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November 2022

Guide 2 project

presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1a2H6gPsT7QdK8xzMEh_cj6YjNvG5kSBwQP3ckl5SYR0/edit?usp=sharing

Guide link:https://github.com/YunshanJiang/guide2.git

critique: Younger Generation Lost Interest in Buddhist Culture and Art

Intention: I want to share buddhist culture and art with younger generation by merging modern or fashion elements with the basic forms of Buddha, which also gives younger generation more opportunities of knowing buddhist philosophy. 

Research trail: 

  1. I had a general looking on different countries Buddhist figures and made the system map: https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/10/31/topic-2-system-map/
  2. For the daily practice, by changing some key elements or feature, I made the collage of different countries’ buddhist figures.

  1. Buddhist figures are various according to different countries and cultures. So I narrow down my research and image resources on Tibetan area Buddhist figure and Chinese Buddhist figure.

4. I did a series of research on natal Buddha 8 patron saints which are common in east Asia. Each of them and their parts have particular meaning. Research note: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPFj1a44=/?share_link_id=712752205624

4. After analyzing the traditional buddha figure, my idea was to imitate the layer or structure of buddha figure. 

Guide: 

Original idea: I tried to make a fiction website that shows disassembled 8 natal Buddha figures and presents each part by 3d models, I redesign the parts and user reconnects them. 

After elaborating my guide forms to my brother who are taking the art doctor degree in Japan and one of my friend, he gave me some suggestions. Here is the link of user testing: https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/wp-admin/post.php?post=3905&action=edit

Finally I decided to make a fictional website for user to DIY their own buddha figures by collage.

Before building buddha, the website show the samples of 8 natal buddhas and explain their meaning and key features.

step one: choose avatar

step two:choose accessories

step three:

final results sample:

bibliography:

  1. Powers, J. (2009). A bull of a man : Images of masculinity, sex, and the body in indian buddhism. Harvard University Press.

2. Kieschnick, J. & Shahar, M. (2013). India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812208924

3. Jones, C.V., ‘Introduction: Buddhism and Its Religious Others’, in C.V. Jones (ed.), Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Historical Encounters and Representations (London, 2022; online edn, British Academy Scholarship Online, 22 Sept. 2022), https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197266991.003.0001, accessed 8 Nov. 2022.

4.FERGUSON, J. M., KENT, D. W., MCDANIEL, J. T., THOMPSON, A., MAKLEY, C., BERKWITZ, S. C., SCOTT, G. A., JERRYSON, M., ELISON, W., GAMBURD, M. R., LEIDER, J. P., LEDGERWOOD, J., GELLNER, D. N., & JOHNSON, I. C. (2016). LOOKING BACKWARD: Inventing Tradition in the Modern World. In J. Samuels, J. T. McDaniel, & M. M. Rowe (Eds.), Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia (pp. 15–56). University of Hawai’i Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvvn6w6.6

5.Leighton, Taigen Dan (1998). Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides to Awakening and Their Modern Expression. New York: Penguin Arkana. pp. 158–205. ISBN 0140195564. OCLC 37211178.

6.[1]常云霞.虚空藏菩萨与“佛法”的故事[J].农家女,2014(4):33-33.

7. Lopez, D. S., & Stone, J. I. (2019). Two buddhas seated side by side : A guide to the lotus sūtra. Princeton University Press.

8.“The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa”. 84000: Translating The Words of The Buddha. Retrieved 28 November 2022.

9.Pinte, Klaus (2010). Vairocana/Mahāvairocana. obo in Buddhism. doi: 10.1093/obo/9780195393521-0094

Topic 2 User Test

I sent my project to some of my friends, they helped me to gain more feedback on my ideas:

 

  • They told me that it was an interesting concept
  • The layout is simple and could use more colors
  • I should add information about the tools for the “ancient Native American” weapons.

After doing this I was told that I should also:

  • Maybe add a gif to make it more engaging.
  • Make the buttons look more like a button instead of plain white

 

Project 2 Development

While developing my project, I was thinking about how I wanted the experience to be. My initial thought was to continue with the smartwatch on the Janky Prototypes. I would create a prototype that would have a compass and an application that would give survival tips.

However, after having the individual meetings, the idea of sticking to the development of weaponry throughout history and how it can be changed and used in the future.

