Personal Work: Emotion Charger
Interactive Media Art Installation
Developed during my tenure as a personal experiential interaction designer, Emotion Charger is an innovative interactive motion design project aimed at enhancing the conversational system between users and a unique installation.
This project focuses on creating an emotional bond and interconnection through intuitive operation and therapeutic content. This represents my expertise in experiential design with interactive technology to enrich user experience and emotional resonance.
Emotion Charger
The Emotion Charger stands as a testament to innovative design, blending intuitive technology with the nuances of human emotion. The project centers around an interactive installation that dynamically responds to user emotions, facilitating a unique conversational system.
Design Feature :
Two Distinctive Interaction Design
Projection Mapping Media Installation
Project Overview:
Feature Overview
The key features of the Emotion Charger are its two distinct interactive screen interfaces, each designed to address specific emotional needs.
Interface Design 01: Therapeutic Solution for Exhausted Emotion with Voice Interaction
This interface is tailored for users experiencing emotional exhaustion. It engages users in a soothing and therapeutic dialogue, leveraging voice interaction to analyze and respond to their emotional state. The interface uses a combination of tone analysis and contextual understanding to offer comforting solutions, aiming to provide relief and a sense of calm.
Interface Design 02: Entertaining Solution for Boring Emotion with Face & Kinetic Movement Interaction
Designed to counteract feelings of boredom, this interface offers an entertaining and engaging experience. It utilizes facial recognition and kinetic movement interactions to interpret the user's mood and then presents stimulating content. This could range from interactive games to dynamic visual displays, all geared towards lifting the user's spirits and providing a joyful escape.
About
The Emotion Charger, conceived during my tenure as a personal experiential interaction designer, stands at the forefront of integrating AI with emotional intelligence in interactive design.
This project represents a novel approach to interaction design, where technology is not just a tool, but an empathetic partner in enhancing emotional well-being. The Emotion Charger uses advanced algorithms to interpret and respond to human emotions, offering a personalized experience that is both intuitive and revolutionary.
Duration: 2022
Project Vision
This design aims to recharge human emotions through AI-driven solutions that interpret human emotional states. The Emotion Charger goes beyond traditional command-response interactions by intuitively predicting and presenting personalized content.
It offers a private, approachable, and imaginative opportunity to alleviate negative emotions.
Background:
Inspiration & Research
Section 1: Idea Research and Development
Conceptual Base and AI Integration
In my pursuit of blending emotional intelligence with interactive design, I researched complexities of emotional recognition and AI's potential to simulate human-like interactions.
My research was anchored in the principles of 'Basic Emotion Theory', examining how emotions could be conveyed and interpreted through digital mediums.
I looked to innovative technologies, such as AI chatbots and deep learning platforms, for inspiration. Leveraging over 10 billion sentences worth of conversation data, “Rapport” is the sophisticated AI algorithm capable of empathetic and predictive interactions, pushing beyond the conventional. It could foster a genuine connection with users.
User-Centered Design Approach
My approach to the Emotion Charger was deeply user-centric. I analyzed daily emotional patterns to identify key stress points and opportunities for emotional support.
This guided the creation of two interactive interfaces designed to mitigate emotions like stress and boredom through engaging, context-aware responses.
I explored the minimum viable product through the lens of current problems such as time scarcity and the need for quick emotional relief, formulating hypothesis on how AI can offer a brief respite in a user's hectic life.
Inspiration and Ethical AI Use
Drawing from elements of AI with understanding, such as the character 'Samantha' from the movie "Her" and existing urban tech like LINK NYC, I aimed to create an emotionally intelligent system that respects user privacy. I envisioned AI could feel as natural and intuitive as human communication, with a focus on maintaining ethical standards by not retaining personal privacy data.
The datas I used for the interaction were,
Facial expression (deep face lense)
Non-verbal gestures, pose (tracing lense)
Verbal expression, sound, tone (AI speaker voice recognition)
Status and need of auditory sense (RFID-to-Airpods)
Section 2: Practical Application and User Engagement
Design Research and Analysis
I conducted thorough design research, comparing the Emotion Charger with existing services like Microsoft's Affective Computing and Google's NestHub.
This comparison helped to shape a unique value proposition that prioritized quick emotional engagement without the need for physical touch.
