Recent Developments in Interactive Product Design

Abstract

The emergence of mobile communication technologies has begun to shift our perception and understanding of the world around us. The impact of facebook, twitter and other related social media have already had a profound effect on the way we work, learn and play, but this may be just the tip of the iceberg. More recent advances in new sensor-based technologies together with significant cost reductions and availability have now opened the doors to the development of yet another new range of products and services. This new range of capabilities will link digital communications technologies with the ability to interact with the physical world and extend the reach of mobile technologies. Over the past 5 to 8 years much of my personal work in teaching and research has focused on the exploration and development of new combined products and services that have the potential to leverage new technologies in ways that were previously not possible. At the same time I have been involved in the development of new curriculum to empower design students who do not have the formal background in electronics and programming to develop the capability to produce operational prototypes utilizing these technologies to effectively demonstrate new product concepts and ideas. This presentation will provide an overview of some of my more recent work in interactive product design along with an overview of how we are building new capabilities within the School of Industrial Design to strengthen opportunities to pursue more advanced research initiatives in this area in collaboration with other units from across the campus and potential partners in industry.