I stuck to the idea of creating a prototype application, but this would be an app that allows people to create ideas on future weaponry. Mainly, how weaponry can be used for good instead of bombs, guns, etc. Creating things that can resolve issues in the world.

Odor – Reflections

What did you learn?

The “critical” and “experience” 🙂

The tools and terms such as “system thinking”, “IAE”, “public and counter public” are really useful to structure a project.

And there’s a mind-shifting moment, which is the best part I learned in this class: What is an experience.

I realized that I misunderstood the “experience” after a meeting with Monika. It should not be preachy. Instead, let the audience use or feel what you want to deliver.

Then I reviewed the whole class and gained new understandings of why we have to learn these thinking and terms. I haven’t fully applied them. But they will help me in the future.

 

What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on critique itself?

The most important point to think about is “What can users do after they feel empathy?”

So far my project is raising the problem only. It would be better to show some directions.

However, I do know what we can suggest exactly. This is more of a personal choice after a person realizes there is a symptom called olfactory dysfunction.

 

What might you do differently in terms of process or content?

It might be better to start from a question, or something I want to improve.

The topic odor was like a form direction instead of a point. Although the question related to odors can be the critical point, I find myself easily attracted to forms.  (I admit that I do enjoy building something).

 

What was inspiring? What parts?

The moment I understood the term “experience”. A good experience is like if your work is going to exhibit in an area uses another language, the audience can still understand.

This leads me to think more about what artworks can do.

 

Revisit the assignment prompts: how did your project relate to the original prompts, in terms of critical lens, audience, tone, etc… 

There was a shifting while the initial idea, odors are ignored is unchanged.

 

How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from

Both are not easy or hard. I’m just not used to this research and experimentation. It’s not uncommon for me to start from a problem, search information, find solutions, try some implements, and decide the way to solve it. But they are from engineering angle. From an artwork angle, the biggest difference is who I want to talk to is “the public”, or audience. It is different from a machine. It is also different from a product user.

So I have to figure out the system, the stakeholder. Know more of the situation currently. Learn more about what others care about. Imagine what form they may resonate. And the most important question, what we can do better in life.

 

Guide 2 User Tests

Storyboarding:

User flow diagram:

User Journey:

Persona: A young people who are interested in fashion, art or any new stuffs. Also, he/she has limited knowledge about Buddhism.

You are boring and casually browse social media on Instagram or WeChat. You see some friends who post various buddhist figures that are not classical but have many modern elements on them. There are a link on their posts’ comment area. You feel curious so you click the link. After that, you open a website which demonstrates a lot of fashion style buddhist figures. The description of the website tells you that you can DIY your own buddhist figures. You feel excited because you like the fusion of cool parts with classical buddhist elements. The buddhist figure will make you feel distinct and creative. You immediately follow the steps on the website. All the buddhist figures and parts have the description of their meaning. They pray for health, wealth, goodness, and etc. First, you choose the blank buddhist figure based on your birthday. Second, you choose the background of the buddhist figures. Third, you choose the clothes. Fourth, you choose the head and wrist accessories. Finally, you get the NFT image of your buddhist figure. You can buy the image or order a 3d printed model of the figures on website. After you finish your DIY, You see the history and background of them; also, you learn and know the knowledge of Buddhism. The process of buddhist figure’s DIY is also a course for people who are not familiar with Buddhism. You feel the website is so cool and it is a good start for younger generation to know the conventional Buddhism concept; therefore you also post your buddhist figure with the website link on social media.  

I narrated the user journey to one of my friend and my brother who are taking the art doctor degree in Japan. I asked them couple question.

Did you find any aspects of this confusing?

They feel confused about the guide’s intention. 

How would you feel experiencing this work?

Limited space for user to create. The contents are too serious and it didn’t resonate with user.

Which aspects would you most need to see or try to understand this work?

Everything is clear. But the 3d models part are hard to made. It can be replaced by collage. 

Did you learn or interest in anything from this work?

The form of DIY is creative. 

Are there ways I might adjust this to better meet my goal?

Give users more creative space. Don’t limit user on the natal buddhist figures.

Topic 2 Final Reflection

What did you learn?

