Month: March 2021

A new technology that I find interesting is the deep fake technology. For those of us that don’t know what deep fake technology is, it is the ability to map the movement and facial features of an individual to produce a video that can be nearly indistinguishable from the original. The concept of deep fake technology is rather new and has only shown real potential for such believable fakes in recent years through movies. I have seen a shift however in the usability of dep fake tech come into the hands of anyone who wants to use it through free iPhone and computer apps. While the technology itself is fascinating it has been questioned for the danger it can potentially cause. From fake porn videos to successfully recording a video of a former president of the united states without the former president being in the area or without his knowledge. 

I think the technology has great potential in the design industry for the use of mockups. As it becomes more accessible to the general public I can see it moving in the direction of creating mock-ups for event spaces or building designs. Imagine being able to place clients or the models, or pop stars into space without them needing to be present. This technology could be utilized in both real space and spaces that only exist on the computer. 

At our current point in time, it is useful because of our pandemic situation, but I think this use will only continue to grow and the technology for it will only continue to improve and become cheaper. This nightmare covid situation will leave the world with shadows of the struggles we had to deal with, from seeing more masks generally warn in the flue-season months to the desire to not meet in face to face unless you’re close friends or family. And as we continue to move into a technology-heavy future, it’ll be more and more important to be able to successfully integrate an individual into the digital world for things like mock-ups to game development and simulations. We are already seeing strides in VR and character designs are beginning to explore the uncanny valley of human design. Soon your real-life body and virtual avatar will be indistinguishable from one another. How crazy would that be? 

I worked for over two years at a nursing facility that specialized in elderly individuals suffering from the late stages of dementia so I have chosen to showcase a few design examples that I was around on the daily basis. As a building, we required a lot of equipment specially designed to make their lives easier, equipment that allowed our residents to be as mobile and self-reliant as possible. One of the hardest areas for our residents to be independent in was hygiene. Showers, baths, and using the restroom were really hard to navigate and could even be dangerous in certain scenarios. Because of this our building utilized the walk-in bathtub for our more mobile residents and a gliding shower chair for our wheelchair-bound users.

The walk-in tub was used inside our building but was also a target to anyone dealing with mobility issues. Bathtubs are slippery and lowering yourself down and getting up again can be a real struggle when dealing with arthritis, osteoporosis, or missing limbs. The tub was designed with a door and a built-in chair for comfort and easy access that didn’t involve stepping over a tub lip. It did wonders for our resident’s independence and made hygiene an easier task. I think the design is well done and functions as it should but it excludes anyone who can’t afford it . . . which is most people. It is an expensive piece of equipment and it isn’t covered by medicare.

The second designed piece of gear was this sliding shower chair that functioned pretty well for most hygiene needs. I never handled the equipment personally but I know it made the lives of our staff and our residents easier. It allowed wheelchair users to access tubs. This equipment did need a staff member to assist the resident to be used safely effectively. I think one thing that could be improved upon in the design is the addition of a safety measure. A seat belt that the resident could clip together for their comfort or per our staff’s advice would be beneficial to the design and increase the safety of the entire process. Nothing is scary to our residents or our staff than one of our residents falling out of their chairs or falling in general. In extreme cases, it could and has lead to permanent injury or death. And this is why accessibility is so very important in all walks of life and design.