Critical Design

Today was the last lecture of the course. In this lecture, we presented our prototypes that we have made in the last weeks. My group designed the "Cleverhand". A glove that gives the owner different abilities. Be it receiving crafting skills to programming skills. To learn more about the Cleverhand, listen to the podcast.

Final Result

What:

VR glasses allow their owners to immerse themselves in a simulation and to live a digital life there, where they can be who, what or where they want to be. Many people use the VR glasses to escape from their monotonous lives, in which they are unhappy with themselves and the world. All users are in the same simulation, so there is an exchange between users in the digital world. Since the simulation does not replace real life and people still have to work to earn money, there is a strong imbalance between rich and poor, which has an impact on the simulation or digital world. Rich people could, if they wanted, spend more time in the simulation and also earn or buy benefits for their digital life faster. Of course, there is a risk of addiction when entering the simulation. Because people can shape their lives in the simulation according to their desires, some people may not want to go back to the real world and slip into addiction.

Who:

The VR glasses are produced by a large global tech company, which also developed and owns the rights to the simulation. The simulation was developed with the goal of better connecting people, and is an evolution and combination of VR gaming and various metaverses. Most people who can afford it use these glasses to participate in the simulation. With so many people spending time in the simulation, many don't want to be left out and decide to build a digital life, perhaps despite concerns.

Why:

As mentioned earlier, people use VR glasses to escape from their everyday lives and freely express themselves in the simulation. Originally, the simulation was developed to provide people with a safe space where they can just be themselves after a hard day at work and make new contacts. But over time, financial interest came more and more to the foreground. Personalized advertising was introduced, and data tracking came to the front. Thus, the providers earn billions and there is no reason from his side to change the system.

Where:

The VR glasses, like most technical items, are produced in third countries, where little attention is paid to employment rights and wages. The VR glasses are mostly used by the users at home.

When:

As described above, many people use VR glasses to escape from their everyday lives. Depending on how unhappy people are with their lives and how often they find time for it, they immerse themselves in the simulation with the help of the glasses. If the glasses break, it's not a problem to just buy a new pair as long as you have the money, since the glasses are just the gateway to the simulation.

How:

I designed my mood board for the VR glasses that are used in the Black Mirror episode "The Simulation". The main focus was not only on the VR glasses, but also on the simulation that the characters can immerse themselves in with the help of the glasses.

The Mood board, is held in a purple/blue/black style, because this color is often associated with new worlds, or space. The Mood board symbolizes the loneliness that many people feel in the real world and the possibility of using VR glasses to immerse themselves in a giant and new world where they can reinvent themselves. The simulation allows users to fulfill their dreams and immerse themselves in fictional worlds. I would like to add the following two songs to the Mood board:

For me this task was completely new and to be honest I had a hard time drawing something at the beginning, because my drawing skills were at the level of an elementary school child. After several tries and after looking at the mood sketches of my fellow students, I decided to pick a ballad that conveys as emotional a message as possible. I finally decided on "My Immortal" by Evanescence. "My Immortal" is about the loss of a loved one and the associated grief and emptiness. The song expresses the emotions and pain you feel when you lose someone who was very close to you. The lyrics are melancholic and express feelings of loneliness, missing and inability to accept the loss. Listening to the song, the following image emerged:

In the center is a person gripped by grief and despair. The lines around the person are meant to symbolize the cage of dark feelings and thoughts that can grip and surround one in such moments. The colorful and bright strokes represent the small bright spots on these days, and should show that better days will come again.

The video looks at how games could better represent the world we live in and how the games industry and the content it creates can be more diverse and inclusive. It discusses ways to challenge the stereotypes often found in games and set new standards for the social norm.

Nowadays, many of us do not want to age. Or at least look visually young and avoid wrinkles at all costs. There are a lot of curious beauty products that are supposed to help us do that.

Wellbox S LPG System [2] Removes cellulite, punishes sagging skin and helps remove stubborn fat

CurrentBody Skin Face, Neck & Décolleté Set [3] Tightens the skin thanks to LED light therapy. Reduces visible fine lines and wrinkles and improves skin tone and texture.