From this course, I learned how to do a deep research on a topic and how efficiently filter useful message from a bunch of words. Also, I learned how to use different tones to express idea so that the target audience can be better accept my information. Lastly, interview and user test are also important part for doing a project as they provide different perspectives from public or counter public. Their voices will be helpful for improving the project’s contents and presentation. For the final guide, I also learned a lot about different buddha figures and the meaning behind them.

What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on critique itself?

From what Sarah said, my intentional critique sounds like have different tones with guide’s form. This is also what I tried to solve. In a way, I want to have an educational or serious tone which user can have more insightful knowing on Buddhism, however, my guide showed more on material design and contemporary art, which weakens the element of Buddhism even though I used the key features of buddha figures when user DIY Buddha. 

What might you do differently in terms of process or content?

I will not do too much differently eventually. However, I will clear what my tone is and have more changeable elements on the website.

What was inspiring? What parts?

The precess of designing guide form and doing research is inspiring cause they are the most difficult part of this course. To find an appropriate guide for a topic need a lot of research. This need to spent time and be patient.

Revisit the assignment prompts: how did your project relate to the original prompts, in terms of critical lens, audience, tone, etc…

My project has clear target audience(younger generation) and the tone is humour and ironic. It also has strong intention. However, the critical lens is a little bit off.

How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from

For my understanding, research is necessary before doing an experimentation because it will make your target or thesis clearer and has strong support. Experimentation is easy for me as I don’t like reading research although it is significant. By solving the issue, I will try to cultivate good reading English texts habits. 

Topic 2 Final Reflection

  • What did you learn?
    Disco Diffusion, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion are three pieces of open source software that generate images in response to a language prompt. A prompt, which is a series of words, is a key to tuning the tools to translate your thoughts into images.

    Here at the gallery, the three installations with user interfaces using local GPUs aim to make the creation process more accessible and more efficient. We encourage you to explore these three different tools and to learn to talk to these text-to-image models, we first start with “prompt engineering”. A helpful analogy to understand this process is to think of a prompt as a search query just like how we use the Google search engine. Similarly, we give these image generators a search query to search among a structured representation of all the images it was trained on. We then evaluate the result, and refine the input text until the output image is the closest to our expectations among all possible outputs.

    For example, if you use “/imagine prompt: colorful butterfly”, the AI will generate an image of what it thinks a colorful butterfly is. However, using one adjective like “colorful” is usually not sufficient. If you use one adjective, the AI will usually generate something simple. Hence, it’s recommended that you use multiple adjectives and descriptions for the AI to generate an accurate image. Instead of “colorful butterfly”, you can use “a rainbow-colored butterfly flying across a field of flowers during a sunset”. The more descriptive you are, the better the results.

    Also, the copyright of who owns the AI-Generated art still need to be discussed, So once you’ve created your AI-generated masterpiece, what’s stopping you from claiming it as your own, using it commercially or preventing others from using it? On top of existentially threatening the very concept of artists and creatives, Ryan says that AI-generated content raises many new legal issues.

  • What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on critique itself?
    The topic doesn’t have a certain answer, people would love to see the debate between humans and AI. I also received feedback on my website, which can provide a better user experience and make the copyright problem prominent. 
  • What might you do differently in terms of process or content?
    I might create an interactive artwork using different kinds of digital software and AI-Generated art platforms instead of creating a website.
  • What was inspiring? What parts?
    Trying to use different creative tools is inspiring, I can experience the differences between these popular AI-Generated Art platforms such as Disco Diffusion, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, and also I have learned a lot about the training data, data biases, terms of use, policy, rules, and even The US Copyright Office.
  • Revisit the assignment prompts: how did your project relate to the original prompts, in terms of critical lens, audience, tone, etc…
    Because my audiences are those     people who haven’t used AI-generated art before, which may have some contradiction that if someone hasn’t used it so far, they probably don’t have an interest to use these kinds of tools, so my project may not drive people’s awareness to fulfill my goal.
  • How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from
    I do like the daily practice part, which forced me to dig deeper every day, and also because of that I can narrow down my topic and find my critical lens. 

Odor – Final Post

Intention

Give people a sense of smell dysfunction (anosmia, parosmia) in order to make them empathic to these patients and raise more concerns about olfactory dysfunction.

