The Invisible Bicycle Helmet
"Fredrik Gertten profiles two idealistic young female entrepreneurs who created a revolutionary 21st-century design object everyone told them would be impossible to fashion."
(Focus Forward Films, 2012)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Design Prototypes as Boundary Objects in Innovation Processes
"In our paper we focus on how design prototypes can foster communications in organizations that deal with the development of innovations. We distinguish the impact of prototypes between two different organizational levels; we first conduct the impact of prototypes at the level of organizational design teams that develop ideas and concepts for solutions. We then focus on the impact of prototypes on the level of organizational teams and departments that have not been part of the initial design phase but are responsible for further developments in the innovation process, e.g. production, financing, and marketing.
Previous research has indicated that prototypes have a significant influence on both organizational levels. Prototypes, in the best cases, can become so-called boundary objects between different domains and stakeholders and may deliver positive effects within the innovation process. However, the successful management of stakeholders in this context remains highly challenging. In this paper we want to address these difficulties as well as the current state of research in this field. We propose that a prototype does not only stand for an important design technique but should moreover be regarded as a management tool that can be integrated into a structured dialogue between stakeholders. We provide first insights on what a structured dialogue, based on prototypes, can mean and what it thereby should imply. We will synthesize prior research findings and begin to develop a concept on how to utilize prototypes as boundary objects from a management perspective."
(Holger Rhinow, Eva Köppen and Christoph Meinel, 2012)
Holger Rhinow, Eva Köppen, and Christoph Meinel: "Prototypes as Boundary Objects in Innovation Processes". Conference Paper in the Proceedings of the 2012 International Conference on Design Research Society (DRS 2012), Bangkok, Thailand, July 2012
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
The Family Factory: Developing Methods for Live 3D Animation
"In this way the puppeteers would be part of the development of the prototypes for the virtual puppets as well as the characters for the play, before the actual rehearsals would begin two month later. ...
The value of the actual meetings and workshops can not be emphasised enough. This gave the participants hands on experience with the constraints in the actual equipment and a chance to meet the team that would be responsible for operating it. It is not until the artist has a very physical and intuitive impression of the material and the involved people the creative process takes off for real – before this everything is abstract ideas. ...
In the planning of the research project and the actual production the division of labour within and between each field of activity were specified as outlined in section 3.
As the process went on the borders became more blurred exploring the new field between creative production in theatre and animation and methods from computer science and systems development. One of the big challenges was the development of a common language between the artist and the programmer/technicians and to define and invent new methods that were necessary to carry out the production.
I tried to explore the numerous reasons for this in the evaluation phase of the project. This was done by conducting qualitative interviews with the participants and by reviewing the large body of video documentation from the process. The footage was edited to a 50 minute documentary about the project on which the following assumptions are based (Callesen 2001)."
(Jørgen Callesen, 2003, p.15,18,30)
Callesen (2001) Virtual Puppets in Performance, Proceedings, Marionette: Metaphysics, Mechanics, Modernity, International Symposium, University of Copenhagen, 28. March - 1. April, 2001
Callesen, J. (2003) "The Family Factory - Developing new Methods for Live 3D Animation" in Madsen, K.H. Production methods: behind the scenes of virtual inhabited 3D worlds. Springer-Verlag, London.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
The role of the product prototype as an instrument of design knowledge enquiry
"Research through design focuses on the role of the product prototype as an instrument of design knowledge enquiry. The prototype can evolve in degrees of granularity, from interactive mockups to fully functional prototypes, as a means to formulate, develop and validate design knowledge. The designer-researcher can begin to explore complex product interaction issues in a realistic user context and reflect back on the design process and decisions made based on actual user-interaction with the test prototype. Observations of how the prototype was experienced may be used to guide research through design as an iterative process, helping to evolve the product prototype."
(David V. Keyson Miguel Bruns Alonso)
David V. Keyson Miguel Bruns Alonso (2009. "Empirical Research Through Design". International Association of Societies of Design Research
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Chris O'Shea @ Nottingham GameCityNights Episode 6
"Headlining Episode 6 is artist and designer Chris O'Shea, known internationally for his immersive, interactive multimedia work. Using Microsoft's Kinect, Chris will be talking us through the melding of videogames and play into contemporary art, with demonstrations of his previous and current projects."
(GameCityNights, 24 June 2011)
Fig.1 Chris O'Shea (2010). "Air Guitar prototype"
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
