Noel Perlas

Audiograffiti - What is it? Audiograffiti was made to explore and experience the interaction of a space with memory. The result was a sound installation where recoding and playback systems were strategically placed within an inflated space. This was exhibited at the Milan Triennale during the Salone del Mobile 2004. Brief Audiograffiti was completed as part of the autumn term at Interaction Ivrea. The objective of the course was to explore a specific quality of interaction. Our group chose to explore TIME. We started out by interviewing people in and around the institute. Our questions revolved around how people managed their time and how time affected their mood. After several explorations, the group decided to focus on the experience of time. One concrete way of experiencing time was through footprints since footprints are made in a specific period of time. And like all things, footprints fade over time or overlap with other footprints. We sketched out our ideas, revised and rebuilt until we had one strong concept. The footprint idea translated into a “soundprint” concept. What if a person could leave digital prints in a particular space? How would the person interact with it? The initial interface we conceived of was a telephone on a pedestal. The telephone was an obvious and intuitive way of leaving your voiceprint. The telephone would detect a person passing by and would ring. The user would answer the phone and say something. Then the user’s voice would be played back across the space over and over until it faded out. After the final crit of the autumn term we continued to modify and simplify the installation. Instead of a telephone, we used several hanging microphones that would glow when you step on a floor pad.

Smetti - Brief We were tasked to design a service focused on people and health. Our group chose to help people to quit smoking. From our initial research, we discovered that 70% of smokers want to quit. So we asked ourselves why aren’t they quitting? So we set out to look for a new, motivating and fun solution. This lead us to look into the habits of smokers in the institute. Process We conducted interviews and surveys and probed into the smoking habits of our peers. Our findings reinforced the reality that is peer pressure. From this insight, we began drafting some 40 service ideas. It was evident that the ideas we generated had to be tested. We chose two of the most compelling ideas, one of which was called “Smokenders Challenge.” The concept was simple: two smokers were pitted against one another to see which one could stay cigarette free for a longer time. People were also asked to place their bets on their favored "smokender." The overwhelming participation made our experiment a success, but did not prepare us for certain challenges along the way. After testing and prototyping our ideas, we refined them and came up with Smetti, the quit smoking challenge. It combined the strengths of our previous ideas and used existing technologies, mainly the web, where players were brought together. We created a scenario to illustrate how the service works. This scenario presentation was praised by Mr. Bill Moggridge: “Nicest scenario presentation I've seen in a long time. Still images with the flags made the point -- really brilliant.” As part of the course, we were asked to design one service touch-point. The most logical one for us was the web, it acted as a hub and platform for all the events to occur. We built the engine that would allow people to challenge those within their circle as well as invite spectators. To see a prototype visit http://www.smetti.com

Dr Designer (noelperlas.com) - Brief To create something that would be more experimental and more personal. My goal was to highlight my willingness to learn and my eagerness to discover. To create a personal website that would demonstrate my conceptual capacity and my technical skills. Process I drew on my strongest, most personal experiences for inspiration. And one stood out, my experience with my father while he was in the Intensive Care Unit, (ICU) only a few weeks away from his death. During that time, my father was attached to a respirator. Because of this, he could not speak and could not communicate his needs to us or his nurses. We tried desperately to give him another way to talk to us. But nothing really worked. I thought to myself, if only I can create something to make his situation better. If only interface design could be applied to patient care. I knew that the technology existed, but I knew nothing of the sort that addressed this specific need. Solution I now came up with the name Dr. Designer whose goal is to apply interaction design and research in the field of medicine and patient care. The initial product of Dr. Designer is called the "One Hand Interface." This experimental project asks: "How can we communicate with others if we can only use one of our hands with limited movement?" This project states that everything we need can be accessed by our five fingers. I developed a clickable environment fitted specifically to one hand. With each press of a finger you are presented with another set of options. This easy-to-use interface could be used for people like my father, whose speech had been taken away from him. People like him would be able to communicate with others using this interface.

Audiograffiti at Salone del Mobile

Bluetoothed Bluhaus - One of my experimental projects while at Interaction-Ivrea. I had developed a way of tracking students and visitors to the Bluhaus quickly. I used the existing wifi infrastructure of the building and bluetooth mobile phones of the students to track where they are within the Bluhaus. This information is then projected into a surface that is both a centerpiece but also a representation of the structure and the floors of the building. At a quick glance you can tell where people are.

Bluetoothed Bluhaus - One of my experimental projects while at Interaction-Ivrea. I had developed a way of tracking students and visitors to the Bluhaus quickly. I used the existing wifi infrastructure of the building and bluetooth mobile phones of the students to track where they are within the Bluhaus. This information is then projected into a surface that is both a centerpiece but also a representation of the structure and the floors of the building. At a quick glance you can tell where people are.

Landmark Competition - I entered a local competition for the creation of a landmark in front of the newly opened Manila international airport Terminal 3. Out of 113 entries worldwide, my work was chosen as the top 10. My concept was a structure that looked like the icon of the Philippine flag from above, and from the sides looking more like a dynamic play of material and light.

Landmark Competition - I entered a local competition for the creation of a landmark in front of the newly opened Manila international airport Terminal 3. Out of 113 entries worldwide, my work was chosen as the top 10. My concept was a structure that looked like the icon of the Philippine flag from above, and from the sides looking more like a dynamic play of material and light.

Landmark Competition - I entered a local competition for the creation of a landmark in front of the newly opened Manila international airport Terminal 3. Out of 113 entries worldwide, my work was chosen as the top 10. My concept was a structure that looked like the icon of the Philippine flag from above, and from the sides looking more like a dynamic play of material and light.

Landmark Competition - I entered a local competition for the creation of a landmark in front of the newly opened Manila international airport Terminal 3. Out of 113 entries worldwide, my work was chosen as the top 10. My concept was a structure that looked like the icon of the Philippine flag from above, and from the sides looking more like a dynamic play of material and light.

Landmark Competition - I entered a local competition for the creation of a landmark in front of the newly opened Manila international airport Terminal 3. Out of 113 entries worldwide, my work was chosen as the top 10. My concept was a structure that looked like the icon of the Philippine flag from above, and from the sides looking more like a dynamic play of material and light.

Landmark Competition - I entered a local competition for the creation of a landmark in front of the newly opened Manila international airport Terminal 3. Out of 113 entries worldwide, my work was chosen as the top 10. My concept was a structure that looked like the icon of the Philippine flag from above, and from the sides looking more like a dynamic play of material and light.

Wella Hair Dryer - While at Designafairs/Siemens Design in Munich, I worked on the interface of a Wella hair dryer for salons. The end user would be hair dressers, thus the icon system and the interface should be easy and be understandable at a quick glance. The first image below shows the hair dryer, the second is a rendering close to final, the third was a design study.

Wella Hair Dryer - While at Designafairs/Siemens Design in Munich, I worked on the interface of a Wella hair dryer for salons. The end user would be hair dressers, thus the icon system and the interface should be easy and be understandable at a quick glance. The first image below shows the hair dryer, the second is a rendering close to final, the third was a design study.

Wella Hair Dryer - While at Designafairs/Siemens Design in Munich, I worked on the interface of a Wella hair dryer for salons. The end user would be hair dressers, thus the icon system and the interface should be easy and be understandable at a quick glance. The first image below shows the hair dryer, the second is a rendering close to final, the third was a design study.