Project

The project form is an olfactory testing machine placed on a table in the restaurant waiting area. Before customers have dinner, they may be curious and have a try.

The machine releases one odor per question to ask the user to distinguish. While the final odor is a mixed scent to give the user a feeling of parosmia.

See pictures on slides.

Presentation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QTVK3f1mKVR-lGbc4eWIAcR8Cx7RnNRSaf92d0hiOK0/edit?usp=sharing

Trail of Research

System Map

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPGOhG4A=/?moveToWidget=3458764539780840152&cot=14

Interview

Doctor Lu is using olfactory testing and MRI in his study. I interviewed him to get more understanding of odor and olfactory.

Olfactory dysfunction is related to neurodegenerative diseases. There are many ways to assess this kind of disease in general: Scale, PET/MRI, Structural MRI and olfactory testing. The scale is too subjective. PET/MRI has radiation. Structural MRI is too late to show the disease. In comparison, the olfactory testing is a better choice.

Specifically, the olfactory testing has these advantages: The machine is relatively small and portable. Which makes it suitable for mass screening. Besides, olfactory dysfunction is an early objective indicator of diseases. Because the olfactory cortex is connected to older, subconscious portions of the brain.

Talking about the relationship between olfactory and Covid-19, Dr. Lu was not surprised by the symptom. As he said, the virus might invade the brain and cause frontal lobe damage. Flu also has similar symptoms. However, he agreed that olfactory symptoms are easy to ignore. Since it is not as noticeable as visual or auditory. This is one of the reasons why he included olfaction in his study.

Daily Practice and Prototype

Daily practice

https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/10/20/daily-practice-day-2/

https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/10/21/daily-practice-day-3/

https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/10/22/daily-practice-day-4/

https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/10/24/daily-practice-day-4-3/

https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/10/25/daily-practice-day-6/

Prototypes

Form Decision

The most challenging part  was deciding on the form. For the experience “smell distortion”, the basic form is releasing the odor which is not expected.

But it is so weird to release the wrong odor directly to the user. So I had been trying to think of a more natural form for days.

As the link shows: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPGOhG4A=/?moveToWidget=3458764539274013960&cot=14

I came up with 15 forms in the end. Some were fleeting thoughts. Some seemed rational, so I made prototypes to do user testing.

The form No.3, a simple “fruit matrix”. Same fruits a line with different scents. This is the simplest one of these forms. I thought it was clear too. But after the user testing, it was still confusing.

The form No.13, a box with a screen, a camera and odor vent. The idea was “mixing” the use’s expression with an orange scent. I did a user testing of this prototype. It seemed like they were too complex. An iteration was keeping only two expressions.

Then I did another user testing with my friend, who is a UX/UI designer. The testing itself was fair. After that, we had a chat. Because she’s a designer, she was interested in this class. I gave her some project examples. And she gave me an idea: If it was not clear to represent olfactory dysfunction, I could try to make the user feel that smelling is easy. Sounds like a contrasting. But the form was still hard to decide. We continued our chat on some other topics. Then, I got an inspiration suddenly. Why not make it just an olfactory test and put a turning point at the end? This makes it easy for users to go along the process and give the user the feeling of odor dysfunction.

The interesting thing is that it is the original form I took. Except the last question. It’s like a cycle and I return to the start point. However, I learned a lot during the process.

Others

There is an art form called “Olfactory Art”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_art

