Link: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFkZh3WwQA/3ILci12yq9ySwm0eM-Fs7Q/edit?utm_content=DAFkZh3WwQA&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Loneliness and What it is to Me

How do I perceive loneliness?

Loneliness for me is a dark, sad, and suffocating cycle of isolation without anyone to talk to. It has a negative impact on my self-esteem and confidence.

Techbox. Project installation ideas.

Keywords: Light, reflection, monitors, self-discovery

I want visitors to interact with the installation and share their inner thoughts and feelings in a subtle non-pressuring manner. I think the concept of lights and shadows would be suitable for such a project.

The techbox is created through Miro. It is a shared board for all team members. Link: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVMUr0mJ0=/

What is Ubiq?

UBIQ is a Unity networking library for research, teaching and development, maintained by the Virtual Environments and Computer Graphics group at University College London. (Ubiq website)

Ubiq Experience

1. Overall Navigation

The overall navigation in Ubiq is nice. Due to its simple and clean interface, I found it quite self-explanatory. The first-person view also gave chance to explore the environment which lead me to understand more about the controls. Also, Ubiq organized a website with all tutorials and instructions. Whenever there was a problem or a question I would refer to the website.

As a person who has experience with Unity, I did not find major difficulties when accessing Ubiq. However, I believe that students/researchers who want to work with Ubiq and Unity for the first time would find it a bit complicated. The biggest reason would be the absence of a welcoming/setup page where you would have a full explanation of the environment. But since the website has all details, the issue will not be big and with time users would get used to the controls.

2. Atmosphere

Ubiq is a great space for students and those with relative experience. A lot of Ubiq assets are based on teamwork and communication. The message of learning and interacting through a VR platform is very appealing, especially to those who are looking to start their VR journey.

The design and interface also make it more friendly and welcoming. All customizable avatars, icons, shapes, and colors create a calming playful environment, which is why learning becomes a fun experience. Additional features, such as voice chatting and synchronization, make it fun to explore new possibilities. Also, a big appeal of the Ubiq platform is that it states itself as a free and open source, which makes the experience less burdensome and more accessible.

3. Functions

Ubiq has a range of functions and features for creating a VR environment. Starting from room management to multiplayer setups, it definitely combines the needs of users of VR platforms. Although some functions, especially those involving additional coding, are not perfectly modified and rendered yet, these limitations do not hinder exploring the already existing functions. I personally enjoyed the possibility of creating a room with a shared code. I find this feature useful when completing group projects and user research.

4. Further enhancements

The biggest improvement suggestion could be enhancing the overall design. Although it is colorful and clean, it could get boring after a while. With a better design of customizable avatars, tools, and spaces, the environment would start looking even more real and immersive, especially with a VR headset. Considering the variety of features Ubiq already provides, a better-rendered design and art would make Ubiq a very desirable platform.

I was never good at drawing. In fact, I hated drawing for the first 19 years of my life. It’s a new hobby that I discovered about 2 years ago. These artworks that I created are my favorites.

There is a reason why I chose these pictures in particular. I was always afraid to “not be the best”, which I discovered quite late was really toxic for my mental well-being. I had the wrong idea of what a “hobby” is. A hobby would turn into a competition in which I would have the be the best. It was never about “spending free time doing things you like”. Drawing was something that changed such mentality.

These artworks are not the best.. but they are the best for me. I was able to truly enjoy the process of making them. No competition, no pressure, no failure. It was just me, my thoughts, and my time.

Hello! I am Aisha! Nice to meet you… again!

I am a 20.5 CDM student at UIC. This semester I am finishing my junior year at uni which feels unreal. Although I am more than halfway through my university life, I decided to challenge myself a little bit more and declared IID as my double major… which is both the best and worst decision I’ve made :)
That is pretty much the only change I’ve experienced since writing a personal blog 6 months ago…

A little bit of my background

I was born and raised in Kazakhstan. At the age of 9, my family and I moved to Italy, where I went to an international school and gained my first-ever multicultural experience. It was both exciting and scary, as I did not understand anyone with my 1-word English vocabulary. I guess knowing how to say “Hello!” did help me make new friends and become more open to communication. After all, everything does start with a greeting…

Who am I?

Being exposed to so many different people with different stories and backgrounds shaped me into who I am today. Starting from my family to my relatives, my friends, my classmates, and even people I see every day on the streets, I was able to learn something new from everyone I meet.

I learned how to treasure real-life human interaction and the little details of everyday life. Everyone I meet has different hobbies and interests, different tastes, and priorities. Something shocking to one could be of everyday occasion to another. I am grateful that I learned how to overlook someone’s age, race, or nationality, and focus more on that someone’s thoughts, concerns, and opinions. I believe there is nothing greater than being genuinely connected to those around me, and I always strive to be a genuine open person.

What do I like?

I was always taught to communicate my emotions. Although I am still lacking in verbal communication, I found other ways to express my emotions and thoughts. Music, dance, and art.

All three have one thing in common: they come from deep inside your heart. The first step to making music, dancing, or to creating art, is to listen to your heart. I believe non-verbal communication is so beautiful, as it makes people listen with their hearts. (I am not excusing myself from practicing verbal communication, as it is key in human interaction)

I like to dance, play instruments, paint, and go to theaters and exhibitions. I can spend hours listening to music, analyzing every word or sound the artist used, to understand every little meaning behind their artwork. Similarly, I can stand in front of a painting for a long time, looking into every stroke of a brush the painter did, to understand the intentions. With dance, it’s all about facial expressions and body language. It’s so satisfying to see people move to the rhythm and have fun. Theater plays and shows combine all of that together. I enjoy watching how different pieces of art come together and create one big story. I can literally sit there for hours analyzing every bit of the work. I get energized by pretty much anything that has to do with creative exploration.