My intention was to craft a solution that could seamlessly integrate into a user's daily routine, providing instant emotional rejuvenation with a simple voice command or facial recognition.
Design Process:
01. Structure of Charger
Inspired by LINK NYC's communication network, the Emotion Charger is designed for public accessibility in urban areas, focusing on human, not device, recharging.
02. Installation Strategy
Positioned strategically in high-traffic areas like transportation hubs and city parks, it caters especially to those prone to emotional exhaustion.
03. Considerations for User Experience
The service prioritizes privacy, does not store personal data, and is designed for ease of use without physical contact. It aims to foster positive emotions like happiness, relaxation, and hope.
Be possible to have personalized, customized experience for emotional recharge
Be albe to use the service without exposing personal information and needless touch.
Service aims to give more happiness, relaxation, relief, comforts, hopefulness, only for positive way.
Do not keep personal information analysis data. Once it finishes, all interpretation is deleted and being reset for another user.
Design Process:
Tools
01_Touch Designer for Screen Interface Design:
TouchDesigner served as the central tool for designing the interactive screen interface of the Emotion Charger installation. This node-based visual programming platform allowed me to construct a sophisticated user interface that could respond in real-time to the emotional input from participants. By utilizing TouchDesigner's comprehensive features, I was able to integrate
live camera feeds, process audio signals, sound interactivity and kinetic motion design, and generative dynamic visuals
that adapted to users' emotional states. The flexibility of the software facilitated the creation of custom interactive animations and effects, which enhanced user engagement and provided a tangible sense of the emotional resonance the installation aimed to evoke.
02_Projection Mapping for Exhibition Showcase:
Projection mapping was employed to bring the Emotion Charger to life within the exhibition space. This technique allowed me to map video content onto irregularly shaped surfaces, transforming the physical space into an extension of the installation's narrative.
By carefully calibrating the projectors and using software to align the visuals with the contours of the exhibition area, I created an immersive environment that enveloped participants in the thematic elements of the project. This not only heightened the installation's visual appeal but also reinforced the emotional impact, making the interaction between the user and the installation more profound and memorable.
Exhibition Studio Setting
02_Backend Setting:
The backend of the installation was supported by a network of sensors, microcontrollers, and audio interfaces, all synchronized to ensure that the emotional data from the audience was accurately captured and translated into the visual spectacle that adorned the studio walls.
The coding of the touch sensors was a collaborative endeavor, executed with the expertise of engineering teammates. Utilizing the Arduino IDE, we collectively programmed each sensor to be highly responsive to human interactive touchpoint.
This collaborative coding process involved iterative testing and refinement, ensuring that the sensors would accurately capture the nuanced emotional expressions of participants. Together, we merged technical precision with creative vision, resulting in an installation that was as emotionally resonant as it was technologically sophisticated.
01_Visual Setting:
In the studio setting, the Emotion Charger installation was exhibited through the technique of projection mapping. This method involves projecting visual content onto surfaces within the space, transforming them into interactive displays.
The projections were tailored to the geometry of the room, allowing for an immersive experience that reacted to the participants' emotional cues. The visual output, a result of real-time data analysis, was achieved by software that dynamically rendered the participants' emotions into corresponding visual narratives on the walls.
From an engineering standpoint, the installation was powered by a combination of hardware and software. High-lumen projectors were carefully positioned to maximize coverage and minimize distortion. TouchDesigner software played a pivotal role, serving as the control center for real-time processing of audio input into visual data.
Further Process:
Design Visualization with Cinema4D
Version 1: A transformation from a conventional public device charger to an Emotion Charger with a transparent, invisible-like exterior.
Version 2: Featuring a larger interface for a more private user experience.
Real-Life Simulation: Demonstrating how the Emotion Charger integrates into real-world environments.
Insights
This project underscored the delicate balance between innovation and empathy, showcasing how technology can be crafted to not only understand but also respond to human needs on a deeper, more personal level.
The use of Touch Designer highlighted the potential of real-time adaptive interfaces, and the project as a whole reinforced the idea that our interactions with technology can and should be as nuanced and responsive as our interactions with each other.
The Emotion Charger is a testament to the power of empathetic design in creating solutions that address the often overlooked aspect of emotional health in our daily lives.