Muhamad Fairus Kamaruzaman

Local peat soil as ball clay replacement in earthernware

The body improvement for ceramic industry became a crucial situation in order to reduce the production cost. The investigation of technological procedure in two subdivisions in industrial ceramic tableware design field brings a new invention that will increase the production. The idea of combining a component in ceramic will initiate a new design for this field. The subject matter is the local peat soil. The availability of peat soil in the country is an advantage for the exploration of the similarity content component. Replacing peat soil into the earthenware body slip through the experiment in laboratory will influence the casting performance. The result shows a suitable and stable composition. Comparison between the conventional slip recipes with peat soil replacement for ball clay in earthenware proved both are comparable for casting and production. The evaluation from the conventional method is awarded with perfect result. The casting slips cost can be reduced through finding of alternative substance for body formulation while maintaining the same body strength. In the terms of productivity, this substitute material has enhanced the production yield which automatically will inspire to a new tableware design development. Highly innovative exploration as alternative body component also can contribute to the enhancement of a complex design and development in the ceramic industries.

A fusion design study evolving a Malay modern teapot

This research covers the product design process that involved study on concept or theme that lead to final production process. In this study, modern and contemporary teapot design was conceptualized by fusioning the Malay iconic heritage elements of traditional Labu Sayong (gourd-shaped water vessel). The fused design finally leads to a teapot without handle and a surprise feature of leather material was introduced acting as insulating holder of the teapot. The idea was aligned with the theme of feminism (women with corset). The teapot also was spout-less which resulted from systematic study of water flow. Finally, the major idea was successful and a modern teapot design was achieved.

Form design development study on autistic counting skill learning application

Children with autism have their own set of impairments that affect their developments. Thus, the chance to attain self-determination may be critical for most if not all of autistic children. However, it is essential for them to obtain vital skill system in order to achieve a certain level of independent. Thus, it is necessary for every autistic children to acquire basic counting skills to enhance their self-determination. With the emergence of assistive learning technology such as Smartphone, PDA, tablets and laptop with touch screen facility, there are new certain ways to enrich the quality of life for individuals with autism. This study aims to explore the basic counting skills based dynamic visual for children with autism that will possibly be of assistance to parents, educators and facilitators in the development of digital assistive learning tools to meet the needs of autistic childrens learning environment. From the proposed theoretical framework, an application was designed and tested on some of autistic users. Based on the observation of the experiment, the users showed positive attitude towards the outcome of the application.

The Use of Personalized Digital Memory Book as a Reminiscence Therapy for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Patients

Many researchers have been carried out in order to increase motivation and to stimulate the ability of memorizing among the Alzheimers Disease (AD) patients. Modern therapy methods have begun to integrate with multimedia and computer technology in their therapy session for more desirable results. Memory book is an example of an application that is used to assist in the treatment of people who is suffering from the AD. With the advancement in computer technologies, the concept of traditional memory book has been transformed to an attractive, interactive as well as an effective digital memory book. This paper looks into the design and development of a personalized digital memory book specially catered for a 67 years old early stage Alzheimers patient. The content included some information about the patients family and a multimedia-based learning guide on how to perform prayer (solah). The Alzheimers patient, who was previously a devoted Muslim, has now succumbed to her disease and has forgotten how to pray. The outcome from this study revealed that with the help of the personalized memory book, the patient was able to give positive response. Due to the promising result, this study should be continued with some improvement on its contents, user interface design and the hardware used.

Human behaviours influence framework of the ablution tub design

Ablution it has become synonymous with water because in terms of language ablution an act uses of water at a particular body to cleanse itself from small impurities. In Islam ablutions is spiritual washing before performing the prayers. Ablution process normally requires about six to nine litres of water volume, but according to Islamic hadiths, about half to two litres only will be used for ablution. However, those inefficient will take greater volume of water than it should. Furthermore, Islam introduced a specific place to perform ablution, to facilitate Muslims to perform the ritual of ablution. All ablution station is in many design variations. In variations include human behaviour and human gestures will affect the way they perform ablution. From the consolidation between ablution ritual and product design is expected to facilitate the practical implementation of ablution and without a sense of any doubt, it also will engage on minimum usage of water for the ablution ritual but still complies with its general rules.

Empirical Study on Game-Based Learning Phenomenon Through Mobile Design Technology

Digital games have become popular among children and adolescents. These games have somewhat become an integral part of their lives. Thus, due to this phenomenon, many institutions and scholastic organisations have come to realise the potential of mobile game design as an effective approach in education industry. Researches on mobile learning (m-learning) proved that curricular activity through mobile education game produces positive benefits mainly regarding skills development and motivation. However, the effectiveness of m-learning towards student’s academic achievement is still under investigation. Aside from being accessible without the boundary of time and places, m-learning may benefit in some other ways. Hence, this paper reviews the literature describing the role of m-learning through vision, mind and psychomotor towards the children and adolescents from various researches that were made. Various articles and journals were gathered from, mainly, online database. The results gathered from the articles and journals were then discussed in this paper.

