lunariumlab

[lunariumlab]

This semester was not easy for any of us because of the current covid situation. The first unit media lab in presence at Kunstuni was very motivating and entertaining. Especially the brainstorming exercise at the end has remained in my memory. I was very curious about the following lessons. 

In the following weeks I learned a lot about prototyping. I will definitely be able to use this kind of knowledge in future projects. Also I benefited a lot of the whole process of developing a project idea. Next time I would like to give myself more time for the process of developing an idea.

Through the course we gained insights into many areas, but I was sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of topics and new information. However, this impression may have been caused by the distance teaching. We learned about a lot of areas that I had never heard of before. I would have liked to focus more on one area and study it in detail. I would have found it better to spend more time experimenting with just one software. For me personally it was hard to keep a blog, but I fully understand why we have to do it and I learned to reflect more on the content I consume. Thank you for all the input, I got some valuable knowledge for myself!

For media lab 2 I would like to see a focus on AR. 

[lunariumlab]

My final thoughts about my semester project

Both the design process and the brainstorming were really fun. I got the idea for the app from the exercise with the sticky notes��in the first media lab unit. I will definitely use this way of brainstorming again. I think I especially enjoyed developing the idea because I am part of the app's target audience. 

I'm quite happy with the choice of colors for the app, and I also really like individual screens. Nevertheless, I would like to rework the interface design a bit. During the design process I read some articles about app design/interface design and looked at different app designs for orientation. Today, I would approach this in a more structured way and would get some specialized literature even before starting the design process. I kept asking an artist friend who also specializes in fine art printing for advice during the design process. At this time, I would involve even more people in the process.  I mentioned in another post that this was not my first app design. However, that other app project was in 2017. My last project done with the software sketch was also 2 years ago. From this point of view the project was a refresher for my design & software skills. 

In Media lab 2 I would like to focus more on the development of the idea.

[lunariumlab]

Interface design trends for 2021

By designing the app as a semester project, I had to take a closer look at interface design. That's why I'm all the more interested in interface design trends for 2021. While researching this topic, I stumbled across this article. Now I would like to give a small overview of my favorite interface design trends for 2021, which I also hope to apply soon.

1. 3D Illustration As an illustrator myself, this is especially interesting for me. It's definitely been a trend for a while. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge whatsoever about 3D programs. Now I wish I had paid much more attention in the 3D unit of media lab!

2. When typography takes center stage I’m a big fan of bold fonts, so this trend is definitely my taste. Additionally I think that you can combine this trend well with 3D illustrations. 

3. Glassmorphism I have never heard this term before. It’s one type of a background blur and the effect seems like looking through a milky glass. Also there is an online CSS generator for this effect: https://glassmorphism.com/

[lunariumlab]

Can automated filters solve the problem with hate comments?

I am interested in the reasons for discrimination, especially when it comes to discrimination by AI. Therefore I read this article.

In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg announced that artificial intelligence will solve Facebook's problem with hate comments. But it's not that simple, because machine-learning-based filtering systems reproduce racist patterns. In so-called machine learning, computer programs learn to make decisions for new data based on old data. Machines try to mimic the decisions of humans. But this way, discrimination against certain groups of people can never be overcome. For me it is the same problem as with the AMS-algorithm I wrote about a few posts ago. 

[lunariumlab]

This is an overview of all the screens I designed for the risofix app. The arrows are the individual links between the screens. I’ve made a clickable dummy with the screend design software sketch. It’s not the first time I’ve worked with this software, but it has been more than 2 years since i last worked with it. This is the second app design I made in my life. Although I’m a graphic designer, it is always a challenge to work outside of the own comfort zone. Since a smartphone screen is rather small, the design must always be reduced to the basic elements. I am very happy with the color choice, the icons could be more special.  I will reflect in another post on the development of the app design and what I would change in my process next time.

[lunariumlab]

Semester project update

After the last unit medienlabor I had the idea to give my app an additional AR function. With the new augmented reality feature of risofix it’s possible to see the artwork on walls, before it’s even printed. The main function of the app remains to split the different colors of an artwork into greyscale layers and prepare a printable file.

