Erica Lee

Away From Home is a four-part interactive storytelling narrative game driven by the stories of people and their definitions of  “home”. For our capstone, we created Part 1 which is set in the forest. Follow our journey on our instagram, @projects.exe as we continue the next chapters of our game.

I AM ~ AM I is an outdoor exhibit full of color, light, and texture for exploring the fluid and intersectional nature of identity. Identity is often viewed as fixed and innate rather than dynamic and situational. Although we have begun to accept certain identity markers as unfixed or non-binary such as gender and sexuality, we think it’s about time to start thought and conversation like this around a wider range of identity issues. Our work hopes to show that by seeing ourselves as more dynamic, intersectional, and fluid people we guard against bias, exclusion, and polarization.

Tête-à-tête (meaning "a heart to heart") is a response to the observations we made among the community around us and our belief that everyone has a story to tell that may inspire someone else. We approached this project by wanting to design an interactive structure that would engage the people around us by creating comfort, intimacy, and trust. The form of Tête-à-Tête invites two individuals to take a seat and open one's posture towards each other to begin. Once they've sat down, we've used an Arduino and micro-sensors to generate the questions (found in the center) by tracking the movement. This combination of both form and technology spark meaningful conversations that invite people to share personal experiences. It is from these shared moments that we broaden our perspectives.​​​​​​​

The Alla table, or “everyone’s table” in Swedish, is designed to be more inclusive and flexible than the average meeting table. The table has a myriad of features that provides a space that is inviting and productive, including a table height set slightly below the industry average to more comfortably accommodate shorter individuals who are traditionally excluded in office furniture design. An unobtrusive storage area with knobs provides a space to store items. To provide a convenient place to charge phones or laptops, a modular USB and AC power option can be implemented in the handle. The curved end caps mean that there is also no “head of the table” to further facilitate the inclusivity in meetings at “everyone’s table”.

For the 2019 Microsoft Design Expo we were tasked with accomplishing Empathy at Scale. We determined that scaling empathy would mean that empathy is practiced on a daily basis, in situations both great and small. However our own feelings, perspectives, and biases can stand in the way of building that empathy. From these conclusions we created Ponder, a system that provides people a safe space to vent and reflect while also creatively considering others' perspectives. Using AI, Ponder analyzes your point of view by asking clarifying questions, then using discourse from online articles Ponder suggests alternative perspectives in the form of a story. Finally, Ponder provides a platform by which people can set empathetic goals to help them practice empathetic reaction.

Nurses take care of our health, but find little time to take care of their own. The LYNC tells nurses when they need a break, and alerts other nurses in their unit to help cover their patients in the meantime.