Team: Weina Chen, Jessica Hsueh, Jason Mai
Course: Interactive Seating Design Competition, Spring 2015
With Light-Link, designers Weina Chen, Jessica Hsueh and Jason Mai aim to encourage collaboration among students and makers. Influenced by the idea of puzzle pieces, the team conceptualized a chair that, when placed close to a similar chair, would inspire its users to connect. When two of these “puzzle piece” chairs are physically connected, they light up – rewarding the users, who in turn find themselves well positioned to converse and connect over their ideas.
The team used a CNC router to fabricate full-scale prototype models of the chair. Infrared sensors allow the chairs to sense when they’ve been connected. Throughout their iterative process, Light-Link’s designers explored considerations from the chair’s aesthetic to its back support, working to create an intriguing and inviting seating experience.
Want more information on Light-Link and its designers? Check out:
“Interactive seating: New course models design innovation education,” Berkeley Engineering