Emma Margarita

Material for Interaction

How can designers develop design systems to bridge the blurry line between the past and the future? Between the physical and the virtual? Between two dimensions and three? Between narratives and spaces? Between the low and high tech industries? Between industrial production and mass personalization? Between research and art?

As IOT systems, wearables and extended reality are transforming technology into an extension of our physical bodies, and AI systems can be trained to create what took us human years to learn and excel at - the ability to frame new workflows, or craft novel design systems that go beyond the flat screen is becoming a critical skill.

Through a series of case studies of recent works, designed by Emma Margarita Erenst, that push the boundaries of interaction design as a discipline, this thought provoking talk, would focus on the evolving role of an interaction designer in this multifaceted reality where the line between technology and humans is blurred. Where anything could become a material for interaction.

Emma Margarita Erenest

…is a creative XR director, cultural entrepreneur, an interdisciplinary designer, illustrator and lecturer who integrates emerging technology, together with narrative, information experience, game and scenography design techniques to bring cultural heritage to life.

A graduate (cum laude) of both the master of design program (2016) and the Bachelor degree in visual communication (2010) at Shenkar College in Israel. Her master’s thesis project, Body Wearing Movement,which included the design of an interactive wearables' collection for capturing body gestures has won the prize for future talent from Shenkar (2016). The dance performance Transparent Borders (2014), for which Erenst designed thewearable art, has won prizes and praised reviews from the press in Israel and in Europe. 

Since 2011 she has been teaching design research, data visualization, and visual communication at various design academies in Israel. On herlast in-house job, she worked at a centre for innovation and research in textiles where she initiated and led projects within the field of wearables, smart textiles, sustainability and industry 4.0. Her most recent creative initiative, A TripBeyond the Horizon - a playable site specific augmented reality interactive experience for children, is currently on view at Train Theater in Jerusalem.

Erenst is the founder of a visual journal centered around the past, the present and thefuture of narrative driven design. She currently works independently, developing experiences within the field of cultural heritage, performing arts and XR. 

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SPEECH

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