Gravity Sketch Student Ambassador
During summer of 2022 I was trained as a Student Ambassador, since then VR design has become a critical part of my workflow, Unlocking capabilities that were not possible before. This was my major project I worked on to showcase what I had learned using Gravity Sketch and Unreal engine. The purpose of this project was to develop my technical skills, and presentation skills.
Virtual Museum
Converting my Virtual Environment from Unreal Engine to Gravity sketch, I was able to make a virtual museum to showcase my process work, and final design.
Emotional Design Reflection
During the fall of 2022 I was able to do a reflection on the emotional design of the vehicle as a part of my industrial design seminar course taught by my school director WonJoon Chung.
Emotion in design explained:
Primary emotions: What is the user’s immediate reaction to the design?
Secondary emotions: How does the product affect the users social conditions and what emotions do they experience because of this?
Background emotions: What is the long term underlying mood or mental state facilitated by the design?(Poggenpohl, n.d., p78-85)
Emotion can affect people through various forms of pleasure intended by the designer:
Physio Pleasure is created through physical interactions with the design, how the senses create an emotional response, and how effective the design is in performing the action it's designed for.
Psycho Pleasure is facilitated through the designs impact on the person's cognitive and emotional response
Socio Pleasure is derived from how the design impacts the person’s relationships with others and with their larger society.
Ideo Pleasure is facilitated through a design that positively affects the person’s ideologies. These are deep beliefs the person holds, and great meaning can be added to their experience by assisting in fulfilling them. (Week 10_ Emotional Design - IDES4001B Industrial Design Seminar (SEM) Fall 2022, n.d.)
Analysis of the Cybercycle
Primary Emotions:
Psycho Pleasure
The striking form of the vehicle resembles an animal crouched and ready to pounce. There are thick electrical cables running along the bonelike frame and elegant suspension flowing into the hubless motor-wheels giving the appearance of panther paws clutching the rims. These factors catch the animal instincts of the onlooker exciting the thrill of the chase within them. By entering the vehicle they become one with the animal; fast,agile and powerful.
Anticipated Physio Pleasure
This vehicle has been designed to provide a very visceral tactile experience.
On the exterior the user will feel the slick polycarbonate shell beneath their fingers, opening it up to enter the cockpit.
The interior has a variety of affordances that encourage the user to interact with them. The rubberised handlebars, the aluminum mechanical keyboard, the large spinning trackball, the hugging seat. The warm glow of the orange interfaces, and the low hum of good vibrations; the large rubber tires grip the road while the electric motors accelerate with power.
All these sensory aspects come together to facilitate excitement: anticipation for acceleration as the vehicle becomes an extension of the user.
Suggested Improvements
When analyzing the secondary and background emotions, it was apparent that the interaction between the vehicle and its environment would be critical (Poggenpohl, n.d.) to understanding emotional impact beyond the surface of primary emotions. To improve the emotional impact of the design I created this illustration which provides more context, and explored the following:
Secondary Emotions:
Socio pleasure
This bike was designed to show off its functional components instead of hiding them away under fenders. Designed to be seen and understood. To provoke deep thought, ingenuity, and invention in the mind of the beholder. The vehicle computer has an interface to reprogram and modify vehicle performance instead of hiding it away in a black box. Through these design choices it will be a catalyst to facilitate a community of hackers and modders, people who find social value around sharing and developing skills to do with tuning their vehicles for maximum performance.
Background Emotions:
Ideo Pleasure
This open-box mentality not only facilitates community, but it also aligns itself with ideological values which previously were in conflict with one another. People who loved to modify their classic hotrods could not embrace electric vehicles because current electric vehicle companies lock away all customization from the users. They are anti-modder, and anti right to repair. Despite common knowledge of the issues of carbon emissions, Gearheads are conflicted ideologically when it comes to adopting electric vehicles.
Imagine a future where ideologies such as “the right to repair”, “you only truly own what you understand”, and modding culture, work in harmony with the electric vehicle values of environmental stewardship. By meeting these ideological values this vehicle can provide a good emotional experience which endures long term.