Proposal 5a
Wearable electronics is at the fore front of the fashion and industry. As covered in my previous essay a wearable technology is
“
Always attached to a person and is comfortable and easy to keep and use”(1)
To take my research further on for mind maps and brainstorming I would conduct interviews to see what people think of the security around them. I would also observe a busy shopping centre and possible observe a quieter environment to compare. Using these techniques I think my research would be more accurate and I would have more of an in depth view of the public. I may also take information about the wearable electronics already available to see what the general public think of then. If they think they would feel safer with this technology available. Would they be willing to pay a higher price for something safer? Do they think the technology is relevant to our current climate or is it out of touch like in a comic book?
"Whether reacting to the user’s mood, generating electricity or morphing into protective shields the latest smart wear has leaped from fiction to reality."(2)
The recent techniques that I have learned over the past semester are analysing photographs the creation of a story, interviews and observations. The analysing of photographs is a very useful technique but I do not think for this project it would be of any value as the use of this is purely the viewer’s opinion. This means of primary research would be more useful in a personal or commissioned capacity as depending on the choice of photographs the viewer may get a different meaning. The use of text may make the viewers come up with the same answers but it is not guaranteed. If this secondary research technique was used in the gathering of information in the making of wearable electronics the idea may be to create a story linking a wearable peace in a block based interface such as an ipod like device that is wearable but able to be removed if needed. The information that may be gathered would be of some value as it is the public’s opinion but I think it would be difficult to translate into a design. I feel that this technique would be very useful in the future and I would defiantly use in my personal design process perhaps in a commition situation.
The next secondary research technique is interviews which I would find very useful in the research of wearable electronics because you could find out what the public really think. I would interview the general public and security officers to see the problems they have with handbag security and if they think it could be improved in anyway. I would also consider showing the interviewees the new technology that is ‘in the pipe line’ to see what they thought of them and how they could be improved. This may link back to the photo analysing but it is not the story that would interest me but the improvements that could be made.
I could also contact the police to see if they have much success in location stolen bags and to see if they think a tracking device would be of any use. I would also ask the police and the public if they think this use of tracking is a breach of human rights as the person carrying the bag would be tracked this may come under the category of a ‘nanny state’ or ‘big brother’ as people are watching you all the time, granted this measure is for the publics own safety but it is understandable that there would be some opposition. If so then I would need to come up with a new solution to the handbag theft problem that exists in our society. I don’t think there would be an age limit on the people I ask as people of all ages carry bags and get them stolen. Possible the optimum age would be someone in their thirties or forties although the people who are the most targeted group is the elderly. The elderly would be a good group to ask but they may not understand the technology.
Another useful research technique I would find for this topic would perhaps be the observations. I would observe a shopping environment to see how people react with different bags for example are they very overprotective of an expensive bag and don’t really care what happens to a Primark bag. Or do they carry lots of plastic bags instead of reusable bags. This would hopefully mean that I would have a great understanding of how the public work and how they react in certain situations such as a busy shop or a quiet street are they on there guard or do they behave as if they were at home and comfortable with the situation? Do the people know where the security cameras are or where the security officer is in case there bag is snatched? Do people look calmer when they know there being watched do they feel more secure? Are people uneasy in a new environment? It would also be good to witness a theft (purely for research purposes) to see how everyone reacted, how panicked were they? This of course is not possible to observe but would be a useful addition to the research material.
I could also observe the making of wearable electronics and interview the designers and developers of this new technology. It may be possible to sample the products to see how they really work and test them for myself.
In conclusion these methods would be a great help in researching the publics opinion on this subject. I think the secondary research method that I would use most are the interviews and the observations as these give a more general description of what the public think unlike the photograph analysing in which the outcome is purely up to the viewer. Overall these methods would greatly benefit the research into wearable electronics, especially to see what the public think of the new improvements that are being made to our design environment.
