IxD Thesis 2017

All the (hopefully) crazy thoughts that go through my mind when thinking about Thesis

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Home stretch: most of the work is still to be done

After presenting the first looks like prototype, I am now realizing that I need to zoom out and look at many more aspects of Great Grand:

- This is a tool that could create a bonding moment among family members. How do I take advantage of that? Who initiates this? Why do they do it? How can they do it? How can interacting with technology to preserve a lifetime of memories be a smooth transition? - Teaching the capabilities of the interface to a user who is recording anecdotes. I want to work on a visual prototype of the FTUE, complete with a simple tutorial. - How can the ancestor add images and other media to their anecdotes? And how is this viewed by the descendant in VR? - Explore the interface that a descendant will see in VR. This is the part that requires development in Unity. Experiment with creating interfaces in Unity that will launch different VR scenes.

I finally have a clear image of the product in my mind that I am willing to commit to. 

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Value Proposition (Work in Progress)

For people who want to share their life’s pivotal moments with their descendants, the interactive map and data parser, Great Grand, lets them curate physical experiences for their descendants. Unlike photos apps, Great Grand is proactive, location-based, and supports multiple media forms.

PS: The product name, Great Grand, is also a work in progress

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So really, what exactly is this idea (mentioning technology)?

Currently, I am thinking it is a data parser that is built over Google Earth. When a sharer (a person who wants to share their life story with their descendants) goes through the map and talks about their key life experiences, the data parser records, and breaks the story down into many little anecdotes. The key data point here is location. 

So, for example, when you are talking to someone and show them your school on Google Earth, and you talk about a time when you skipped class and got into a lot of trouble, the Google Earth records the latitude and longitude that you are referring to, and the data parser breaks it down into its own little anecdote. Then, the anecdote is placed on that GPS location for a descendant to walk close to, and discover it (perhaps many many years later). That is the essence, with all of its loop holes and broken flows.

In this case, the data parser is a Google Home. A father is speaking to his son about university.

Since the data parser did its job well, a descendant from 30 years later comes close to the university, and receives a notification of the anecdote.

Here are some major questions that I am working on answering:

How do we limit this to family?

How can we give the ancestor as much control as possible during the curation period?

How do we ensure data accuracy?

What is the technology required to do this?

What do people care about when experiencing their ancestors?

What kind of setting needs to be created for lots of data sharing by the ancestor?

What is technology like in the future?!

What about privacy concerns?

In what form is the descendant experiencing these stories? text? audio? How can the information be made even more rich and contextual?

Who initiates this experience?

What questions come to your mind? What did you think when you read the idea description?

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What is the Idea (without mentioning technology)? Why Am I doing this? Do I have Design Principles?

So far, the idea is a way to share our life moments with our descendants. Therefore, it is also a way for our descendants to learn about their ancestors (us!) in a more personal and rich way.  Learning about ancestry is an intrinsic need. We want to know who we represent. Where we came from. What makes us, us. But what do we really know, on a personal level, about our ancestors from 1/ 2/ 3 (if we are lucky!) generations ago? How do we develop a connection with our ancestors and learn about them and specifics of their life? We might never be able to. But perhaps that can be changed from now on? Why am I doing this?

I am doing this because I am more than what my DNA says I am. I want my descendants to know that I wasn’t shaped just by my genetic code, but from many places, people, and learning moments. I want them to laugh with me when I saw that funny show with my friends; I want them to cry with me when my life was on a low; I want them to be awed by things I am awed by; I want them to experience certain things that I have experienced. Just because they were meaningful to me.  What are my design principles?

I might not have finished with this yet, but here are things that I think are important in this inter-generational experience:

1. Trust: that what I share with my descendant will be authentically portrayed to them; and that what I experience of my ancestor’s life is honest. 

2. Serendipity: of finding an emotion where there was none yet

3. Control: oh how I curate my life story for my descendant 

4. Comfort: to feel like I am (virtually) speaking to me descendant

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Thesis Research Plan

Summary of project

 I am hoping to work in the space of ancestry DNA services and Virtual Reality. I want to use the immersive environment that VR can create to take users on a journey of their own bloodlines, exploring the regions of the world their ancestors have come from and the historical context their ancestors have lived in. While this currently seems like an interactive method of exploring one’s own family tree, I hope that it will grow into a richer experience that will help us understand that we represent much more than our own beliefs, nationality, religion, cultures and traditions.

