Rungtai Lin

Ergonomics in wearable computer design

Abstract Due to the rapid growth and development of virtual reality (VR) applications and their associated hardware, the personal computer (PC) will become a tool of daily-use in the 21st century. By combining PC with VR technology and telecommunications, the stage is set for the creation of a new type of ready-to-wear PC. Although wearable computers are merely concepts, it is now time to begin integrating ergonomics into wearable computer design. The key to design such new products is the inclusion of ergonomics at various stages throughout the design process, beginning at a very early stage. Therefore, this paper describes a wearable computer design through an ergonomic approach to ensure an appropriate interface relationship between the computer and the user. The methodology by which design problems were analyzed and solutions were developed will be described in this paper, as well as some of the engineering features that made the final design possible. Relevance to industry The application of industrial design and ergonomics to consumer products has been well established. However, their application to high-technology products is less common. This paper has presented a user/tool/task model that is useful for product design purposes. It is our hope that the ergonomics approach and applications summarized in this paper will serve as guidelines in the process of industrial designs.

A study of framework and process development for cultural product design

The style of product design for a country or a nationality is influenced by its essential traditional cultures and lifestyles. Recently, the importance of studying Taiwanese cultures has been shown repeatedly in several studies in design field. Despite the recognized importance of product design in cultural and creative industries, they lack a systematic approach to it. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to build a design framework and process for cultural product design. The approach includes two phases. First, the design framework and process for product development is constituted by the cultural attributive analyses and design concepts table, design principles, literature review and expert opinions. In the second phase, we undertake design practices based on the design framework and process in order to prove the effect.

Cultural ergonomics in interactional and experiential design: Conceptual framework and case study of the Taiwanese twin cup

Cultural ergonomics is an approach that considers interaction- and experience-based variations among cultures. Designers need to develop a better understanding of cultural ergonomics not just to participate in cultural contexts but also to develop interactive experiences for users. Cultural ergonomics extends our understanding of cultural meaning and our ability to utilize such understanding for design and evaluate everyday products. This study aims to combine cultural ergonomics and interactive design to explore human-culture interaction in user experiences. The linnak is a typical Taiwanese aboriginal cultural object. This study examined the cultural meaning and operational interface of the linnak, as well as the scenarios in which it is used in interaction and user experiences. The results produced a cultural ergonomics interface for examining the manner in which designers communicate across cultures as well as the interweaving of design and culture in the design process.

From Dechnology to Humart - A Case Study of Taiwan Design Development

Taiwan economic development is a fusion of Dechnology (Design-Technology) and Humart (Humanity-Art) which could be represented as a smile curve, from OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture), ODM (Original Design Manufacture), to OBM (Original Brand Manufacture). The three stages also reflect the tendency of Taiwan design development, from “use” to “user”, from “function” to “feeling”, and from “hi-tech” to “hi-touch”. Based on the Taiwan experience, this paper is intended to study the relationship between Dechnology and Humart which were merged into design thinking to explore Taiwan design development. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to provide designers, companies, and organizations with an idea for how to direct their efforts to meet the requirements of a new proposed design strategy by applying design thinking. Results of this study are also intended to illustrate the interwoven experience of local design and global market in Taiwan’s economy, industry and design development as well to provide a framework for looking at Taiwan’s cross-cultural design development.

From Adaptive Design to Adaptive City-Design in Motion for Taipei City

Taipei has officially become the World Design Capital 2016 with the slogan of “Adaptive City”. Taiwan economic development is a fusion of Dechnology (Design-Technology) and Humart (Humanity-Art) which is also a process of design evolution showing an “Adaptive Design” in Taiwan design development. Therefore, this study proposes a design conceptual approach not only for Taipei to meet the requirements of WDC 2016, but also for Taiwan to establish a design strategy for the future. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to provide designers, companies, organizations as well as Taipei City with an approach for applying design thinking and with an idea for how to direct their efforts to meet the requirements of a new proposed design strategy.

