Diego S. Maranan

I found another use for #massageguns: cleaning fountain pen nibs. Speeds up the process of dissolving dried ink in water because apparently #massagegunsaretimetravellingdevices

(May photo ba kayo ni Lola Mommy na gusto niyong i-contribute? Submit your photos of her.)

My 96-year-old grandmother, Fe Fulleros Santos (or lola mommy, as she was known to family), recently passed away. She was one of the most incredible people I have ever known. When she turned 90, she started writing poetry, an outpouring of pithy observations, cautionary notes, political commentary, reflective musings, and outright lectures addressed not just to her family but to the world at large.

For the wake, everyone wanted to share photos of their time with her. But we were instructed by the funeral home that the family had to select no more than 30 photos that they would put in a slideshow presentation that they were going to produce. How could we possibly distill someone's life into a finite number of images, and who could possibly claim the right to do this? So instead, I just saved every single image that was sent by family member and relatives from a group chat that we had, archived them in a Google Folder, and rendered them in this image carousel. People could also contribute their own photos of lola via a form. It wasn't the most sophisticated of visualizations, but I managed to make it very quickly with the help of generative Al, and it served its purpose during the wake.

I've archived the "memorial cloud" on Tumblr. It's best viewed on a desktop monitor; it doesn't do too well on mobile, but I'm going to work on that so that people can browse through the photos on their phone. https://lolafememorialcloud.tumblr.com

I’m looking for collaborators to help me create a new, functioning prototype of a wearable vibrotactile technology I first developed during my PhD. The original prototype (called Haplós, which was worn as a vest) demonstrated the potential of the technology in research and pilot studies, but now I want to rebuild it into something sleeker, more robust, and closer to a product.

For this next version, I’m particularly interested in exploring a glove or sleeve form factor that can deliver structured vibrotactile feedback to the arms and hands.

This could be a great capstone or portfolio project for 1-4 students, recent grads, or early career tinkerers and designers from:

Industrial design

Fashion design or textile arts

Robotics or electrical engineering

Interactive media or related fields

I'm looking for someone with prior experience in working with any of the following:

Physical computing / Internet of Things hardware (e.g., Arduino or other microcontrollers)

Designing and fabricating garments, accessories, or clothes

What you’ll get

The chance to work on a project with an established research foundation and international visibility.

Experience in wearable design, somatic technology, and creative prototyping.

A flexible, collaborative working arrangement where your creative input is valued.

What I can offer

Prior prototypes, code, and documentation as a starting point.

Mentorship and creative collaboration.

Modest funding support

The opportunity to be part of shaping a project with real potential for research, art, rehabilitation, and wellness applications.

If you’re a student, faculty member, recent grad, or independent artist based in Metro Manila and are interested in wearable technologies and human-centered design — and you’re open to a somewhat messy, experimental commercialization process — I’d love to hear from you. 📩 Contact me if you’d like to know more or explore collaborating