Preliminary research

Main objectives

Deep dive into ancestry DNA and family tree services

Speak to users of ancestry services to understand their experience and expectations

Speak to genealogists about the information in DNA

Deep dive into a variety of VR applications, hardware and software to develop for VR

Methodology and Thought Process

The preliminary research is focused on developing an understanding of all the related fields and areas of this thesis project. There are several ancestry DNA services that are available online that provide DNA test results. I will create accounts in as many as possible and go through the experience of creating family trees and understanding what kind of historical data is stored on the records. By the end of this deep dive, I want to understand what kind of work is already being done in this space.

I also need to speak to users of these services to understand their motivations, expectations, and their overall experience of using ancestry results so far. I already have a few interviews set up for this and a set of questions to ask them at the end of this post.

The experts in this field are genealogists and historians. I need to get into contact with people from this field to learn about what kind of information can be uncovered through our DNA and what the process and resources are to find people’s ancestors and history.

The medium I want to work on is Virtual Reality. To understand what this entails, I need to conduct more research on what kinds of VR devices are available, what their capabilities are, and what kinds of skills I will need to develop to create a compelling experience in VR. This is the least important objective of this research as the medium is driven by the experience that needs to be delivered.

Timeline

Oct. 4th – create accounts on ancestry DNA services (free trials, etc.) and learn about features and offers; Start taking tutorials in VR development software.

Oct. 9th – interview as many users and experts as possible to understand the scope and direction of the project.

Discussion questions: ancestry service users

Which service have you used? Why did you pick this service?

Why do people want their ancestry report?

What motivated you to get your report?

Is there anything specific you were looking for?

Did you look at a sample of the report online before ordering it?

What are their expectations?

How did they feel when they sent the sample in?

How did they feel when they received the report?

How did they feel when they saw the result?

Did it meet their expectations? If yes, how? If not, why not?

Was there anything surprising? What kind of information was particularly interesting to them? What was not interesting?

How did you react to it?

If you could change the experience of viewing the report in any way you wanted, how would you change it?

What did you do after receiving the information?

Did you look up information from the report online? Or do any kind of research about your result? What did you look up?

How did you feel when doing the research?

How long did you feel intrigued to do the research?

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1999 AD Future Predictions

A short film made in the 1960′s explores what living in the future (in this case, 1999) could be like. The predictions have been fascinating. Partially because of how accurate these predictions are (at least in 2016). I wanted to explore 4 specific aspects of these predictions: 

Tech Design and Functionality

Some concerns with tech functionality explored in the video are still accurate today. For example, security and backup of the computers ‘that live in your home’ is of utmost importance. Especially with a home that is so well embedded with technology (called a smart home in 2016). 

This recommendation algorithm is also a huge part of our lives today. Amazon, Spotify, Lynda.com, Youtube are just some examples from vastly different industries. A computer’s ability to understand its human, and become their librarian, banker, teacher, medical technician, bridge partner, and all round servant is a reality today. 

Recommendation Algorithm: Amazon’s Interesting Finds For You There are a few aspects that I believe are inaccurate. These are mostly to do with interactions and aesthetics. We can see that interaction with the technology is more mechanical in these predictions. The use of a lever to interact with the computer, for example. The clunky buttons, the lack of integration of the screens (one is used to check the weather while another one right next to it is used to video conference) are other examples.  Tech Products

It is amazing how accurate the products of the predicted tech world are and the major areas of concern they cover. Nutrition, exercise, and the sharing of information between these two areas is not only common now, but also, in my mind, an area heading towards saturation. Type ‘UX Design’ on search engines and one of the most popular use cases is nutrition and exercise. Music is the other major use case. Overall, tech products that are embedded within the home share information with each other. The now popular ‘internet of things’ industry has been predicted pretty well!  Attitude Towards Technology

Some of the language used to describe this modern home resonated with me a lot. Particularly, the description of technology as ‘cold’. 

The world of tomorrow will be as cold as sunlight tuned through photochronic windows.  This awareness that technology and its over use distances us from what is warm, familiar, and natural is fascinating. I was surprised to see that in a prediction of the future, the creators of the movie anticipate the negatives of technology. They also mention that technology in 1999 will be taken for granted. At the same time, it is a solution to our problems - it will provide humans with time to pursue more creative fields.

What’s next? You never know. You never really know. 

