PROJECT TITLE 

 

TBD

 

PROJECT URL/WEBSITE

 

TBD

 

ELEVATOR PITCH / ONE LINER (20 – 60 words)

 

More than 20% of adults in the United States suffer from chronic procrastination, and this is closely linked with negative effects on both physical and mental health.

 

Is there a way to help people understand and re-frame the negative feelings caused by chronic procrastination, and help them find peace?

 

DESCRIPTION / ABSTRACT (150-300 words)

 

My project is an installation that will help people share their regrets and negative emotions associated with procrastination through scent. The idea is to connect negative feelings with a previously unrelated sensory perception, and in doing so look at their feelings from a different angle. Finally, through the act of sharing this scent with others, allow themselves a sense of release and the opportunity to rebuild their relationship with those negative feelings.

 

Materials: Acrylic boxes, each containing a scent associated with an act of procrastination.

 

 

CATEGORIES

Please highlight up to 4 categories (max) that you would like to associate with your project that help to address both the content and the form.

 

VR/AR

Culture

Health

Education

Sound

Performance

Art

Machine Learning

Mobile

Tool/Service

Music

Narrative/Storytelling

Play/Games

Privacy/Security

Product Design

Social Good/Activism

Sustainability

Wearables

Accessible

 

 

BACKGROUND / RESEARCH (200 – 400 words)

 

My research focused on three areas: the relationship between chronic procrastination and health, the causes of chronic procrastination, and anonymous empathy.

 

Particularly interesting findings include:

 

  • 20% of US men and women are chronic procrastinators.

 

  • Hypertension and heart disease are “significantly higher” among people who suffer from chronic procrastination. Decreasing chronic procrastination could lower the risk of heart disease by 63%.

 

  • Procrastination has direct and indirect effects on health. Directly speaking, people who procrastinate also avoid important health-related behaviors, such as visiting the doctor or exercising regularly. Indirectly speaking, it leads to higher stress levels, which can make chronic health conditions worse and also “cause acute health issues such as headaches, flus/colds, and digestive issues.”

 

  • Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time. In particular, there are three main types of chronic procrastination:

 

  • Decisional, where someone has trouble making decisions on time

 

  • Arousal, where someone gets a huge rush from doing something at the last minute

 

  • Avoidant, where someone is afraid of not being good enough, of failure, or of getting negative feedback

 

  • Sharing someone else’s emotions or experience can bring different emotional “rewards.” This applies to both anonymous sharing and negative emotions. One reward is the good feeling that comes from empathy, which makes us feel closer and more related to others. Another is that we can process our own negative emotions more effectively without the real-life consequences of experiencing a bad event (e.g., the feeling of losing someone without actually having lost them).

 

Sources:

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPLEMENTATION / TECHNICAL DETAILS (100 – 200 words)

 

Will update this further.

 

Materials:

 

  • Acrylic (drawers)
  • Scent (on a card, like a sample of cologne sprayed on a card)
  • LEDs (aesthetics – make the drawers come alive like a candle)

 

Basic concept:

 

Visitors can place their negative feelings in a drawer. These negative feelings will be

associated with a smell. I want to help people express their negative feelings in a

concrete form, and to “let them go” through sharing.

 

 

CONCLUSION / ADDITIONAL INFO (< 1000 words)

 

Placeholder – Still working on this

 

 

REFERENCES / FURTHER READING (minimum 5-10 outside references)

 

Placeholder – Still working on this

 

 

DOCUMENTATION IMAGES

You will submit a main image and additional images to the Thesis Archive for your project. Right now, these images can be a work in progress to inform your Thesis Advisor and section resident about how you are thinking about documenting your project. For example, they could be a combination of photographs, screenshots, or a diagram you designed in Photoshop. Please upload all images to this folder along with your draft submission document.

 

MAIN IMAGE

This image will be used as the thumbnail image for your project in the Thesis Archive. It will also be the header/banner image that people will see when they click into your project page. Upload the image to this folder.

 

Dimensions: 1920 x 1080px (width / height)

Keep the document size relatively low so it loads quickly!

 

 

3 – 5 ADDITIONAL IMAGES

These images will display in a virtual slideshow (i.e. carousel) on your project page. Upload the images to this folder.

 

Dimensions: 1024 x 600px (width / height)

Keep the document sizes relatively low so that they load quickly!

 

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Survey Questions

 

  1. Would you be willing to share your negative feelings in a public setting?

 

  1. If not, that’s fine. But would you be willing to share something that you’ve been putting off or procrastinating? [Example: Going to the gym]

 

  1. What scent would you associate with the thing you want to do, and why? [Example: Sprite, because all of the bubbles feel so energetic]

 

  1. Would you be willing to share this scent with others in a public setting so they can feel what you’re feeling?