Deepn
An interactive storyteller for
train commuters to broaden
their perspectives on universal issues
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5 months // 2016
Team
My Role:
Field Research
Conceptualisation
Experience Prototyping
Storyboard
Collaboration:
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DEEPN is an interactive storyteller designed to inspire everyday commuters to take a pause from their busy lives. A moment to stand still, to reflect and to open up themselves towards the world. Deepn provides a break from the routine to embrace humanity and encourages commuters to rebuild their understandings on universal topics such as love, money and future dreams.
A poetic exprience at train station
Interaction Design
UX Design
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Deepen in others' stories
Deepen in yourself
What are our dreams, regrets, aspirations? What does love mean to us? How does it feel to leave everything behind in order to achieve more? What are we willing and daring to sacrifice for a better life?
Challenge
Time is the essence in our society. We are moving fast and in order to do the things we want to, we plan and try to be efficient. Waiting on the train station is a typical moment though, in which we feel very 'inefficient'. We are locked up in our own thoughts, but unaware of the bigger picture. Is it possible to change people's perspective from mundane routine to a deeper, empathetic and reflective level of thoughts? How to create a poetically rich experiences in ordinary life contexts; in a train station?
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Project
As a team of six inetraction design students we were asked to design a tangible interactive device to create a poetically rich experience in Delft Train Station. Iterative prototyping (design-by-making) was the main approach of the project. Starting from the research phase we created different types of prototypes to test our assumptions and develop the concept further. We used various methods to create experience prototypes (Enacting, Wizard-of-Oz etc.). Max and Arduino were used to build digital fucntions.
Unlock the Hectic Routine
Deepn aims to break the mundane rouitine for a moment. Time that 'needs to be killed' becomes a meaningful escape from the ordinary everyday. Deepn creates a space of mind for its users to muse upon the holistic picture, to be puzzled and to reflect on their experiences, values and dreams.
New Perspectives
Deepn creates a social interaction in the intellectual level. It aims to confront individuals with the different and similar perspectives of humanity. Deepn exposes the users with real life anectodes of the people all around the world. It stimulates users to rethink and rebuild their own opinion.
Approaching
Deepn stands at a platform of the train station. On the screen there are lots of portraits of people with various ages and ethnicities. This diversity of apperances attracts one of the commuter's interest. She gets closer to the installation.
Selecting Destination
User rotates the wheel to select an icon representing the purpose of her journey. Each icon is linked to certain universal topics (eg. travel is linked to longing and seperation etc.) The vague characterictic of the icons -without any explanatory text- creates curiosity, thus room for exploration.
*The stories presented on the screen are retrieved from the ‘Human Project’ documentary. These real-life stories touch upon universal topics such as love, crime, faith etc.
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Deepening
By pushing deep into the fabric surface, users zooms in to one of the faces, which then starts telling her personal story* related to the topic. The deeper she pushes, the closer she gets to the storyteller's face, thus expressions and emotions. She feels more and more immersed to the story. To keep playing the video, she needs to hold her hand on the fabric. This interaction amplifies the feeling of personal connection and sympathy.
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Reflecting
Being exposed to the different stories with multiple perspectives, user is encouraged to reflect on her own life and understanding. It is time to open up, to reflect and to reconstruct her values.
Do you have any questions or do you want to know more? Contact me!
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+31 0651657854