14.1.2016 1-2 pm Room 117 Miestentie 3
Media Lab visiting researcher
CHIA-MING CHANG:
A Practice-based Research ‘Talk2Me’: Influences of New Media Communication on the Deaf/Hard of Hearing as reflected in Interaction Design
New media communication has been given increased prevalence in recent years and brought new forms of communication and technologies to our daily lives, such as SNS and communication apps. It has opened new communication opportunities. On the other hand, there is a communication gap between deaf/hard of hearing and hearing people. Are the new media communication technologies able to bridge the communication gap? Part of this study investigates the new media communication technologies (SNS and communication apps) as used by deaf/hard of hearing people and discusses the new communication opportunities offered by SNS and communication apps. It shows that SNS and communication apps are able to reduce the communication gap between deaf/hard of hearing and hearing people. However, it also shows there is still a communication gap in face-to-face communication. This study is a practice-based research that aims to address the face-to-face communication gap through a creative practice of interaction design. The interaction design was conducted through a user-centred design (UCD) approach with 27 interviews. The result has contributed new knowledge as a communication solution, which is a smartphone app ‘Talk2Me’ that can be used to assist face-to-face communication between deaf/hard of hearing and hearing people.
Audiences can expect to know three things through this lecture:
- What is a practice-based research (in the case of interaction design)
- How the new media communication technologies (SNS and communication apps) open new communication opportunities
- A novel communication solution for deaf/hard of hearing people developed from design perspective
Bio:
Chia-Ming Chang is an interaction designer and researcher. Currently he is a visiting researcher in Media Lab Helsinki at Aalto University and a scholarship-awarded PhD candidate at Nottingham Trent University in the UK. His PhD research ‘Talk2Me’ has won the A’ Design Award & Competition 2015 and been shortlisted in the IxDA Interaction Awards 2015 and iF Student Design Award 2015. This research was also awarded the UK Santander Mobility Scholarship to be presented in the 4th International Conference on Communication, Media, Technology & Design in Dubai and published in the Online Journal of Art and Design. Chang has been creating various design works since he obtained his MA in Interactive Media from University of the Arts London in 2006 and BA in Visual Communication Design from National Taiwan University of Arts in 2002. His current research looks at an innovative integration of smartphone GUI and NUI in the project of ‘GRAFT’.
