Lizzie Wa Design

To do this week:

• What exactly do I want to get people to do/ achieve with my outcome? 
• Brainstorming and potential outcome ideas 
• Non-verbal communication

What exactly do I want to get people to do/ achieve with my outcome? 

• Feel better -more connected and grounded in their situation, location, community etc. 
• Feel inspired to take more time connecting with others? – for this an exhibition could work 
• Feel more playful and inspired to play.
• Smile at other people. 

I created a small brainstorm to help me think about this idea.

I am still very drawn to the idea of smiles, faces and non verbal communication. It seems like the first step towards communication and connection and a simple but very powerful and maybe under-appreciated action. 

I also brainstormed a bit around smiling and what activities cause people to smile to themselves or to others. 

In my research previously I found that looking at smiles can make you smile, and how smiling can make you feel happier, more open and positive. I am also very interested in the idea of faces created by other objects, and believe this is a really playful way of seeing a smile. With this in mind I started sketching some faces using simple shapes to look at the variety of expressions that could be created and how the shapes’ interactions affected the emotion portrayed.  

Research 

“Connection even for a brief moment produces the powerful enchantment of presence,”

(Baumgardner, 2017)

The connection an individual makes with one another is through communication; whether it is verbal or nonverbal. only seven percent of communication is what is verbally spoken.

When communication is broken down, 7% is verbal (words that are spoken), 38% is vocal (the tone and pitch in your voice), and 55% is nonverbal messages (Gabor et al, 2015)

One study into loneliness showed the UK to be pretty much average in loneliness levels in comparison to the rest of the world. (Varrella 2021)

Designing playscapes

“Play is about more than just ‘letting off steam’; it can be quiet and contemplative, as well as active and boisterous.”(Shackell et al. 2008) 

“Play is what children and young people do in their own time, for their own reasons.”

(Shackell et al. 2008)

When it comes to designing successful playscapes for children, these are some tips:

The 10 principles for designing successful play spaces.

 Successful play spaces… 

• are ‘bespoke’ 
• are well located 
• make use of natural elements 
• provide a wide range of play experiences 
• are accessible to both disabled and non-disabled children
• meet community needs 
• allow children of different ages to play together 
• build in opportunities to experience risk and challenge 
• are sustainable and appropriately maintained 
• allow for change and evolution. (Shackell et al. 2008)

Despite these being aimed at children’s playscapes, I think a lot of these things are relevant to play spaces for people of all ages. 

“The primary aim of designing a play space must be to offer children a rich play environment where they can have a wide variety of play experiences” (Shackell et al. 2008)

“Designing for play is an ongoing process. Successful play spaces are not simply ordered from a catalogue, put in the ground and left. They require careful thought and planning, continuing care and maintenance, and should be reviewed and updated periodically to make sure they provide the best possible play opportunities” (Shackell et al. 2008)

Playspaces need to be constantly evaluated and improved to get the most out of them. Watching how people interact with the space, what they do and what they don’t do, is integral to making the space better. 

In his book Casual Games Design Tefrey says “Sometimes nothing makes a better game mechanic than an established obsessive compulsive behavior. Often these behaviors, like not stepping on cracks, organizing record collections or cleaning up kitchens, already have play-like qualities. When we engage in these behaviors we generally follow certain rules we lay out for ourselves: don’t step on cracks, organize your music collection by mood, or clean all the dishes in less than 15 minutes. With a little bit of work, these simple activities can be given goals that make them into full-blown games” (Trefry 2010).  

Adult Play

There is relatively little research done into adult play. “According to the PsychINFO database, in the last10 years more than 3000 psychological research articles written in English focused on child play, yet only 40 addressed play in adults or the elderly and this was mainly in therapeutic contexts.” 

Part of this may be because play as a concept is hard to define and open to alot of interpretation. But its benefits are well documented. 

“Winnicott (1971) describes play as taking place in a transitional space between the inner and outer reality which enables creative action. In this space attributes of objective reality are combined with attributes of imagination leading to the creation of a transitional reality in which one can experiment with different ways of relating to the external world.”

Van Leeuwan and Westwood discuss the importance of risk within play. They believe that “acceptable risk is something we seek in play as it is often the source of thrill and excitement.” This seems to be something common to both children and adults in play. 

While the benefits of play for children and sometimes also adults has been explored, eg for  acquiring motor, cognitive, emotional and social skills. This is not the reason that people play, children have no idea about the benefits but they want to do it anyway. “Children and adults play because it is enjoyable.” 

