This address will soon be redirecting directly there, but I have to keep it up a bit longer for linking purposes …

The discussion with Dr. Berthouze, who is studying the motion of very young babies (2 months old) as a marker of motor development (which, if some normative data can be obtained, could turn into an early marker of motor disorders such as Cerebral Palsy), outlined the major problem his team has to deal with: the lack of subjects to analyse. Basically, not enough parents are bringing their babies in to gather significant data from which to build a complex model.

My first reaction to this was that infra-red technology, used to capture the motion using reflective markers, is now available in a common home entertainment device: the Nintendo Wii. Maybe if parents aren’t willing to bring their babies to the lab, the lab could come to them in a more casual way.

My idea is to create a new kind of “baby keepsake”, something young parents seem eager to spend time doing to preserve the memory of their child as a baby.

The object(s) would be visual representations of the baby’s early motions, captured with the Wii-Remote’s IR camera. 3D printing could be used to create sculptures or paper weights, and algorithms could generate posters. The data would then also be sent to the lab and used for research. This idea of using data from casual fun games to help research was partly inspired by Games With A Purpose.

first sketch of a baby playground fitted with infra-red camera arrays

Wii-Remote mat to capture your baby’s first steps

Array of infra-red LEDs

Keepsake object modelled after actual data from Dr. Berthouze’s lab

Further development of the project will be done from 2 sides:

- Speculation : taken for granted that the cameras in the Wii-remote could gather precise enough data (the setup at Dr. Berthouze’s lab now has a much higher resolution, recording 50+ markers in 3D at 200fps), I would like to explore which key-moments of the child’s development would become meaningful for the parents to capture. Also, if such objects and data were kept in the home, what would happen when the child grew to be a famous dancer or footballer ? Would museums exhibit luxurious re-prints of a “David beckham’s first kick” equivalent ?

- Public Engagement: Following Dr. Berthouze’s enthusiast reaction to the project, I would like to try and produce a few keepsakes, in different forms, and actually give them to parents as an incentive to bring their child to the lab.

to be continued …

I am designing the website for Zoe Papadopoulou and Cat Kramer’s MA project at the RCA

Kjen Wilkens, fellow interactionist at the RCA, and I had the chance to visit Dr Luc Berthouze’s lab at the Wolfson Center in London last thursday (University of Sussex and Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Unit (DCNU), at the Institute of Child Health (ICH), University College London).

Dr Berthouze’s research involves recording the movements of 2 month old babies and studying the data in order to be able to diagnose neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy at an early age. He was kind enough to give us a demonstration of the equipment in the lab, namely 6 Infra Red cameras, capable of recording data at 200 frames/sec, IR markers (more than 50 to fit on a tiny baby) and a range of 3D software to capture and analyse the data.

Luc was very excited to hear about the couple of ideas we had come up with since our phone conversation 2 weeks ago, and his feedback really pushed the projects forward. The Science and Society brief, within which our exchange with Dr Berthouze is framed, finishes this week, so we are currently working hard at producing design outcomes that place his research in a social context.

Tobbie Kerridge and Elio Caccavale are the visiting tutors running the project

further reading :

- University of Sussex press release (with video clip)

- Kinematics Lab

Pascal Finette from Mozilla Labs, came to speak to us about “the browser being the new black”. They are working on a number of interesting projects, one of which, the Chocolate Factory, seems like a promising way for “disillusioned” interaction designers like us to build apps and projects from idea to mockup to prototype in a collaborative way.

The Artzilla projects subvert/punk the browser in funny and sometimes political ways , and the best part about Mozilla being a non-profit organization is that they can officially ‘like’ these twisted projects.

I’m currently spending a lot of time in Modo, designing the visuals for the 2009 fashion show at the RCA. The names of all the students (29!) are rendered in a virtual studio, using tricks of point of view, light and reflection to make the type readable.

Pilot film shot during a 2 week workshop given by Nina Pope and Noam Toran. Our team : Andrew Friend, Hiromi Ozaki, Sitraka Rakotoniaina and myself, produced 3 films in this short time, which was very fun.

These are only first tests and attempts at showing the subjective experience of people with synaesthesia on film. Probably more to come on this topic as my dissertation progresses…

also shot during the workshop :

- Sushiborg Yukari by Hiromi Ozaki (rated R :)

- Apnea by Andrew Friend and Sitraka Rakotoniaina

I designed the cover for Sputniko’s debut DVD album.

During our trip to Tokyo we were lucky enough to visit Takeshi Ishiguro’s studio. His work ranges from the Book of Lights (simple electronic pop up books) to a smoke-ring machine and the Love Sofa that makes sound when people sit on it and make skin contact. The quirky poetry of Ishiguro’s work always seem to be perfectly embodied in very simple designs that reveal just enough while leaving space for imagination.