NuFACE Mini Face trainer [4] Force the face skin

Anti-wrinkle straw [5] Fits horizontally to your lips, eliminating the wrinkling of your lips when using the straw.

Face lifting machine [6] Stimulates muscles and achieve a facial lifting and tightening

All these products are designed to help us avoid wrinkles or smooth wrinkles again. What is also noticeable, all these products are aimed primarily at women. On the pictures that advertise the products are exclusively young and the ideal of beauty in the modern world, corresponding women. But why do women in particular want to look young?

One theory is our genetics. In the past, young people were responsible for reproduction. The survival and continued existence of a family or group, was then only possible if as many and healthy children were born. The young generation was responsible for this. So a man would pair with the younger ladies so that he would give birth to as many children as possible. This ensured the continuity of his lineage.

Another reason is social media today. They show us daily that women can still have super smooth skin at the age of 50 or 60. But also in advertising or on television, we often see only one type of woman: young, good-looking and no wrinkles on her face. These images shape our ideas of the female self. The image of the woman is often created from the perspective of the man and portray her as incredibly young. Aging is thus evaluated as something negative, and youthfulness corresponds to an essential value of beauty in our society. At the same time, the aging process is not considered a normal part of life and youthful appearance must be protected. Externally, youthfulness is manifested mainly in the skin, which should be smooth, firm and wrinkle-free.

"Praise is due to those who, despite their age, are still fit and independent, who look much younger than they are, who are still attractive for their age, in which age does not really take place at all - at least not visibly" [1].

Sources

[1] https://www.grin.com/document/171215

[2] https://www.currentbody.de/products/wellbox-s-slimming-anti-ageing-device

[3] https://www.currentbody.de/products/currentbody-skin-complete-led-kit

[4] https://www.currentbody.de/products/nuface-mini-facial-toner?variant=39249656119341?cur=eur&overlay=false&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3Ov65JGG_gIVlM13Ch1JbwgYEAQYASABEgLXl_D_BwE

[5] https://www.fruugo.at/anti-falten-strohhalm-wiederverwendbarer-glastrinkhalm-1-set/p-145174888-306287541?language=de&ac=KelkooCSS&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_6zC0JGG_gIVhdZ3Ch3WPgMhEAQYASABEgIq9vD_BwE

Summary

Pets are becoming more and more popular, and therefore the market around pets is also growing. In the last centuries people have started to breed and design animals according to their needs and wishes. Thereby, the animal welfare gets into the background. The appearance of the animal is for many people more important than its health. Likewise, make persons the domestic animal rather as accessories at, which one can present on the Internet well. Here applies: "The cuter, the better". Also, the inconsiderate handling of people with animals, which are killed for fashion designs, was pointed out in this post. In addition, there is a whole range of different products that are made for pets, where the question arises, to what extent these products were still developed for animals or whether they should rather be liked by humans?

I hope I could move you with this post to deal more critically with the relationship between humans and pets/animals in the future.

Sources

[1] https://www.demokratiewebstatt.at/thema/haben-tiere-rechte/eine-kleine-geschichte-der-haustiere

[2] https://dewiki.de/Lexikon/Haustier

[3] https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/panorama/katze-und-mensch--innig-seit-je-forscher-schon-vor-9500-jahren-1109797.html

[4] https://pdf.zzf.de/zzf_jahresbericht_2021/

[5] https://www.spektrum.de/news/warum-wir-haustiere-lieben/1427923

[6] https://www.peta.de/themen/qualzucht-haustiere/

[7] https://www.tierschutzbund.de/information/hintergrund/heimtiere/qualzucht/

[8] https://pagewizz.com/tiere-als-fashion-accessoire-34757/

[9] https://netzfrauen.org/2018/02/20/keychains/

[10] https://www.welt.de/lifestyle/gallery13608418/Huendchen-fuer-die-erste-Reihe.html

[11] https://www.peta.de/themen/exotenleder/

[12] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009ZBHZS?tag=desswa-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B0009ZBHZS&adid=1WFK67CH78YK482HYGZ1&

[13] http://inventorspot.com/articles/anything_your_dog_please_not_dogomatic_28009