Bibliography

  1. Wang, Yuting, and Ziqing Li. “Living with Smell Dysfunction: A Multi-sensory VR Experience.” In ACM SIGGRAPH 2022 Immersive Pavilion, pp. 1-2. 2022.
  2. Moein, Shima T., Seyed MohammadReza Hashemian, Babak Mansourafshar, Ali Khorram‐Tousi, Payam Tabarsi, and Richard L. Doty. “Smell dysfunction: a biomarker for COVID‐19.” In International forum of allergy & rhinology, vol. 10, no. 8, pp. 944-950. 2020.
  3. Cattaneo, Camilla, Ella Pagliarini, Sara Paola Mambrini, Elena Tortorici, Roberto Mené, Camilla Torlasco, Elisa Perger, Gianfranco Parati, and Simona Bertoli. “Changes in smell and taste perception related to COVID-19 infection: a case–control study.” Scientific reports 12, no. 1 (2022): 1-11.
  4. Neumann, Franziska, Vitus Oberhauser, and Jürgen Kornmeier. “How odor cues help to optimize learning during sleep in a real life-setting.” Scientific reports 10, no. 1 (2020): 1-8.
  5. Parker, Jane K., Lisa Methven, Robert Pellegrino, Barry C. Smith, Simon Gane, and Christine E. Kelly. “Emerging pattern of post-COVID-19 parosmia and its effect on food perception.” Foods 11, no. 7 (2022): 967.
  6. Burges Watson, Duika L., Miglena Campbell, Claire Hopkins, Barry Smith, Chris Kelly, and Vincent Deary. “Altered smell and taste: Anosmia, parosmia and the impact of long Covid-19.” PLoS One 16, no. 9 (2021): e0256998.
  7. Smeets, Monique AM, Maria G. Veldhuizen, Sara Galle, Juul Gouweloos, Anne-Marie JA de Haan, Jesse Vernooij, Floris Visscher, and Jan HA Kroeze. “Sense of smell disorder and health-related quality of life.” Rehabilitation psychology 54, no. 4 (2009): 404.
  8. Hsieh, Julien W., Andreas Keller, Michele Wong, Rong-San Jiang, and Leslie B. Vosshall. “SMELL-S and SMELL-R: olfactory tests not influenced by odor-specific insensitivity or prior olfactory experience.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 43 (2017): 11275-11284.
  9. Woods, Stephen C. “The eating paradox: how we tolerate food.” Psychological review 98, no. 4 (1991): 488.
  10. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23986-parosmia

Publics and Counterpublics

Try to identify: Who created it? For whom? With what materials and metaphors? With what intention? What impact? On whom? How? Did the artist identify a public or create a counterpublic?

Project: https://www.zeelab.xyz/Ancient-Family-Tree-Am-I-a-Descendant-of-a-Royal-Family

The project was created by artist Fan Xiang and engineer Shunshan Zhu. They began this project with the question: “Am I a descendant of an ancient royal family?” For those who are also curious about their ancestor. Then they collected the data to build a family tree. There are two versions, a 3D-printed tree and the tree on the screen. And the metaphor is the tree, obviously. The intention is to raise curious about people’s family origins. That gives a strong sense of connection to family and history. Because the user can search their family names to see the branch. The public is who has a Chinese family name. And the counterpublic is who not has.

There’s another angle to see the tree according to an author’s speech. The traditional family tree recorded only men. But how can we born without women? So there is another intention: Review the history and social we documented. We should remember women. From this angle, a public is men, or who have the right to record the history. And the counterpublic is women, or who has no right to record the history.

Project 2: Various Development Practices

Ideas from in-class workshops

First description of idea:

Sunscreen: I’ve recently learned a bit more about UVA vs UVB rays, and how sunscreens in the US seem to only be required to put the SPF rating on the products which is specific to blocking UVB rays. In other countries the UVA rating is put on more products, but the way that rating is captured isn’t standardized yet.

Refining the idea

Topic: Sunscreen’s ability to block UVA and UVB rays

Systems Map(s): 

  • it may be interesting to work through a feedback loop of sorts to understand how sunscreen filters even work (i.e. when the ray hits the filter it breaks down, so that is why we need to reapply sunscreen periodically)
  • map of the process of regulation/approval of different ingredients. i.e. how does the FDA approve a particular ingredient?

Stakeholders: all humans, companies that make the sunscreen, governments that potentially regulate sunscreen, environmentalists (chemical filters are detrimental to the environment), dermatologists

Critical Analysis: There are a few critical view points that have come up with some really preliminary research, and I’m not sure which is the best to focus on yet:

  • some filters used in sunscreens are very good at blocking rays, but bad for the environment, and/or could be bad for humans in other ways (hormone disruptors, etc). Some people think that the potential health risks of these ingredients is worth the risk because we know that UVA and UVB rays are harmful. Is it worth the risk to the environment too?
  • There is a convenience/cosmetic component to this: mineral filters (non-chemical) aren’t bad for the environment or humans (I think), but they are more annoying to apply, create a white cast on the skin which people do not want, may not have the staying power of chemical blockers, etc.