Proposal 5b
The stone setting project brief: design and make a piece of jewellery in metal which incorporates the setting of another material or materials. Your design is to be inspired by the religious/ spiritual symbolism used in jewellery and the way precious/ semi-precious stones and other materials are used.
For this project I think I would use all of the research techniques I have learned over the past two semesters. As the brief says, my jewellery piece must be inspired by religious/ spiritual symbolism as I am not a particularly religious person this project was quite hard to research, and if I had known about these techniques sooner I perhaps would have used them to there full advantage. I did use mind maps and brain storming as a starting point but I feel I would get a more in depth opinion buy using both the primary and secondary research techniques.
The first step in my research would be a mind map to see what I could come up with on the subject of paganism. I would also study any books in the library on the subject and have a look on web sites such as bbc-religion. The information gathered in these books and from the web would be added to a larger and more complex mind map. I would also talk to my friends around me and perhaps brain storm with the information I have gathered.
I would first interview my friends and family to see what they think of religion, in particular the pagan religion. I would also ask if they new anything about this particular religion and what they thought of it. I would also try and interview the people who follow this religion, to see what they have in the way of jewellery that represents their faith. This would be a very useful insight in to this form for religion, it would be interesting to find out what symbols they worship and what they beleve to be sacrit.
‘Paganism describes a group of contemporary religions based on a reverence for nature. These faiths draw on the
traditional religionsof indigenous peoples throughout the world’ (1)
I would incorporate the evidence that would be collected in these interviews in to my mind maps and brain storming. This would hopefully give me more in depth avenues to research there for making the research possess more exiting.
The analysing of photographs would also be a useful tool in researching the pagan religion, as I could show people images of pagan icons and see what the first thing that pops in to their heads. This would give me an insight in to the publics thinking about this religion and how it is perceived. I could also gather images that could add up to a particular icon such as the green man in which I would have photos of oak leafs, the forest and perhaps a man. If people didn’t come up the answer I wanted then I could add text to see if it would help in my quest for the link to the green man. If these photos didn’t work then I could try a different set of photos or perhaps add one or two extra images to see if this made a difference. The problem with this method is that your outcome is too guaranteed, rather that it is purely the imagination of the people that are asked. Not that this is not a valid opinion, it just may not be the required at that point. As I found out while doing this task people tend to ramble on in which the point of the task may be lost in translation as it is not a epic novel that is needed be a few key point that are relevant.
The one method that I think would be harder to gather information from would be the observation. This is because to my knowledge there is not a place in Dundee where pagans worship. I do not know is such a place even exists, perhaps this would be an area to research, to see if pagans worship together in a public place or in private, and what kind of worshiping do they indulge in. do they have any idles or special garments that they wear? Do they carry anything or act in a special way? And do they use any tools in their worshiping? Perhaps I could carry some of this information in to the design. This would have been a very interesting observation as there was not much information available in the library or online. If I would have had this information available to me then perhaps my final design would have been different, although I am happy with my final product, the added information may have been of use.
In conclusion these methods would have been very useful in researching
religious/ spiritual symbolism I think the hardest but perhaps the most useful research technique would be the observation method. The information would be hard to come by as there may not be facilities available to people of the pagan religions in Dundee or the surrounding area. The other very useful techniques are photograph analysing and interviews. They both are would be valid tools in this research, but do have there flaws. The photograph analysing is useful if you wish to ascertain a story related to an object or in this case a myth, but the stories can become to far fetched and overcomplicated. The interviews are useful to find out the publics opinion this can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the questions you ask and the people who are interviewed.
Bibliography:
5a
El-Sherif. M (2005), Wood Publishing in Textiles ltd, Cambridge England
Jordan. B (2008), web
Tao. X, (2005), Wood Publishing in Textiles ltd, Cambridge England
5b
BBC religion (2006), web http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/
Quotes: 5a
1: page 1 Xaing Tao
2: web article Betty-Ann Jordon
5b
1: web article BBC /religious/ paganism at a glance
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