Vicky Zhou – Looking Outwards – 09

For this week’s looking outwards post, I found my fellow peer, Jason Zhu’s Looking Outward from week 1 quite interesting. The project he discussed is Colorspace, “an interactive sculpture that translates text messages into breathtaking animations of colored light.” He pointed out that this kind of interactive space could be used in “spaces where users have a lack of or no emotional connection to, but spend a significant portion of their time”, and/or schools and and workplaces. My main question would be though, aside from creating an interest for the first couple of interactions, how else could this environment be beneficial? For example, instead of just creating a sense of community and momentary interest, could this kind of interactive digital media be used to facilitate learning, if placed in a school environment, or help engage productivity, in placed in a work environment? In addition, I personally thought of a hospital, when Jason mentioned placing this installation in a space where people typically do not feel as connected and/or emotional to, and if that could possibly shift the user into having a more positive experience.