My dreams and expectations

I realized that my goal hasn’t changed after re-reading my last personal blog. I still just want to help people. Many problems in life occur from simple misunderstandings, people are afraid of expressing their emotions. I want to create such an environment where people would interact openly. Communication was a close friend throughout my life, and I want more people to become friends with it.

This semester I am looking forward to the Interaction Design class. I hope to learn more about the basics of HCI and UXUI. I want to see how technology can help people by doing extensive research and trend analysis.

Hopefully, I will be a step closer to understanding the various types of ways a human can communicate with machines and benefit from such developments.

Thank you for your attention. I am looking forward to this semester, and hope it will be even better than the previous one!

Name: Aisha Yementayeva
Birthday: February 24, 2002
Nationality: Kazakhstan
Major: CDM x IID
Additional Information: Pisces Sun, Cancer Moon; INFP

Courses:

CDM

• Intro to CDM / Culture and Design Trends / Creative Thinking & Visualization

IID

• Communicating with Type / Interaction Design
• UXRM ❤ with prof. Kwon Heejung

Tools:

• Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator / InDesign / After Effects / Procreate
• Blender / Unity / Figma
• Traditional design tools (watercolors; gouache; charcoal)

Team Presentation

Link: https://issuu.com/2021195168/docs/overwatchers

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l27R-F0F0o8

“Don’t know how to caption” (Sep 10, 2020)

About the photo: My Instagram page only has a few photos of me alone as I usually post beautiful pictures of nature, buildings, or my friends. But I like this picture because I like the day this picture was taken on. I had a very fun time together with my friends, ate lots of delicious food, and took pretty pictures. I do not know the reason why I posted this picture, but there doesn’t always have to be a reason to post a picture on Instagram, right?

“I like the view” (Jan 25, 2022)

About the photo: Similarly to the previous photo, I didn’t post this photo because I found it pretty or unique, but because I wanted to save the memories of that day. The background is Central park in Songdo which I love to visit after a long day to get my mind refreshed. For a night owl like me, night city is the most beautiful sight. This picture was taken by my friend very unexpectedly, so it captures the live moment and emotions of that slightly cold but nice fall evening.

“Romanticize life” (Aug 10, 2022)

About the photo: This is my most recent Instagram post. I like the overall atmosphere I was able to create in this photo. It gives a very calm yet sophisticated aura due to the dimmed lights and the almost black & white color scheme. This photo also has one thing that I love — flowers. Flowers make life prettier.

This is another side of me that I have never posted online for others to see, so I thought of it as something “new”. This day was also full of fun events and nice conversations.

Hello, nice to meet you!

My name is Aisha. I am a 20.5 CDM student starting my junior year here at UIC. I look forward to my first-ever offline semester and meeting everyone in class!

A little bit of my background

I was born in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. Here I graduated from high school and spent most of my life. But during my elementary school days, I lived in Italy, Milan, where I learned English and a little bit of Italian. It’s been a long time since I used the latter language, so now I only speak 4 languages: Kazakh, Russian, English, and (still needs more practice) Korean.

Who am I?

I am a 20(21) year old INFP Pisces cat lover! For most of my life, I was an introverted quiet person, discovering the wonders of the world on my own. Maybe that is the reason why I grew up feeling connected to nature, to the emotions we experience, and to the people. As a visual learner, I pay attention to the tiniest details. For me true beauty is quiet, it does not scream. Whenever something catches my eye or leaves a strong impression, I capture it with my camera or draw it on a piece of paper. This way I extend the happiness and excitement I receive from everyday life.

What do I like?

I have difficulty focusing on one thing which often leads to many misconceptions I have about myself. One day, I want to explore the ocean, the next, I am searching up cooking tutorials on YouTube. However, although these random bursts of interest are temporary, they do expand my knowledge and understanding of the world.

One thing that stays unchanging, is my love for music and art. I love music, singing, dancing, drawing, painting, and anything that involves self-expression. Ever since I was young, I’ve constantly been surrounded by creative people, as my grandfather was a musician, my aunt sings in a choir, my father draws, and my brother plays the guitar. This heavily influenced me into liking the artistic and creative environment, which now became my lifestyle. I find talented people with lots of ideas fascinating and gain inspiration from them to create!

Fun fact about me ~

Unlike music, art was not something I was interested in from a young age. I did not like drawing, my skills were bad and I had no intentions of improving them. The interest suddenly appeared towards the end of last year and never left since then. Now my desk is filled with art supplies and my computer is filled with digital art.

My dream

I want to help people. Whether it’d be my words, actions, or ideas, I want to make others happier. My life journey is not clear to me yet, but my goal is to continue inspiring others the way others inspire me. To be more detailed, I want to create a safe space for people and encourage them to be themselves.

Through smart design and planning, extensive research, and testing, I want to create products, spaces, and experiences which people would enjoy. My area of interest is human relationships, psychology, and well-being, which are closely related to people’s comfort and lifestyle. Thus, I want to enhance others' everyday lives with new ideas.

About the Course

Why I chose this course

“Ensuring quality user experience” was the main point that caught my eye. Closely related to my dream, I believe understanding the user is the essential basis of any project. Human-Computer interactions have become an everyday part of our lives, so it is important to realize the big processes behind such interactions. Starting from the research methods, down to the testing, I wanted to learn what it takes for successful user-based project development.

My expectations from this course

As mentioned previously, I want to know the detailed process of user experience project development. Although I have prior knowledge regarding product development, I want to know more about the fundamental connection between user and product. I want to gain a deeper understanding of one’s behavior and emotions when interacting with the outer world through machines and AI.

Overall, I am looking forward to learning more about the user’s mindset and AI development.

Thank you for taking the time to read my small self-introduction. I hope to make great memories in class!