[lunariumlab]

Reflection on media lab week 6

This lesson was all about augmented and virtual reality and so totally my thing yay. I have never heard of the wikitude platform before this unit, so thanks for this input. Wikitude has a location based approach to augmented reality, a bit like the app Pokemon Go. We made our first steps with wikitude guided by Julian. Additionaly I thought about integrating AR in my semester project for the first time, but more about this topic in my next post.

[lunariumlab]

Arduino project Idea

My idea for my own Arduino is to combine the craft of embroidery with (the magic of) Arduino. I want to embroider a constellation of stars and make the individual stars glow with the help of Arduino and LED lights. Also the lights should shine brighter the darker the environment is. This is a sketch of the embroidery hoop with the light bulbs:

[lunariumlab]

Reflection on media lab week 4

What is Arduino? What is rasperry-pi?

I’ve never heard of Arduino before media lab, so I started as a total noob into this session. While Raspberry Pi is a mini-computer and requires an operating system, Arduino is a component of a computer and the users have to build the circuits and interfaces for interaction. After going through the slides, I’ll started with the practices and created an account on tinkercad.com. There I’ve tried to follow a tutorial from instructables to build a RGB LED 3-colour Blink. My attempt looked like this:

I’ve tried to start the simulation but it didn’t worked out :/ I’m not sure what is the error. Also I looked at a lot through the projects on instructables and I was really amazed, which kind of project you can realize with Arduino. I think the coolest project I saw there is Garduino, a smart garden. Also I had an Idea for my own arduino project, but more about this in the next post.

[lunariumlab]

AMS-Algorithmus soll die Chancen von Arbeitssuchenden bewerten

Sorry this post is in german because my english knowledge is not good enough to organize my thoughts about this topic in english.

Schon seit Jahren lese ich berichte über dieses Thema: 2018 hat das AMS (Arbeitsmarktservice) ein System angekündigt, mit dem die Chancen von Arbeitssuchenden automatisiert bewertet werden sollen. Kritiker*innen befürchteten (meiner Meinung nach berechtigt) dass bereits diskriminierte Personengruppen durch dieses System noch weiter benachteiligt werden. Der AMS-Algorithmus wird mit Daten aus der Vergangenheit gespeist, das sind zum Beispiel Information wie Alter, Geschlecht, aber auch die bisherige berufliche Laufbahn. Diese Daten nützt das System dann dazu, die Arbeitssuchenden in 3 Gruppen, je nachdem wie hoch die Chancen (hoch, mittel, niedrig) für einen Wiedereinstieg ins Berufsleben stehen, einzuteilen. Frauen wird in diesem System aufgrund ihres Geschlechts bereits 1 Punkt abgezogen, sind sie Mütter, verlieren sie weitere Punkte. 

Im Sommer 2020 stoppte die Datenschutzbehörde den Einsatz des Algorithmus, jetzt landet das Thema vor dem Höchstgericht.

Meine Sicht der Dinge: Ich empfinde dieses System als sehr diskriminierend, nicht nur Frauen gegenüber, sondern auch Personen deren Lebenslauf vielleicht aufgrund von Schicksalsschlägen Lücken hat. Ich bin daher stark gegen eine Nutzung des Systems. Es kommt bei mir allerdings noch eine weitere Frage auf: Wie viel Diskriminierung erfahren arbeitssuchende Menschen eigentlich schon ohne dieses System? 

Meine Informationen beziehe ich aus folgenden Artikeln:

https://netzpolitik.org/2021/oesterreich-jobcenter-algorithmus-landet-vor-hoechstgericht/ https://netzpolitik.org/2020/oesterreich-ams-datenschutzbehoerde-stoppt-jobcenter-algorithmus/

[lunariumlab]

Does Wikipedia have a problem with sexism?

Even though the target audience of the Youtube channel 'So many tabs' are rather teenagers, I like to watch their videos because they cover interesting topics (at least for me). The video above is about a possible sexism problem of Wikipedia. In 2016 only 10% of the German Wikipedia users said they are women. 88% of the users at this time identified as male, 2% as diverse. Former Wikimedia Foundation executive director Sue Gardner cited several possible reasons for this in a blog post. Some of them were a lack of user-friendliness, a misogynistic atmosphere, and a lack of time (probably because women are more often busy with unpaid care work). In addition, the German version of Wikipedia does not use gender-inclusive language. If you look at all Wikipedia articles about people born in the last 100 years, you will notice that only about 20% of them are about women. The video lists many more unfair details about Wikipedia. Wikipedia itself does not want to impose gender diversity guidelines, but tries to get more female users on the platform. 

