Life is messy, and mostly we use technology to keep it tidy. But is there a place for technology that embraces messiness and unpredictability? It鈥檚 a question that fascinates Assistant Professor Laura Devendorf, who came to CU this spring,聽joining the ATLAS Institute with a tenure home in the Department of Information Science in the College of Media Communication and Information.聽
Electronic calendars keep us on schedule; apps keep us exercising; there鈥檚 even an app that tracks your baby鈥檚 vital signs, Devendorf points out.聽She doesn鈥檛 have a problem with electronic calendars鈥攈er life is more wired than most鈥攂ut as a mother of two girls, the implications of some childcare apps trouble her.
鈥淧arents will eventually be able to know a lot about their babies through their cell phones鈥攎aybe even whether they are hungry or tired. They could end up just monitoring their babies,鈥 she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 not really interested in building more technology that tracks things. I am curious about technologies that help us be more present, and I think there鈥檚 a place for technology that embraces unpredictability and messiness.鈥
The Unstable Design Lab
This is what Devendorf plans to explore in her newly-launched 鈥淯nstable Design Lab,鈥 which will be fully up and running in the fall. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be investigating how technology designers can use the instability of everyday life as a design resource, as opposed to something technology seeks to eliminate,鈥 she says.
She envisions the lab as a place where engineering and computer science majors rub elbows with art and anthropology majors, and聽where students can 鈥渇ind value in things that don鈥檛 work the way we expect technology to work,鈥 she says.聽
Along with digital fabrication tools, the lab will stock clay, art supplies and food. And it will also have a sink, because, she says, 鈥淣o one is going to get messy if you don鈥檛 have a sink.鈥
Mindfulness, Making and the 3D Printer
While at UC Berkeley, Devendorf worked on a project she calls 鈥淏eing the Machine.鈥 Based on 3D printing technology, it replaces part of the mechanical fabrication process with a human component. In 3D printing, a user designs and uploads a 3D model, presses a button and the product is made, often from plastic. In Devendorf鈥檚 variation, 3D models are uploaded to a guidance mechanism connected to a laser pointer. The pointer indicates where the 3D printer would place material, but it鈥檚 actually put there by hand. What material? You name it: pancake batter, Cheez Whiz, wet sand, icing, chocolate syrup, clay鈥β
Obviously, the results are not as precise as a 3D printed object, but that鈥檚 not the point; with the ability to make digital models of almost anything, technology can be used to access what Devendorf describes as the 鈥渏oy and labor of making things physically.鈥澛
鈥淚 believe making can be a little like yoga; it trains you to be more present,鈥 she says.
Artists and designers like Devendorf鈥檚 setup because there鈥檚 room for the unexpected. And because the apparatus is portable, her聽quirky digital-human fabrication system can go to unlikely places鈥攃ity sidewalks, public parks, forests, beaches鈥攚here聽others can watch and engage. 鈥淭hose interactions lead to conversations and new possibilities,鈥 she says.
Her projects are often messy and sometimes fall apart, like the Stanford bunny she made from balloons and the cat she made from Cheez Whiz. But that鈥檚 all part of the process. 鈥淔ailing is good. We learn from failure,鈥 she says.聽
Dynamic Textile Displays
Last year, Devendorf led a collaboration with Google Advanced Technology and Projects, augmenting the company鈥檚 鈥渟mart鈥 threads so they would slowly and subtly change color in response to electrical inputs.聽聽Working with聽collaborators at the聽University of California Berkeley, Devendorf coated conductive threads with thermochromic pigments that were woven into fabrics. In response to small changes in electrical current, calming animations moved across the fabric.
In contrast to LED screens and phones that demand your attention, Devendorf says the color changes are subtle. Many wouldn鈥檛 even notice them, she says, and she finds these types of subtle changes make them more playful and attractive.聽
鈥淚 believe that beautiful experiences emerge when we lose control and let ourselves be affected rather than affect,鈥 says Devendorf. 鈥淚鈥檝e found that building technologies that shift away from a strict user-in-control model create聽poetic and enchanting moments in everyday life.鈥