Van Leeuwan and Westwood mention the iMuse project (Leeuwen & Ellis, 2007) which used an “interactive inter-sensory environment for expression and exploration in frail elderly people. By using hand/arm movements or their voice, complex sound and graphic displays can be manipulated giving the experience of painting with sound or composing with colour.”

They believe that it is “the open-ended character of the interaction with graphics and sound aims to invite ludic engagement.” and also that  “One crucial condition for playfulness in such an environment is the experience of intuitive control supporting relaxation and spontaneity.”

Therefore in that situation the play being open-ended helped people to feel playful and relaxed. The outcome was simple and satisfactory which made them more likely to engage and stay engaged for a while. 

Van Leeuwan and Westwood also define play in two ways: gameplay, defined as performance-oriented stimulation and toyplay defined as unorganised stimulation – freeform, non-goal-oriented play activities (van Leeuwen and Westwood 2008).

Finding faces in things

Face pareidolia – the phenomenon of seeing faces in everyday objects (Gilbert 2020) 

According to research by the University of Sydney, our brains detect and respond emotionally to these illusory faces the same way they do to real human faces.

human brains are evolutionarily hardwired to recognise faces, with highly specialised brain regions for facial detection and processing.

“Faces are detected incredibly fast. The brain seems to do this… using a kind of template-matching procedure, so if it sees an object that appears to have two eyes above a nose above a mouth, then it goes, ‘Oh I’m seeing a face.’

“It’s a bit fast and loose and sometimes it makes mistakes, so something that resembles a face will often trigger this template match.”(Lu 2021) 

The researchers showed people a sequence of faces – a jumble of both real faces and pareidolia images – and had participants rate each facial expression on a scale between angry and happy.

The researchers found that inanimate objects had a similar emotional priming effect to real faces.

“You are somehow unable to totally turn off that face response and emotion response and see it as an object. It remains simultaneously an object and a face.”(Lu 2021) 

Potential Ideas

I started with a little review of what I had found out and wanted to achieve to help me come up with relevant ideas

As part of my ongoing ideation I came up with 5 potential ideas that I plan to explore further in the hope of focusing my outcome idea. After each idea I thought about how they fit with the important factors I have found so far that I think need to be part of my project.

1. A face sculpture/ playscape. This idea involves creating a playscape where large shapes can be moved and played with to create or change the expression of a ‘face’. It could be that the face is only visible from a certain vantage point, or that the size and weight of the pieces means it needs two people to use- possibly even that you have to press certain sections at the same time to move them so two people are needed. 
   1. This idea is a playful activity 
   2. Makes people happy just looking at it 
   3. Entices people to play with it and linger while they play
      
2. Book/Magazine of ways to make boring spaces playful. This idea would take everyday activities or local spaces and make them into games or playful activities. These activities would aim to inspire connection if possible, but also make people more playful and positive and therefore more likely to connect with others. Include things to do to create more connection in life- smiling at others, buying a coffee for the person behind you in the queue etc. 
   1. Inspire people to play and connect
   2. Can enjoy without interacting with it

3. Sculptural Playground or playscape. This idea would involve designing a playground for adults, possibly as part of an exhibition or somewhere outdoors.
   
4.  Sculpture or Art people can interact with. This idea would allow people to come together and create something, impacting on their own environment. It would be more user led as an outcome. Possible something people could build together, or add their own mark on. It could use technology and facial recognition to allow peoples faces and smiles to create an outcome.
   1. Playful creating
   2. Brings people together
   3. Entices them to linger 
   4. Creates smiles 

5. Exhibition of play and connection. This idea would involve turning my research into an exhibition and an exploration into playful faces. It would include activities (something people can communally add to) and information about connection and play and its importance. 
   1. Inspire people to connect and play
   2. Entice people to linger for a while 
   3. Make people smile
   4. Can be enjoyed without interacting 

Peer to Peer

I had a peer to peer which helped to motivate me within my project as i had been feeling a bit uncertain where to go next. After this session I think I am going to focus on the idea of creating an installation.

I want my installation to explore the importance of play and social connection and make people feel playful and inspired to connect, while also creating a space for play and connection to take place. 

With this in mind I looked at some examples of installations. 

Superflex installs dozens of swings at Tate Modern to “combat social apathy”

Superflex created a three-stage journey instillation within the tate moderns turbine hall exploring apathy, production, and movement

“The work explores the potential of energy generated by social movements, drawing unexpected connections within, between, and beyond institutions, and proposing new uses for urban public space,” said the Tate.

 three-seater swings are made live on-site and attached to a metal frame that grows and spreads outside of the building. visitors can then interact with the assembled swings around and outside of the Hall.

