VR Tour Reflections
Question: As the prevalence of digital media in our physical environments increases daily, what is the role and/or responsibility of designers in shaping our environments?
I think a major responsibility for designers is to be aware of the impact and consequences of their design decisions while inputting digital media into space.
One consequence I believe designer need to consider is the impact of digital media on our bodies. As technology gets cooler and better we want to put it in everything, however we now know that blue light can mess up our circadian rhythm and that it can strain our eyes to stare at screens all day. Thus, designers need to be wary of these concerns so they don’t implement design that may sacrifice these things or other health concerns. So, this also gives the designer a responsibility of being knowledgeable about the current research of effects of digital media if they are going to be using it.
Another concern is privacy and security. Capitalism has made it so all these companies want our data, and having digital media in our homes and workplaces makes many things hackable. So, to keep people safe and preserve their freedoms, then designer have to acknowledge and keep in mind that someones data and information could be reachable at any moment with technology.
Latest, I think designers are gonna start to find that they have a responsibility to consider the materials they are using when they use technology. With the sustainability movement becoming more prevalent and a climate crisis emerging rapidly we are eventually going to be forced to limit our use of resources and technology, which is one of the many culprits of mass waste and global warming.
Overall, designers can’t tackle everything as their problem to fix, but we should recognize that we have a responsibility to try not to add to our existing problems. Also, technology brings a lot of positives and negatives and a good designer will be wary of both of those.
FINAL SELF REFLECTION
Self-reflection. How were the skills you developed in the first project similar and/or different from the second project? What is your understanding of the role of an Environments designer?
Every project I do I develope my design process and iterating process. I think btoh projects also worked on how do you put 2D stuff in a 3D space, and also how do you use technology to enhance a place or iteraction and accrually do it well. I do think this second project was much harder to be creative and not do 2D interfaces so I think I really started to learn how to utilize 3D space eith this new innovative technology. The last project I feel like also worked a lot more on the experience and mood of a space while this 2nd project still very much focused on experience, it was more about interactions and not the space. Overall, I think I learned its really hard to be creative with new technology because youre creating something new and you have to work out a lot of kinks and figure out what doesn’t translate well. Defintely a different experience compared to the first project because the first project I was way more familar and comfortable with the technology and concepts we were working on.
My understanding of an enviroments designer is that they work on interactions and designing in space. They need both 2D and 3D skills to create innovative ways to make new experience that we couldve never done before with previous technology or infrastructures. I think they can be used in many many ways and I think we will only discover more and more places environments designers are regularly used because they are mainly there to make stuff and spaces work better for people and to creative better and more enriching experiences and interactions. So, if you think it about it there are tons and tons of niches enviroments designers can contribute too. Overall, I think their role is very expansive and multifaceted.
