Land(e)scape
Design Brief:
Create a “Low Tech, High Interaction” product that responds to a problem in an analogue manner that is intuitive and easy to understand. (See subsequent “High Tech, Heightened Interaction” product here)
Course:
Products Studio IV, Spring 2021
Timeline:
7 weeks
A mindfulness tool that allows users to build abstract representations of themselves over time. Through topography, users may record emotions, goals, accomplishments, or simply pauses in their days.
The container doubles as a pinhole camera, in order for users to have a growing visual documentation of this practice.
Use Scenario
1) Set up
The user first receives a bit of background information on the product and the origins of mindfulness in the accompanying booklet.
2) Assigning parts
Next, the user would determine how they wish to use this tool to aid them in taking mindful pauses and moments for reflection. For example, one user might decide to assign emotions to the different colored pieces and use their landscape as a record of how they’re feeling over a period of time. Alternatively, another user might disregard this step entirely and simply use the landscape as a way to take a pause and sustain their attention on a tactile activity.
3) Landscape
Once they’ve determined what they wish to capture or record, the user can proceed to creating their topographic landscape.
4) Documentation
After the landscape is complete, the user can document their creation utilizing the container as a pinhole camera. In order to do so, they would simply insert light sensitive paper into the slit on the bottom of the box (in a dark environment) and then remove the lens cap to expose the image for around ten seconds.
This allows the user to have a growing visual record of their practice so that they can refer back to past landscapes and note changes or progress.
Customization
Since the flexibility and customization of this process are essential to the concept, below are two examples to demonstrate how different people might utilize this tool differently.
