Technology and the Body

My Chosen subject area i’ve chosen to look at is technology and the body. The aim is to look at the world of technology today and how it relates back to us as humans. The purpose is to be able to show how much we rely on technology and how we tend not to take notice of it.

Idea

Technology today has almost become overpowering in how we use it. Everything we use such as computers, mobile phones, cars etc, are all technologies we need to get around and live off. So what will it be like in the future? The outcome of this brief will look at this. The target audience for this would be aimed for both males and females aged18- 25.

It is important to look at thesocial, cultral, historical andeconomical aspects when looking at the subject. Technology plays a part in these fields. From looking at technologies that affect us to technologies which contribute to us. Economically technology plays a vital part in terms of keeping business active and running, thereby contributing to the world’s economy.

The project helps to identify the importance of technology and the body. It’s also good to look at when considering the consequences technology could have for us in the future.

I plan to begin researching ontopics and artists related to thesubject area. With the gatheredinformation i’ll then go on to develop my idea more and then finish with an informative typographic poster which presents a ‘statement’ on how technology is changing in relation to the human body.

ASHVIN GOOLAB | EGNM2007 | GDNM YEAR 2

Functions of the Body

Our bodies are capable of many functions and movements such asraising our arms and legs/ bending back and forth and stretching. How we see and touch objects is all of our personal interest. Technology is beginning to adapt some of our functions into how they are navigated and controlled.

The introduction to mobile phones is an example of this When it was first introduced, the user would tap each button or rotate the numbers to select. Now it’s the whole touchscreen era where the majority of mobile phones don’t have any buttons to select, just a touchscreen where we can function it.

There are also many other technologies that enable the functions of the human body to work more so it enables the technology to work. Game consoles are using motion technology from human bodyfor it to work. The xbox kinect is an example of this. The system is controlled by detecting the user, followed by them using gestures of the body to control it. Traditional games consoles such as the magnavox odyssey and nintendo64 had the controller connecting to the system.

Above all technology now limitsour capabilities in terms of howwe function and what we can do. On the other hand there are some that enable us to do more physical actions, whereas some only limit our movement.

www.bettermovement.org

ASHVIN GOOLAB | EGNM2007 | GDNM YEAR 2

Research:Merging the Human and TechnologyWhen researching on technologies and the body, I came across a video which was about a piece of technology called e-legs created by Berkely Bionics. The innovation came from the CEO of the company called Eythor Bender. The creation of Berkely Bionics augments humans with wearable artificial intelligent devices known as exosceletons or wearable robots.

While researching this, I also came across a video in which showed the inventor Eythor Bender and a woman named Amanda who has been para-lysed for 19 years after a ski accident. introduce e-legs.

Reason being why I decided to look upon this was be-cause it relates to the subject of technology and the body merged together. Computers and mobile phones etc are technologies which seem to be affecting us in a negative way. However this is the opposite, technology is helping and aid-ing the human body.

www.youtube.com

www.youtube.com

www.youtube.com

ASHVIN GOOLAB | EGNM2007 | GDNM YEAR 2

Is Technology taking our Identity?

This was a topic I decided to look into when exploring my subject area. Our identity is very personal to us. From our bank accounts to identification cards, these are all part of our personal identity. However, with the advances of technology, in some cases it has physically merged with us.

Cases such as the beginning of the micro chip implant. Amal Grafstraa, a normal man who’s crazy about technology had an RFID tag implanted in his left and right hand. With the tags implanted, they allow him to perform specific actions using the tag implanted in his arm. These actions include opening/closing doors, accessing his car door and logging on to his computer.

As this kind of technology is physically merging with us, it raises questions about our identity. Does this mean our identity has now been taken or partially erased due electrical parts being in our body. Does it make us half human, half machine?

ASHVIN GOOLAB | EGNM2007 | GDNM YEAR 2

DevelopmentWhile developing my final outcome I started to look at typographic designs to help me with my own idea. As this was focussed on relating to technology, I wanted to produce an idea that visually represented it through the use of words. I started to look some designs which I would influence me.

www.esthetick.wordpress.com

www.dribble.com

These two pieces here, are what influenced me the most on my final piece. They are both simple and straightforward but effective in the way we view them from a visual point of view. The first image is a piece by a graphic designer called Jamie Burton. I like the way he’s gathered various words relating to typography and forming it in the shape of a ‘t’. The way the ‘t’ acts as a capital letter for the word typography is pleasing. The fact that there’s so many words doesn’t complicate the design. The colours also go well together in contrast.

The second image is another design I found to be inspirational. Its by a designer called Steve Big. What I like about this design is way the words are structured. As it’s laid out nicely, it allows the words to be followed in an even pattern in how we view it. The fonts are similar and don’t look boldly different from each other, even though they are.

ASHVIN GOOLAB | EGNM2007 | GDNM YEAR 2

Final OutcomeThis is my final piece for the project. The design has a statement in which technology is moving too fast. I was very influenced from the design by Jamie Burton as I liked the way he used many words to form a letter. In his design he used it to form a word, in mine I decided to start it with the phrase. The different words that form the ‘T’ are examples of existing technologies. The way in which they are laid out is meant to be reflecting the phrase, I also wanted to create a sense of movement which is why I’ve organised the words to be big, small, bold, long and short while positioned at different angles. I’ve also left some spaces in the letter, this is to again give the effect of movement within the words.

I decided to keep the colours simple using black and white. I didn’t want to complicate it, as I wanted the main focus to be on the design. Also leading up to my final I also had the idea of a dark future for technology, so I think black goes well with it. In terms of the font, the words forming the ‘T’ are in Arial as I wanted them to be clear and stand out. For the statement I used a font called Die Hund which fitted well with Arial.

The second image is a scan of the words I thought of that related to technology which I could use.

ASHVIN GOOLAB | EGNM2007 | GDNM YEAR 2

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