Vaibhav Bhawsar http://www.recombine.net Generated rss-feed from Vaibhav Bhawsar (www.recombine.net/) Terraline http://www.recombine.net/4 <img src="user/uploads/terraline/construction-one.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/terraline/construction-two.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/terraline/proto-iterations.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/terraline/sketches.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/terraline/terraline_thumb.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/terraline/terrashot.jpg" /> Terraline is a hand-held navigation instrument that re-appropriates the magnetic compass to show directions that are not cardinal but indicators of economic states. This prototype allows one to point in a direction and find out how long one would take to earn a meal in comparison to the local living standards. I was inspired by the innate desire of humans to have knowledge of events occurring at long distances– inventions and processes like telescope, telephone, telemetry all enabled us to know that which existed far away. I built this device to probe how complex (and often debated) concepts of measuring economic prosperity could be distilled into a locally comparable insight for the user of this device. In this iteration, the instrument reveals the amount of hours or minutes a person would have to work (in each country in the pointed direction) in-order to buy a meal. economics prototype Udder–Utter http://www.recombine.net/5 <img src="user/uploads/udder-utter/udder-front-instrument.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/udder-utter/udder-instrument.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/udder-utter/udder_performance.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/udder-utter/udderlanguage.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/udder-utter/udderutter_thumb.png" />

Udder Utter is a gesture based audio-visual instrument. It's playability is inspired by the gestures involved in milking a cow. Playing the instrument primarily involves manipulating syllabic sound samples and a reactive visual system using gestures. The sounds produced by this instrument are intended to be a mix of discrete and continuous sounds allowing the player to explore rhythmic qualities of the spoken word.

I see the Udder as an instrument for both, constructing and rupturing meaning by combining primitive sounds to construct words and by manipulating formal elements of an image. This instrument was produced as part of the New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) class at ITP.

 Tween http://www.recombine.net/6 <img src="user/uploads/tween/01-tween.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/01_openGardens.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/02-tween.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/02_openGardens.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/03-tween.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/03_openGardens.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/04-tween.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/05-tween.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/06-tween.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/07-tween.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/tween-concept1.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/tween-concept2.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/tween/tween_thumb.png" />

Tween is an exploratory visualization tool to seek out topical conversations on Yahoo! Answers site. It allows one to use a word as a starting point for exploring conversations on the Y! Answers site. It's intended to be used as a tool to discover the zeitgeist– the spirit of the times. It uses wordnet (a lexical database) to curate and to help build upon the results returned from Yahoo! Answers. The results are visualized using Processing. Tween was realized during my internship at the Yahoo! Design Innovation Group (yHaus-Brickhouse) during summer of 2007.

The Lowlands http://www.recombine.net/7 <img src="user/uploads/the-lowlands/01-intro.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/the-lowlands/02-raddiwala.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/the-lowlands/02-testingthegrid.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/the-lowlands/04-vendorstitch.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/the-lowlands/05-xml.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/the-lowlands/06-air.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/the-lowlands/07-mundi.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/the-lowlands/lowlands_thumb.png" /> The Lowlands project involved mapping my neighborhood communities, professions and individuals with the aim of eliciting hidden or unspoken territories and behaviors. By collaborating with local participants in building maps, I was able to discover how they interacted with and experienced their neighborhood in unique ways. Each of the maps shown below are a result of many walks, bicycle rides and conversations with individuals that included senior citizens, push cart vendors, construction workers and temple priests. Placebos http://www.recombine.net/18 <img src="user/uploads/placebos/01_loggersteps.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/placebos/02_loggerflow.png" /> <img src="user/uploads/placebos/logger.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/placebos/placebo_thumb.png" /> Placebos is an enquiry in self surveillance, psychogeography and conversational interfaces. It functions as a conversational application that allows its user to log and share their varying moods through the day using SMS. In response to every mood sent, the application returns texts that are meant to act like placebos by empathizing with the user's feelings. These textual responses are algorithmically generated using sender's feelings and local weather conditions such as wind velocity, precipitation, and humidity. Attributing ones feeling or mood to the weather is a common motif across many cultures, and this project aims to use that motif to make-believe that the city is empathizing with you. Namma-Nimma Radio http://www.recombine.net/12 <img src="user/uploads/namma-nimma-radio/namma-comp.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/namma-nimma-radio/namma_thumb.png" /> Kitchidi Network http://www.recombine.net/10 <img src="user/uploads/kitchidi-network/kichdi_thumb.jpg" /> What was exciting about this short (2 weeks) workshop was the design challenge posed by the random clubbing of a profession with a certain technology. The challenge was to find a synergy between two seemingly disparate entities- in our case the GPS and a chef. I, with one other team member, worked on exploring the possibility of a chef using the GPS to serve his/her customers. As part of the process we interviewed chefs who worked at large restaurants to ones who operated from street push carts. On the other hand we realized through interviews that customers were interested in the possibility of ordering select dishes from multiple sources for a given meal. We liked the idea of allowing customers to mix and match their meal with the best of dishes from around the neighborhood. Below is a short video scenario of how this could be done. Sunoh Collab Space http://www.recombine.net/14 <img src="user/uploads/sunoh-collab-space/sunoh_thumb.jpg" />

Sunoh (to listen) was a year long lab at Srishti, exploring the role of design in bringing about social change. As participants of the lab, our attempt was to create a multi-disciplinary platform where people could come together. The hope was that such a space could help develop models of social communication that moved away from traditional, vertical and top-down design to more lateral and participatory models that could engender a genuine appreciation of, and grappling with issues leading to positive social changes.

The ideas, methodologies and the learning from the lab cumulated in a participatory week long workshop (Sunoh) in Bangalore, that was entirely conceived and organized by the students and mentors of the lab. This workshop brought together multiple stakeholders – NGOs, social activists, designers, artists, ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) professionals, and students – to explore how design thinking and ICT could be used in ways to bring about social change if an issue like HIV/AIDS were to be tackled.

I was instrumental in realizing a number of projects at the lab, some of which are shown below.

Selected Projects http://www.recombine.net/17 <img src="user/uploads/selected-projects/aditi.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/selected-projects/akkara.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/selected-projects/arduino.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/selected-projects/paresh.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/selected-projects/startrooper.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/selected-projects/synchronisations.jpg" /> <img src="user/uploads/selected-projects/various_thumb.jpg" />