Manta Autonomous Craft (M.A.C.)
Designing a product design system to improve the freedom of personal mobility on inland waterways, for leisure purposes to the masses.
Targeted to the tourism sector and casual waterfront visitors who wants to experience something new and interactive. Users who enjoys relaxing, informative and entertaining journey that will bring them around to enjoy the waterfront at a leisurely pace.
Fully maximizing your touring experience by the bay with the Manta Autonomous Craft (M.A.C.).
An interactive autonomous tour navigation system that will be your personal tour guide. Embark on a relaxing, informative and entertaining journey that is built with cutting edge technologies that will bring you up close to famous skyline, historical landmarks through the inland waterways providing you the most gorgeous bay views from a different perspective. The M.A.C. allows you to enjoy the waterfront at a leisurely pace while you continue snapping photos away or to assimilate the scenery.
Oasis, a thermodynamic water dispenser.
Designed after the ethnographic trip from Luang Prabang
This product aims to capture the importance and value of water. It had been designed to communicate purity and simplicity of nature and the holistic cycle that water is inextricably part of us. The product stores and keep water cool without the aid of electricity, instead it uses primitive pot in pot method to keep temperature of the water cool. The cooled water then keeps the wheat grass alive when dispense for drinking, highlighting the cycle and precious nature of this commodity that we take for granted.
An ethnography research trip in Laos, Luang Prabang.
REFLECTIONS
25.08.10
Day 2 after the long journey up and down mountains from Vientiane to Luang Prabang. We walked down to the Traditional Arts & Ethnology Centre down the stretch of shops and houses of Luang Prabang. On the way there, I’ve noticed that the architecture resembles some of the shop houses you see in Singapore. The streets were somewhat quiet as compared to our concrete jungle. The visit of the Traditional Arts & Ethnology Centre was interesting and a better understanding of the many other “minority” tribes of Laos and their distinct differences through their crafts. E.g. weaving methods, headdress, traditional clothing, jewelleries and etc… One of the many things that caught my attention was the headdress as they were made from the French coins that was used to trade during the colonisation. The headdress not only shows the craftsmanship of the lady wearing, it also represented her wealth and it is also used to trade in times of need from the silvery and coins used on the headdress. The other interesting thing was the rituals conducted in the tribe. It is somewhat the same of those I’ve seen in Singapore and but the amount of craft used in their context was much more detailed. E.g. the wooden carved mask and the priest’s robe.
Peeking into a common life of a Laotian.
We (the guys) decided to walk into a house as it was raining and we wanted to look for shelter. It happened that we were walking along the street of the other side away from the main street and we got attracted by the Lao music. It was quite a catchy tune and it sounded like one of those Chinese music from the 80s. Mr. Boun Chan the owner of the house he is a tourist driver, and he drives whenever on hired. Together living in that poorly sheltered home is his wife, his 2 sons and daughter. We learnt that the education in Laos isn’t really that expensive and it was heart-warming to see that the family was quite bonded.
26.08.10
It had been raining day in and out throughout the trip in Luang Prabang It is wet all the time in this season. Somehow, the weather is not doing any help in this trip. As photos were all not nicely shot, colours were affected. It got me thinking, Laos is a country along Mekong river and it is a country that is very dependent on water resources like fishery, farming, food, power and basic water needs. Laos is also one of those countries that owns fresh water springs. However, it is not everyone’s luxury to have access to it. Water is important to survival, and in these countries water is where people dwell. They all stay near to the rivers. Singapore once was dependent on water, in the sense of our water port. We are so used to the getting water at such ease that we forget the importance of it. Very natural thing that happen to me is to drink right from the tap anywhere, even if it is in the public. It is luxury at our own expense, that we don’t appreciate it anymore.
27.08.10
Knowledge of Hygiene.
In the afternoon I went pass the market/housing area of Luang Prabang (everywhere was wet). I saw the other side of Luang Prabang. The sight of them putting out their food to sell, chicken, beef, pork were lying almost everywhere that they can find a platform to lay it on, and there were no proper hygiene precautions in handling those food. Then I came upon a fruit stall where the owner just placed fruits on the ground with no canvas sheet or any point of contact to prevent the fruits from touching the ground. The stall was just beside a drainage where rubbish were choked and water collecting up in that area. Water was flowing on the ground as it was a wet day. Then I saw her taking out a rag and used the water that is flowing on the ground to wash her rag to wipe of some things. The sight of it was total disgust me think about the food that we had consumed the day before. Being in the country that is ranked 133 out of 177 in the human development index I expected more than what was before my eye, but no. I really hope that they are able to get out of that poverty situation as I believe that we all (humans) are equal. And there will be some form of aid for them to improve their life.
28.08.10
The Last Day.
It is the last day of the trip and we’ve already left Luang Prabang. This trip was interesting in a way as we all came from a developed country and it really brought me to thinking of how to help such undeveloped country. With their unique way of lifestyle, culture, religion, habits and etc it was quite an eye-opening trip as we get to see the real difference of life right before our eyes. They are constantly struggling to make a living for their family. Every one of them wants to break free from that poverty. However, I think that with change and help from the outside world somehow there will be culture lost within their own as they strive to be like the image of what the outside world is like. E.g. the weaving of the traditional dresses, because of the time taken to weave and to create that authentic one off piece that is made out of their own hands requires lots of time. And the process doesn’t come easy. Polyester printed dresses then came as an aid to achieve that same look with brilliant colours that they could never used to get out of their natural resources, and they stopped that tradition of weaving their own dress. By giving aid to them are we causing more disruption to them or are we doing any good? The hydroelectric dam built at the Nam Theun 2 is also another example. By introducing it, it did help Laos to gain and economy change as there is a $2 billion revenue each year. However, the dam damaged the surrounding environment, wildlife such as the migratory cat fish and the endangered species of Irrawady dolphin which 56 of them are left just in that area in the world and undermine the livelihoods of ten of thousands of local villagers.
Personally, I felt that Luang Prabang was really a nice place due to its quiet, easy and simple life. Back at home now the peace that was experienced at Luang Prabang could not be found anywhere I know of in Singapore. Although it is one of the poorest country in Asia but it is one of the riches place in terms of culture and tranquillity that you cannot find elsewhere in the world.
A simple research on buffet utensil usage
On the Friday, 6th August 2010 during the student welcome session at Lasalle’s green there was a short performance and buffet. While queueing up for the food, i started to notice on the disposable plates, forks and cups. The first thing that i noticed was, there wasn’t spoons around, then its the way people collect their utensils and food. It was almost crazy when you have a cup on hand, a fork and a plate while trying to grab those food with the tongs on the other hand. Resulting? Some of them actually use their mouth to bite on to the cup while having another hand free for handling. Next, it was the issue of where to eat your food? It was so crowded and no where practical to be seated. So we decided to walk to the stairs nearby the dance studio to eat (shown in fig.1 and 2 above). The next thing that struck me was the design of the fork and plate when Rui asked me if i want to go for the 2nd round of food. It is when the visual of such cutlery just give you the idea of “THROW ME AWAY!” even though it was my own set where i took from the same area, and to get more of the same food. Its not like the fork and plate got dirty, it just becomes a habit or form that tells you to throw away and get a new set? Then i got curious and took a 2 minutes video at the rubbish area, and calculated the amount of people who were throwing off these utensils. It was a total of about 22 person within that short amount of time. Some of them are repeated people who actually went for the 2nd or 3rd round of food. So why can’t they just use back the same ones?This is how much you throw away in 2mins from p2thej on Vimeo.
Is it the value of such items just purely makes you want to throw them away or it is the looks that indirectly tell you to do so?