“The work invites audiences to combat social apathy through collaborative action, joining together on the count of three,” said the Tate. 

I think this exploration into collaboration and social apathy is incredibly interesting and the journey that the installation takes visitors on is a good way of encouraging them to interact fully. The idea of swinging on a three seater swing is a little strange and uncomfortable, it also requires collaboration, empathy and balance between individuals. This situation pushes people to be much more aware within social situations and maybe even interact with people they wouldn’t have otherwise. 

I looked into Superflex’s other work and came across Play Contract

https://superflex.net/works/play_contract

121 children in Billund, Denmark were given the task to investigate and design models which could promote play across generations. Which resulted in the children helping design a playful space featuring five sculptures. The visitors’ behavior in this space is governed by a contract that asks grown-ups to submit to the conditions of children’s play.

“Informed by the children’s thoughts about play, a contract was prepared and carved into the sculptures. Within the area of the sculptures, the grown-ups must agree to embrace their sense of the absurd and to abide by children’s sense of time. There, clocks have no power and deadlines are meaningless. Adults strive to control the world around them, but play involves allowing for surprises and giving up control. Play Contract is an invitation for children and grown-ups to meet and re-think the idea of play.”  

In a world where adults make the rules and children want to have fun instead of adhering to them, I love the idea of children designing and setting the rules for this playground. This makes me think that speaking with children in my project is something that i should consider when making my designs, to help me think in a more childlike and playful way. 

https://superflex.net/works/interspecies_assembly

Reflection

As we near the end of the first half of this project I feel as if I am starting to get to grips with my idea and form some possible outcome ideas that will explore my chosen subject. It has been hard to keep the momentum going over such a long project and i think alot of the research and ideas i have come across may have been left to the side during this process, so i am interested to get started on writing my report in the hope that this process will help collect everything up. I plan to write the start of my report to collect and analyse all my research, and I hope that this will help ensure my outcome fits as a relevant solution and summary of the research I’ve undertaken.

Reference list

BAUMGARDNER, Dennis J. 2017. ‘Every Word, Every Gesture’. Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews 4(3), 136–8.

GABOR, Dan, Mihaela BARITZ and Angela REPANOVICI. 2015. ‘The Study of Stimulated Visual Behaviour Related to Nonverbal Communication’. Procedia Technology 19, 1102–8.

GILBERT, Lachlan. 2020. ‘Why the Brain Is Programmed to See Faces in Everyday Objects’. UNSW Newsroom [online]. Available at: https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/why-brain-programmed-see-faces-everyday-objects.

LAWRENCE, Samantha. 2017. Murray State’s Digital Commons the Power of Nonverbal Communication. Integrated Studies. Available at: https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1094&context=bis437.

LU, Donna. 2021. ‘So Happy to See You: Our Brains Respond Emotionally to Faces We Find in Inanimate Objects, Study Reveals’. the Guardian [online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/07/so-happy-to-see-you-our-brains-respond-emotionally-to-faces-we-find-in-inanimate-objects-study-reveals.

ROBINSON, Lawrence, Melinda SMITH, Jeanne SEGAL and Jennifer SHUBIN. 2021. ‘The Benefits of Play for Adults – HelpGuide.org’. https://www.helpguide.org [online]. Available at: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/benefits-of-play-for-adults.htm#:~:text=Playing%20together%20brings%20joy%2C%20vitality [accessed 1 May 2022].

SHACKELL, Aileen, Nicola BUTLER, David BALL and Phil DOYLE. 2008. Design for Play: A Guide to Creating Successful Play Spaces. Available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/5028/1/design-for-play.pdf.

TREFRY, Gregory. 2010. Casual Game Design Designing Play for the Gamer in All of Us. Elsevier. Available at: https://booksite.elsevier.com/samplechapters/9780123749536/01~Front_Matter.pdf [accessed 2 May 2022].

VAN LEEUWEN, Lieselotte and Diane WESTWOOD. 2008. ‘Adult Play, Psychology and Design’. Digital Creativity 19(3), [online], 153–61. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/3807702/Adult_play_psychology_and_design [accessed 25 Apr 2022].

VARRELLA, Simona. 2021. ‘Loneliness among Adults Worldwide by Country 2021’. Statista [online]. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1222815/loneliness-among-adults-by-country/.