in Montreal. Ultimately, recurring events and themes were investigated and turned into co-design activities for establishing participatory workshops. This process proved to be particularly useful for validating the developed concepts with potential users and created the ground for further reflection. Through this exploration, the core concepts of participatory practices were addressed which reconcile with the current endeavor for transforming situations to make cities more enjoyable and welcoming in the future

XR, music and neurodiversity: design and application of new mixed reality technologies that facilitate musical intervention for children with autism spectrum conditions

This thesis, accompanied by the practice outputs,investigates sensory integration, social interaction and creativity through a newly developed VR-musical interface designed exclusively for children with a high-functioning autism spectrum condition (ASC).The results aim to contribute to the limited expanse of literature and research surrounding Virtual Reality (VR) musical interventions and Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs) designed to support individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions. The author has developed bespoke hardware, software and a new methodology to conduct field investigations. These outputs include a Virtual Immersive Musical Reality Intervention (ViMRI) protocol, a Supplemental Personalised, immersive Musical Experience(SPiME) programme, the Assisted Real-time Three-dimensional Immersive Musical Intervention System’ (ARTIMIS) and a bespoke (and fully configurable) ‘Creative immersive interactive Musical Software’ application (CiiMS). The outputs are each implemented within a series of institutional investigations of 18 autistic child participants. Four groups are evaluated using newly developed virtual assessment and scoring mechanisms devised exclusively from long-established rating scales. Key quantitative indicators from the datasets demonstrate consistent findings and significant improvements for individual preferences (likes), fear reduction efficacy, and social interaction. Six individual case studies present positive qualitative results demonstrating improved decision-making and sensorimotor processing. The preliminary research trials further indicate that using this virtual-reality music technology system and newly developed protocols produces notable improvements for participants with an ASC. More significantly, there is evidence that the supplemental technology facilitates a reduction in psychological anxiety and improvements in dexterity. The virtual music composition and improvisation system presented here require further extensive testing in different spheres for proof of concept

KEER2022

Avanttítol: KEER2022. DiversitiesDescripció del recurs: 25 juliol 202

Designing for a playful future:a review of how humorous play within the urban realm can make adult play a part of everyday life

Abstract. Everybody plays. It is a behaviour that is common to all people and indeed most species. A person’s inclination to play is dependant, not only on his mental and emotional state, but also on his surroundings. Despite our physiological separation from the rest of the evolving natural kingdom, our brains have scarcely evolved further than those of our hunter-gatherer forefathers. So often the playful side of adults is forgotten, un-nurtured and neglected, much to the detriment of public physical and mental health. In this ever-changing and fast-paced human society, we are constantly trying to avoid or subdue our primal instincts because we believe we are somehow different... “We are not animals”. We make our primal desire to be free and rampant something to be ashamed of, afraid of and even embarrassed by. This thesis discusses the importance of play with regard to mental health and how urban environments can be and become conducive to play in adults. It poses some ideas about how designers can provide opportunities for both active and fantasy play in transitional urban spaces that we use on a regular basis. The thesis addresses the issue of ‘what is play?’ by establishing a working definition of play in terms of an individual adult player and their surroundings. This definition then serves as the basis for evaluating how contemporary urban design uses a wide array of techniques and strategies to incorporate adult play within everyday life through literature review and case studies. Moreover, it tackles the concept of humour and identifies the benefits to encouraging communication of the self through humour and freedom of expression within the urban realm. These observations provide the basic structure for developing some design parameters which an architect or urban designer might utilise in designing spaces and environments that facilitate play and designing humour for playable cities in order to attain the ‘playful’ city

Fun weight

Treball desenvolupat dins el marc del programa 'European Project Semester' i l'"International Design Project Semester".The main objective of the Fun Weight project was to decrease the level of anxiety from children during preoperative treatment, while the gathering of measurements essential for further hospitalization takes place. This assignment has been conducted by an international and multidisciplinary team whose members were from fields of: Product Design, Electronics and Information Communication Technologies, Mechanical Engineering and Information Technology. The project was interesting and constructive due to tight cooperation with the Hospital de Sant Joan de Deu in Barcelona which was the main stakeholder of this project. Methodology of the project consisted of in advance strictly defined steps, which were: researching, designing of the interactive game, designing/development of the application, prototyping of the application, prototyping of the interactive game and testing. However the development of the interactive game and the application have been performed simultaneously. The outcome of this project has reached its end at the 17th of June and concluded following three elements: electronical prototype of the interactive game, three dimensional model of the game and the mobile application for retrieving measurements and communicating with the interactive game. The stage of testing was divided into three independent sections: testing of the application usability, testing of the application functionality and evaluation of actual anxiety decreasing. As a result of application usability test, an average rate of ease of the interface has been obtained at the level of 2 what states for easy to use. Functionality tests have been performed with application of the Angel Sensor in function of the measuring device. In spite of problems encountered during the use of that sensor, basic functionalities of the application have been confirmed. Due to the shortage of the time, evaluation of decrease of anxiety level has not yet been conducted