On Tuesday we completed the world cafe activity. World Cafe involved multiple tables, each with a different theme that a group of us sat at and discussed. The themes on the tables were the themes derived from previous themeing activities that we did in week two. There were multiple rounds involved in world cafe which each went for 15 minutes. At each round people would move to a new table with a new theme and different peers. At each table there was a host who remained from the previous round to inform the new group of the discussion and ideation that occurred in the previous round. The aim of each round was to think into the theme and ideas from the project inspiration and further develop potential concepts under the theme.

The themes I worked on included:

- Musical things

- Creative learning

- Altered landscapes

- Body as controller

- Change through discomfort

The themes I enjoyed working on most were creative thinking and altered landscapes as I found it easiest to come up with creative ideas and potential modes of interaction. For creative learning, my group came up with ideas involving interactive maps, playdough as an interaction mode and using body movements to learn Asian languages. For altered landscapes, I liked the idea of a greenhouse dome to be placed in busy CBD areas with high stress environments where workers could come to spend their breaks and somehow interact with the peaceful environment.

Although I wasn’t able to work on mundane spaces, this is the theme I most want to work on as I am interested in creating a large project using lights and sound - which would enhance any mundane space. Due to this I put my first choice on Mundane spaces. I put creative learning as my second and musical things as my third as I would be keen to work with sound.

In Wednesday's class we listened to a presentation by Bash Isai, a UQ alumni currently working in product development in the UK. Bash talked about various experiences he has had throughout uni and in the workforce he provided valuable tips regarding how to gain employment once you finish your degree. Bash also made us complete an activity that required us to write 50 words about ourselves and what makes us unique. We then went through in rounds and crossed out words that did not describe us eventually being left with only one word. My word for this activity was creativity. I believe my word is an accurate representation of me. Bash asked us to explain why we believe our word represented us, and I believe that this is because I think of everything in life in a creative manner. I enjoy using my creativity and applying it to situations in my social, work and university life to improve everything I am doing. I think this characteristic will also be directly applicable to the processes I will conduct in this course.

Reflection:

This was a really interesting and engaging week in terms of the activities and studios we partcipated in. I really enjoyed the World Cafe as I have been struggling to ideate concepts that align with the studio domain. World Cafe allowed me to just brainstorm my thoughts for each theme without judgement which I feel helped me a lot in ideating new concepts and interaction modes. I actually surprised myself with how many ideas I came up with and even found myself thinking of concepts throughout the week.

I mentioned that I was eager to work on 'Mundane Spaces' as I want to create a really exciting and engaging concept. This is mainly due to my inspiration from a Team Lab exhibit I was able to view while in Tokyo recently. I was intrigued and amazed at their use of light and colour to create beautiful environments in simple, plain, black rooms: https://www.teamlab.art/