In a previous post, I wrote about a new focus of embedded technologies but today I got to see the work first hand in action.  My colleague Dr. Juhong Park who leads the digital design initiatives at the school invited me to take part in his upper level studio's final review.  The goal of the class was to have students create pieces of furniture that could provide some type of medical assistance.  The caveat being that all the proposals needed to be infused with a responsive design.  

In a short afternoon presentation, the relatively small group of eight students presented drawings, videos, and mock-ups of their semester's work.  Some students choose different ailments and conditions to work with that ranged from chronic back pain, ADHD, to lung diseases.  Others worked on logistical issues that patients go through, for example the movement of disabled patients between prone and active positions.  

The review was treated as a gallery type show, with the jurors witnessing each proposal and in some cases testing it out; several mockups were built at a full scale.  Comments on the feasibility of the proposals were expanded upon, with jurors providing advice as to how each conceptual piece could be handled in real life scenarios or what other technologies could be applied to make them multidimensional.  

What impressed me the most about the class was that it was treated more like an experimental studio rather than just presenting a pile of renderings that seem more common place in academia.  All of the students had clear documentation of where they began the semester and how they ended up where they did.

 Included here are some of the projects during tonight's review, and some process images from the class' blog page.