Global Innovation Design Debut at Show 2015
This year the first cohort of Global Innovation Design (GID) students are graduating from the Royal College of Art. GID is a unique course that offers students the opportunity to achieve a joint Master’s degree from the RCA and Imperial College London, alongside spending a term at Pratt Institute in New York and Keio University in Tokyo.
GID focuses students’ diverse skills and expertise on the development and application of innovative technologies, while providing business support and advice, encouraging students to take their ideas out of the studios and into the world. Students come to the programme from a range of backgrounds including vehicle design, graphic design, product design, mathematics and mechanical engineering. Graduates from the programme are expected to be central to innovation leadership in the twenty-first century.
For Show 2015 the 12 graduating students will be presenting their final independent and collaborative projects in a display that is set to be highly interactive. There will be working examples and prototypes of the students’ innovations, which showcase the combination of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that GID embodies. Â
Many of the students’ solo projects have considered how innovative technologies can assist and improve the lives of those working or living in urban environments. In response to rising levels of pollution Sheana Yu has developed Aura, a wearable air filter. This device provides the user with a protective shield of clean air, while also collecting and sharing local data concerning pollution levels. Koraldo Kajanaku has designed several devices that revolutionise the way we consider and experience sleep, including an autonomous car that allows the ‘super commuter’ – travelling long distances to work each day – to maximise their time efficiency by sleeping during their commute. Also focusing on autonomous vehicles, Antton Peña has developed a system through which drones can interact with and anticipate the movements of humans in an urban setting.
Other students have devised innovations to help the administration and management of healthcare. Nudge, a platform developed by Filippo Del Carlo, assists the prescription and delivery of antibiotics in order to reduce the increasing resistance of bacteria. This platform consists of a dispenser that can track when and where a dose is taken, reminding users when to take pills and alerting providers of antibiotics when prescriptions may become less efficient due to missed doses. Allison Rowe chose to focus specifically on women’s health. She has developed Simi a hormone tracker that can provide day-to-day lifestyle advice alongside predictions related to long term health issues, such as fertility.
Some students focused their attention on digital and online communication. Alexandre Kitching has created Bear Blocks, a system through which computer programming can be learned in a physical and intuitive way. It consists of a series of building blocks for children, which are linked to sections of code and can be combined to build programmes. Setareh Shamdani has considered the increasing importance of ownership and control of online content. Di.Tect is a platform through which information rights can be managed, allowing users to track and apply a lifespan to any personal content they upload.
Alongside these independent projects, the students are also presenting projects they have developed and worked on collaboratively. Koraldo, Antton and Daniel Garrett have created Farewill, an online platform that aims to transform the way people make their will. The group identified making a will as an outdated, expensive and often confusing process for many people. At the Show visitors will be able to try out the platform which is currently being developed by the students as a start-up. The group has also organised a symposium that is being held at the V&A, through which they hope to prompt discussion about death, design and end-of-life planning.
Sheana and Filippo worked with Chema Pastrana to develop Co. – which they describe as ‘the world’s first acoustic photography’. This consists of a wearable device that records ambient sound, which is then translated into imagery sourced online. They were driven by a desire to explore ways to revive authentic experience, and explore how and what might be define as a 'significant moment'. Visitors to the show will be able to try out their device in a specially created immersive environment.
Alex, Alison
and Setareh have also created a project that utilises sound, in this
case to communicate information without the use of a screen. They have
developed a bone-connecting headset that enables the wearer to hear information relating to their immediate environment. Applications for this may include
being able to orientate yourself within a city or find out when your next train is.
Headsets will be installed at the Show allowing visitors to experience this ‘seventh
sense’.
Miles Pennington, head of the Global Innovation Design programme at the RCA said, 'The GID vision is to provide an original postgraduate experience that is unparalleled in the world, and which nurtures internationally oriented design leaders to be catalysts delivering positive social, environmental, economic and cultural change. This year we celebrate our first graduates – prepare for difference.'
For more information and opening times, see Show 2015
Find out more about the Global Innovation Design programme and how to Apply