Selina Nopper: Take a Break, MA Digital Ideation 2022
An exploration of behavioural change for long-term, self-determined empowerment in the use of digital time.
The smartphone is used for entertainment, for working, for communicating and for passing the time. The supreme art lies in not allowing oneself to be distracted by the smartphone's illuminating, vibrating and displaying surface. This challenge has given rise to a concept for an app to sensitise us to a more conscious use of digital time. The app Offbe is meant to be an aid for a more conscious reduction of the use of the digital device. It is an easy-to-use wellbeing app that can be used to take a break from the digital device without stress.
Mentors: Marcel B.F. Uhr, Robert Bossart
Thesis project
Laura Aida Zihlmann: The multiple existence, MA Digital Ideation 2022
A juxtaposition of one's own multi-perspectival existence in immersive digital-analogue spaces.
Our everyday life can no longer be divided into analogue, digital and virtual; rather, we find ourselves in an increasingly interlocking "phygital" (physical-digital) system in which users of digital, analogue and virtual spaces have to find their way around in the long term. This work looks at design in a socio-critical, philosophical context and deals specifically with existence in our immersive reality. Because there is no longer just an analogue existence, but at least another, digital existence, in which we leave behind data, traces, little snippets of ourselves.
Mentors: Marcel B.F. Uhr, Klaus Marek, Robert Bossart
Thesis project
Gian Andri Bezzola: The Cable Racer, 2018
This thesis is dedicated to the topic of fictional world-building. A practical example is used to investigate how object design can contribute to the visual credibility of an imaginary world.
The success of a fictional world depends mainly on its credibility. But at what point does a fictional world seem plausible? And which factors are decisive for this? The center of the present work is creating an imaginary, retrofuturistic world for a video game. Cable racing"", a fictional motorsport phenomenon on the dried-up seabed of the Atlantic, forms the basis for this. The design of this imaginary world concept was used to examine how object design can be explicitly used to convey a fictional creation credibly.
Mentors: Robert Bossart, Jan Eckert
Alexander Schlosser: Compass – A Route Discovery Tool, 2017
Coastal road or remote Alpine pass? Every road trip is individual. "Compass" bundles different data - Instagram photos, Facebook videos or blog posts - generates a personalized route and invites you to discover new places. ""Compass"" bundles this information and becomes a personal repository for inspiring location-based content. Users can save photos, videos or texts from different sources in "Compass", sort them into collections and retrieve them as needed.
Sarah Bühler: Sleepwalking – In the rhythm of the inner clock? A Webdoc, 2016
Our bodies go dormant at night, our thoughts wander, and our consciousness gradually fades. But not everyone rests at night. Some have to work shifts, while others only become active at a late hour. The webdoc accompanies people who are awake at night and shows the view of experts on the shifted sleep-wake rhythm.
Tristan Fischer: Oskar – Transmedial figure concept for experience-oriented museum mediation, 2016
The project "Oskar" uses cross-media figures for experience-oriented museum education. It was developed in cooperation with the Swiss Museum of Transport. The aim is to motivate young families and children aged 8-12 years to learn about various exhibits in the flight hall in a playful way. The characters Oskar and Dino appear in an introductory film in an app and on the website. The core idea is reflected above all in the mobile application. With the help of augmented reality, the likable characters become part of the exhibition. All in all, the work is a broad marketing and innovative mediation concept. The use of virtual reality for museum education is highly relevant both in terms of design and society.
Christian Wullschleger: Orkestar – Interaction and sound composition, 2015
Orkestar is a new type of electronic musical instrument that can be operated by people with motor impairments. Orkestar is intended as an invitation to musical experimentation and to lower the inhibition threshold to making music and is suitable for therapeutic use in motor skills and communication or interaction. The project focused on the harmonious interaction between several people. It described the development process from the idea of this instrument to the first prototype. The design concept came together with rudimentary but functional electronics and software for the first time.
Samuel Frei: Breakfast with Nurejew – Enabling People to Re-experience their Connection to Nature, 2011
Earth's biological resources are vital to humanity's economic and social development. As a result, there is a growing scientific recognition that biological diversity is a global asset of tremendous value to present and future generations. At the same time, the threat to species and ecosystems has never been so significant as it is today. Species extinction caused by human activities continues at an alarming rate. For the case study research, Samuel Frei has chosen an institution that allows for meaningful interaction with nature close to the places where people live and work - the zoological garden of Zürich.
Stefan Fraefel: Next Bus – Mashup with real-time data from public transport, 2011
Visitors to large cities find it hard to get to grips with the complicated public transportation systems. These systems operate too differently from city to city. This work tries to combine orientation in a foreign city and the pitfalls of public transportation so that the visitor can move through the city quickly, easily and comfortably.
