Exhibition
Interactive and Playful
Swiss Design from Zurich University of the Arts
瑞士多媒體互動設計展
Design is one of the main drivers of social and technological innovation. It originated in the Industrial Revolution with the aim of providing people with more efficient, functional and appealing products, spaces and information. Today, design touches on much more than simply improving everyday life. Recognised as a valuable tool for communication and storytelling, design now expresses personal attitudes, social relations and human interactions more than the technical functions or fashionable qualities. The practice of design and its related research have broken through the physical limits of objects and spaces to address experiences, emotions and senses beyond the visible and the tangible. Design has shifted from the sufarce to the immersive, from the palpable to the experiential.
One reason for this is the speed and effect of digitization over the last 50 years, as a result of the Third Industrial Revolution. The impact of digitization on design has been broader and deeper than on many other disciplines. The frequently cited rule that «form follows function» may no longer apply in a world where objects and environments offer endless functions, interfaces and modes of interaction. Design might still be seen as the discipline that shapes the appearance of things, but it goes way beyond that. It defines behaviour and policy and gives access to unlimited options in the real and in the virtual world. In fact, digitization has appropriated everyday artefacts and transformed them into something new, sometimes invisible or odd. This trend is set to continue. In the world of the Internet of Things, we will be surrounded by immersive media and artificial intelligent objects interacting with us, instead of us exclusively interacting with them.
Faced with these changes, design has had to redefine itself: its role, value, and the skills and knowledge it requires. Through first experiences with interactive objects and environments, designers have realized how artefacts and spaces might tell stories and influence people’s perceptions. Narration has become a big issue in design, whether understanding and describing aspects of everyday life or beyond. Narrative and interactive experiences have shown themselves to be perfectly matched. And from a narrative to a playful experience is only a small step. Playfulness means interacting with the aim of creating curiosity, experimenting with new realities, and imparting knowledge through motivation and amusement. Such things can be relevant in a playful as well as in a serious context.
The exhibition shows how Zurich University of the Arts understands and communicates this notion of design today, and brings to Hong Kong distinctive bachelor’s, master’s and research projects from the seven subject areas of the Department of Design:
Cast/Audiovisual Media
Game Design
Industrial Design
Interaction Design
Knowledge Visualization
Trends & Identity
Visual Communication
