Office Sense was my MFA thesis project. I worked on this project over the course of an academic year and saw my project transform from a post-it note brainstorm into a developed exhibition piece and thesis. Office Sense went through multiple stages of prototyping and was user-tested.
People spend about a third of their lives at work. Too often employees have negative workplace experiences due to a lack of access to natural light and cramped spaces. This thesis introduces Office Sense, an ambient video experience designed to decrease stress caused by a lack of access to natural environments. Office Sense explores three senses: sight, sound, and smell by using projected videos, light coverings, nature sounds, and smells to transform offices and bring the natural world inside. This thesis defines and explores “ambient visuals” a novel form of expression through videos that use natural elements, moving textures, slow movement, and overlapping layers to provide a meditative and relaxing experience. We hope to protect workers from negative office environments by creating a relaxing space to work.
Inspired by Brian Eno’s definition of ambient music, ambient visuals must be attractive to the general public, and they must be as ignorable as they are interesting. Ambient visuals must enhance the environment by creating a sense of calm in the viewer. The viewer should feel relaxed and at peace even if they are working on something stressful.
Impact: After being interviewed, viewers used words like "relaxing," "peaceful," "tranquil," and "bland" to describe the videos.
Please go to Hindsight 2020 to see the Parsons School of Design and Technology online exhibition page. Read the paper here to learn more about my prototyping process.
This video (above) shows my ambient visual development. See the paper here to learn more my prototyping process.
See me present Office Sense in the video above (32:05).