Hello! I research, design and create experiences through objects, environments and digital platforms. I earned a masters degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, where I was awarded a research residency after graduating in 2009. Currently, I teach courses in design and technology as an adjunct professor at ITP while continuing to explore my love for designing interactions that redefine our relationships with each other and the world around us. My expertise is in interaction design, usability, and effective communication of ideas across a range of mediums. I thrive on constraints, collaboration, and solving human-centered design problems.
Tweenbots
Tweenbots are cardboard robots that travel at a constant speed in a straight line, and are equipped with a flag that asks for people to "aim" them in the right direction to reach a destination in the city. The Tweenbots are placed in urban public space and are dependent on the strangers they meet to help them reach their goal. The Tweenbots have been traversing New York City on various "missions" for the past year a half; and they have always arrived at their goal without incident. Assisted only by the empathy of strangers, the Tweenbots reveal the spontaneous, playful, and kind aspects latent in our everyday interactions.
Morgen
Morgen is a socially networked alarm clock. Both beautiful object and physical manifestation of online connectivity, Morgen leverages existing social relationships to help users wake up. The alarm clock wirelessly interfaces with a Facebook app which allows friends and family to leave a wake-up message for the alarm clock's owner each day. If the owner wakes up in time, they get the message. If they don't, their friend will automatically receive an email, letting that friend (and the rest of their Facebook contacts) know that they haven't made it out of bed.
Pop!Tech
Pop!Tech defines itself as "a global community of cutting-edge leaders, thinkers, and doers from many different disciplines, who come together to explore the social impact of new technologies, the forces of change shaping our future, and new approaches to solving the world's most significant challenges." I was an invited speaker at Pop!Tech's annual conference in 2009, where I presented my work.
Teletales
My grandfather is an amazing storyteller. My wish to preserve the histories and stories he knows led to the creation of Teletales--a platform that allows for people to share and archive stories remotely with technology that is already familiar, easy, and inexpensive--the telephone. Individuals call the Teletales phone number, enter the phone number of someone with whom they would like to share a story, and are connected. Once they finish their call, they simply hang up. Later they can go online, log in, and download the audio recordings of their conversations in the click of a button.
T(here) Chair
T(here) chair is an exploration of connection across distances through the everyday object of a chair. Whenever I am sitting in my chair in my apartment in New York, a light illuminates the chair where I usually sit back home--conveying my presence to my parents. In seeing the light at different times of the day, my family will get a sense of where I am and what I am doing that is reminiscent of the simplicity of physical presence which people take for granted when they live together.
Whisper Jars
Whisper Jars are magical containers for secrets. Whisper something into the jar, close the lid, and your secret will be contained until someone else comes along and opens the jar. When they do, the secret escapes (is repeated once for one person to hear) and then is gone forever. The secret recipient can then leave a secret of his or her own in the (now) empty jar.
Etcetera
I have worked as an interaction and front-end designer for major clients including Verizon, the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU, and New Mexico State University. I have also held research positions in design for web and publications at both ITP, and Texas A&M University. Most recently, I have worked for Sustainable South Bronx as a guest instructor, teaching physical computing and sustainable design to students in an alternative high school program while also working as a researcher and adjunct professor at ITP.