2022 Galleries

The Spark Gallery pages are one of our most popular design destinations, with thousands of visitors each year. Check out some of the latest Spark entries, in the galleries below.

Galleries // 2022 Spark:Digital // Food for Thought Based Interfaces

Food for Thought Based Interfaces

Finalist

Competition: Spark:Digital
Designer: Afshin Mehin - CEO
Design Type: Concept, Brain Computer Interface
Company / Organization / School: Card79
Website: http://card79.com
Team Members: Afshin Mehin, Austin Magin, Nicole Keegan, Vance Shek-Sheppard, Arash Malekzadeh, Levi Joo, Mark Choi & Dane Kim

Based on closely following new neuroscience we are developing, speculative user experiences enabled by Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology. We created a concept video short called "A Day in the Mind" as well as a series of video prototypes to explore the different implications of the technology, realizing that we would have to make some wild guesses about the capabilities of the technology. BCI technology requires years of research and development before powerful consumer-based BCI products can ever be introduced to the public. However, as designers, it's essential to envision what types of experiences this technology would enable to create a human-centered future for BCIs. While we are excited about constructing thought based interfaces that will be made possible with BCIs, we also take an empathetic and value-driven approach to design and keep the user's best interests at heart by upholding transparency and autonomy. That is why we created Food for Thought Based Interfaces to explore how the user experience may look or feel while using BCIs, as well as see the human reaction to a complex technology that is seen as awe-inspiring by some people but terrifying by others.

JUDGES COMMENTS:

"Interesting application of technology and User experience."

Next Entry »

Download Official Certificate of Recognition
Certificate of Recognition

We created a scenario where thoughts could be stored in different folders and managed by the BCI, which is not currently a capability of BCIs but hopefully spurs curiosity around its plausibility.
When technology can start to decode your emotional state, what are the implications for mental health and managing mental states?
Recently, BCIs have shown assurance in treating mood disorders through electrical stimulation, a concept explored in several of our video examples.
A Day in the Mind showcases different scenarios the BCI technology can take us where the user signals output to an external device, and the BCI exerts some influence on the user.
Several of our videos highlight the discord that a user might feel with a BCI. We take this example further by creating photo albums categorized by your state of mind, according to your BCI.
The user experience of BCI technology will feel similar to the experience of the baby boomer generation learning to ‘touch type’. It will require much cognitive effort to control and master.
Only some applications have precise harmony with the user's thoughts.The illustrated image shows the difficult learning curve of writing thought-to-text messages and experiencing typos.