Gender equality is a really important topic for me, and it gives me headaches that there are so much misogynistic places in the internet. I ask myself: How can we encourage women more to become active on the platform? As a private person, I could only improve the current atmosphere on the platform by becoming active on it myself and encouraging other women to do the same.

[lunariumlab]

Classism in the classroom, the digital edition #part3

In this series I wrote so far about my experience in vocational school, the lack of digitization there and the negative impact this situation has on the students. But what are possible actions against this lack of digitization?

In my opinion, the fundamental problem lies in the low esteem in which vocational schools are held. The view of apprenticeships and vocational schools must change. I think this article lists other important points regarding the digitization of vocational schools: - Further training of teachers in the digital area - Apprentices, like high school and college students, must be eligible for free laptops under "Plan A." - Extend school hours to at least 1260 hours to allow more time for learning job-specific digital skills.

I hope within the next few years the vocational schools can catch up in terms of digitization.

[lunariumlab]

Menstruation apps are becoming more and more popular. Not without reason, because they help to track the cycle, to use natural contraception or to get pregnant if desired. However, menstrual apps not only collect their user’s data, but in some cases also share it with third-party providers. This article reports on the commonly used menstrual app Flo, which is said to have shared the data of pregnant individuals. Menstruation apps have access to particularly sensitive data and should therefore be especially trustworthy. A study by Privacy International reports that users of these apps are even regularly asked to disclose more and more data about their state of health.

After reading the article linked above, I am no longer sure if I should continue to use menstrual apps. At the same time, I benefit greatly from their services.

[lunariumlab]

Today I watched the video above, where a game developer talks about her experience in the gaming industry. Kathrin, the game developer, explains in the video terms like crunch (time): This word describes the weeks or months shortly before the release of a game. Sometimes game production staff have to work up to 90 hours a week during this time. This high number of overtime hours is usually the result of poor planning. Due to the high workload, the health of the employees usually suffers. This leads to a kind of vicious circle, because sick employees tend to make more mistakes. Young employees are usually still competitive and try to withstand these demands, but often this does not necessarily have a good effect on their mental health. A recent example of this phenomenon is Cyberpunk 2077, which had even more problems to fix after a disastrous start. In this case employees had to work enormous overtime not only before but also after the game went on sale.

I used to be very interested in gaming as a teenager, especially in indie games. Now I'm actually quite happy that I didn't end up in this industry. By the way, the topic of a good work-life balance is something that is rarely discussed in schools.

Here is a link to another interesting article that I used to research this topic:https://futurezone.at/games/6-tage-woche-bei-cyberpunk-2077-was-bedeutet-crunch/401138052

[lunariumlab]

This is a video of the clickable prototype of my app risofix (please click on the button on the right side of the player to enlarge).  A little guide through the video:  First you see the login screen and after filling in your email and password and clicking on the log in button, a little introduction on how using the app starts. The introductory slides are only displayed the first time you log in on a device. After you finished your introduction, you enter the homescreen where you can choose between ‘scan artwork’ and ‘choose file’ for the import of a file. After clicking on ‘scan artwork’, the scan function is demonstrated. The next step after scanning the artwork is splitting the colors in different layers. After this step you come back to the homescreen, where there are now 2 new options: ‘use AR feature’ and ‘export file’. With the AR feature you can see your artwork on the walls before it’s even printed. 

[lunariumlab]

As promised here are some more detailed sketches of the functions of the app risofix. The first drawing shows the scanning function, the second should represent the AR feature. With the augmented reality function the user can see his/her artwork on the walls, before it’s even printed. 

[lunariumlab]

The logo design for risofix. I chose highly saturated colors, almost primary colors, because they are commonly used in risography. I also used a grainy texture typical for risography. I knew from the beginning that I would work with a simple typography logo and no illustrative elements, so that you can reduce it well to the size of an app icon (which is usually 60x60px).