A Study of Applying Qualia to Business Model of Creative Industries

The experiential economy has entered our life affecting many products with cultural connotations and changing people’s lifestyles. It also displays cultural and creative industries that would be outstanding in the world. Chinese culture is the basis for the superior cultural and creative industries in Taiwan. Do the products evoke the sensation and emotion of consumers which designed in culture of value-added? Does the factor correlation between culture style and cultural-products? Are the business models of cultural and creative Industries and cultural-products of Qualia closely related? All of these questions are worthy of further exploration. Based on information analysis and literature review this study presented a framework applicable to any kind of Qualia products and culture and creative industries. The findings are as followed: (1) Cultural style is really enough to affect the design of cultural-products; (2) Successful products should conform to the five factors of Qualia: Attractiveness, Beauty, Creativity, Delicacy and Engineering; successful culture and creative industries should conform to the aesthetic economy business model. Taiwan has the advantage that value-added from Qualia to business model of cultural and creative industry is a presentation of the cultural connotation. Flourishing cultural and creative industries need a start in Taiwan. Marketing and brand building need to be extended by aesthetic from the economy business model to be outstanding in the global marketing in the future. This study includes the relation between cultural-products and consumers, Qualia products and business model exchange platform, international marketing operations and national support and counseling policies for a follow-up study issue.

Understanding the Image Functions for Icon Design

Because icons vary from very representational to extremely abstract symbols in a user interface, an important issue faced by designers when designing an icon is how to select an appropriate design style for the image. There are no simple rules that can be followed by designers to determine the design style. The present study is intended to help designers to choose a proper design style for the icon at an early design stage. First, a classification of icons is summarized and the levels of stylization are discussed and demonstrated with examples. Then, thirty icons from several drawing packages and generally used symbols are selected, and a matching test is conducted to obtain the correct matching rates. The results are presented with some explanations for icon recognition and confusion, and finally how to select the right image function for icon design is discussed.

The Cognition of Turning Poetry Into Painting

This study used the fuzzy approach to investigate the cognition of emotional responses and visual scenes when turning poetry into painting. In Experiment I, subjects were asked to match a painting with a poetic title based on their emotional responses. Experiment II used a fuzzy rating by which subjects were asked to subjectively evaluate the degree of overall fitness, as well as the degree of fitness between each poem and the emotional responses to and scenes of the paintings. The results show that the fuzzy approach can be applied for the effective evaluation of paintings and can provide artists with an idea of how to concentrate their efforts at the creation stage and improve communication with viewers.

From Ideality to Reality- a Case Study of Mondrian Style

Ideality describes the arts striving toward perfection, beauty and refinement in all aspects of life. For reality, the product should also fit into a context of use and meet user requirements. Transforming “ideality” into “reality” involves more than considering the product design itself. It remains a challenge to represent use contexts and user needs in a way that designers with technical backgrounds are able to make direct use of them. When designing “arts” into “business”, we need a better understanding of human-art interaction not just for taking part in the humanity context, but also for developing the interactive experience of arts. Therefore, we propose a general framework for aesthetic design that applies to representing human-art interactions and translating aesthetics into user requirements in real product design cases. The intended purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for examining the way designers interact across the art and the interactive experiences of users in the design process.

From Dechnology to Humart

Some elderly with reduced mobility usually stay their own familiar environments and watch TV or do nothing. In addition, due to the lack of exchanges or proper physical activities, their physical and psychological status tends to imperceptibly become unhealthy. This study applies natural user interface and ceramic crafts regarding the integration of sensing technology with a multimodal interactive components, proposes the design of an interactive rehabilitation device based on video and audio context, and performs an on-site inspection, in order to assist subjects in alleviating negative emotions, promoting physical and psychological health, and reducing the home care stress of nursing personnel, as well as to establish a demonstration model for the use of digital aids in home care environments.