Well, yea. There’s VR and AR. What’s next? You never know. You never really know. There is a lot of work done in predicting where technology will go right now. Think with Google sends out studies and results on my email every week. Major tech companies invest millions of dollars in just the exploration of technology. Despite this, a small accidental invention could redefine what’s next. The sentiment is definitely shared. Social Roles

While the video focuses a lot on the technology, what I was really hoping to see was the change in the social roles people play thanks to this introduction of technology in their homes. However, the father still paid the bills, exercised, and played golf. The mother generated the bills and prepared food (albeit, in a very convenient environment), and the son studied. How they performed these tasks were revolutionary. What they did, though, was essentially the same.  More than anything else, I realized how much I enjoyed watching these predictions. I went ahead and watched some other ‘similar’ videos (according to youtube’s algorithm) too. 

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Conversations and More New Ideas

A week of reading and watching interesting (and sometimes random) material has only given me more directions to look at for my thesis. First, however, I would like to go through some interesting conversations I have had recently.  Image Clustering 

One of the activities that have helped me uncover some interesting contacts and ideas has been image clustering. Below is the cluster I created (click on the link below it for a direct link to the cluster). It will keep growing as I find more interesting material. 

Click here for a direct link to the cluster.

The broad concepts I have included here (as of Sep 20th 2016) are virtual and augmented reality, portals, traveling, and astrophysics. These are topics I love and would gladly spend a whole year working on. I discussed some of these ideas with my colleagues at the School of Visual Arts’ IxD Program and here are some key insights: 

I need to go out and try more VR and AR use cases. Last year, I went for the Hololens Demo at Microsoft; I went to the Tribeca Film Festival’s VR arcade; I‘ve tried the Tilt Brush; and I am currently working on a 360 video project. I still need much more. 

Astrophysics is cool. Epic. Awesome. But I don’t know what it means for my thesis yet. For the most part, it feels like it could be an immersive, interactive, education tool in the realm of VR and AR. I am particularly interested in exploring light - from its quantum level to its cosmos level. 

My idea of ‘portals’ as a metaphor could be useful. But could hit a technical hiccup. This is not something I am very worried about right now, though. When talking to people about it, they understand what it could become as a final product. It is digestible and imaginable. 

What I’m doing to learn more

I had contacted the team of VOID VR just to see if they could have a conversation with me. Sounds like they are up for it. So I’m working on topics that I want to work with them on. Lots more responses I am waiting on though!

I spent a long time watching TED videos on anything to do with astrophysics. Some projects are really inspiring, like the 3D Altas of the Universe. Some are speculative and predictive, like The Sound the Universe Makes. But all had my attention right till the very end. More exploration in other creative forms of astrophysics education to follow! Also started (slowly) reading Einstein’s Theory of Relativity just because ‘why not?’ I’ve given the idea of music a little break this week, admittedly. Mostly because it was completely overshadowed by my wild explorations of the universe. It is still in my mind, although just barely.  This is the dilemma of a person with too many interests. And one of a person who could be too open to all of those interests. 

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What Kind of World Do I want to Live in?

I have no idea how to start thinking about what I want to do my thesis in. But that’s the question I am hoping will lead me to the answer. What kind of world do I want to live in? 

Answer (as of now): One with portals. I am pretty far away from some of my closest friends and family. And while there are so many ways to connect and stay in contact, there is not yet the ability to bend space-time and walk from my bedroom into my parent’s living room to watch my dad cut his 50th birthday cake. So what I want, more than anything else, is to go to a time where portals are a common form of transportation. I’ve obviously been watching Cosmos. 

Can we do this right now? No. But maybe we can do the best we can with what we have. I keep thinking about virtual and augmented reality as a form of transportation.  Several projects that I worked on last semester have led me to this thought. 360 video can definitely take over our entire line of sight and transport us to a new place. The portal of the early 21st century, perhaps?  Another Area of Interest I have also been thinking about my work in the music industry this summer and how that can give me a new direction in thesis. I don’t know what that means yet. One area I could look into is ‘multi-device experience’ in music. Is the experience of music being ‘restricted’ by its traditional consumption on just one device? Can we use more than one device to enhance the experience of music on a social/ immersive/ customizable/ personal level? Is there a good use case for more than one device in the music listening experience? 

Hopefully, I will generate many more ideas that I would want to spend my year learning about and developing for. So far, it is all about portals and music consumption.