The Role of Digital Educational Game Design Learning Environment: An Empirical Study

According to the National Key Result Areas (NKRA), education is one of the essential areas which have been highlighted in rising international educational standards and qualities among Malaysian students for the needs of the twenty-first century in terms of their educational performance. However, most students are still facing issues in performing well in this area especially the young learners. For example, the level of illiteracy and innumeracy in Malaysia is growing from time to time. This is due to the lack of creativity and effectiveness in teaching that particular subject, and then students do not feel motivated and attracted in the learning environment. Therefore, this research proposes digital educational games to be used as the most relevant approach in cultivating students’ motivation in the learning environment as it is capable to attract the player to be actively immersed in the game play. The main purpose of this research is to cultivate motivation in improving students’ achievement in the learning environment especially young learners by modeling and identifying the most suitable digital game approach. In order to foster the interest in the learning environment, it should be started in early education as in preschool level. Hence, the method that will be applied to design and develop the games is the digital game-based learning (DGBL) model. The data from the study will be collected and analyzed by using pre- and post-experiment through tests and observation on the two groups of preschool students which represent each of the digital educational games. The investigation will display the findings from the said experiment and determine the appropriate digital educational games in cultivating students’ motivation to improve students’ performance in the educational area.

The role of mobile advertising technology towards millennial social behavior

This research investigated the essential medium for mobile advertising towards the millennial. Mobile advertising has become a significant instrument for the marketers to get in touch with the end users. The usage of mobile phones to the millennial are experience a revolution where it is not just an instrument for conversation, education, social networking but entertainment as well, which bestows the emergence of mobile advertising. However, the reactions of millennial are uncertain whether or not the commercial sent to them is effective. Hence, a preliminary questionnaire, interview and case study has been carried out in order to validate the acceptance towards mobile advertising and the culture that influences the response. The culture of influence may involve informativeness, social influence and cost. Result indicates that majority of the respondents have an optimistic attitude towards mobile advertising. Many agree that interesting designated advertisement will attract them to pay more attention to the advertisement.

Variations of Malaysian Batik Sarong Design Motifs

This chapter discusses the variations and developments of motif designs in Malaysian batik sarongs and how these motifs reflect shifts in Malaysian national and cultural life. The study focuses on the characteristics of various motifs used in traditional batik sarong design. Samples of Malay batik sarongs were gathered from museums and private and personal collections. The samples were selected, traced, and classified according to their features, inspiration, and arrangement. This analysis found a shift in the style and design of motifs after 1957, the year of Malaysian independence. It was observed that there has been a gradual emergence of more Malay motifs while the decorative traditions originating in Indonesian patterning remain influential. The period from 1957 to 1971 saw the evolution of Malay aesthetics in the visual arts and crafts of Malaysia including the batik sarong industry. In 1971 the National Cultural Policy initiated more dramatic changes with the active promotion of motifs that were considered representative of Malaysian cultural identity. Influences from regional Malaysian and indigenous cultures, desirable traits, and strong Islamic design concepts were the three key factors outlined by the cultural policy makers. Government agencies were instrumental for the batik makers to develop a Malaysian style through financial support, training, and research, along with the active encouragement of the population to support the batik industry. The policy had a direct impact on the design of the Malaysian batik sarong.

Theoretical framework study on formgiving mobile education game design technology

There has been a research on the use of mobile learning (m-learning) for primary school students, but research specifically on mobile education game design based on mind, vision, and psychomotor is still fairly under investigation. Online learning interventions have only recently included computer gaming component. Several modern m-learning approaches have begun to integrate game-based education and practice for better outcome. Hence, the proposed research represents a first step toward taking advantage of this recent technological innovation, particularly to cultivate and nurture the millennial circle which has been demoralized and depressed pertaining to the education and learning process. It is a study that demonstrates an uneven coordination in the area of scaffold m-learning, where the interest leans more toward the content point of view and very little from a mobile game-based learning or more specifically a game design’s point of view. More research is needed to narrow the gap between educators, instructors, tutors, and teachers and their students with a new mobile education game design framework. The study plans are to investigate the practice in an educational game design model for millennial that will potentially assist educators, instructors, facilitators, and curriculum developers to create appropriate instrument and instructional programs to meet millennial academic needs. A mobile education game design framework for millennial development and enhancement is to be proposed from the outcome of this study.