Week 13 : Post Open Studio Thoughts & The Plan Towards Viva Voce

This week, I reflected on Open Studios, developed a clearer script to present my project in a more accessible way, and finalised a plan for my final outcomes.

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Part ①: A Personal Starting Point / Devloping a Script

One major realisation I had while presenting my project was that I had left out a very important message in my set-up—the core intention behind why I even began dreaming of an interspecies sensor.

Over time, I started developing a script to better communicate the essence of the project. This is what I ended up kind-of following to share my project simply and in a relatable way :

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    The Script-In-Workshop 10 Apr 2025

I then realised this piece of personal context is important to share in a more accessible way—especially for people with varying interest levels. It’s something almost everyone can relate to: the way our phones keep us hooked. And that shared experience might be the clearest way into this dreamy, speculative world I’ve been building.

Part ②: Reflecting on Visitors' Post-it Notes

Ⓐ Encouragements/Opinions
Some said it was a really eye-opening project and that it could be expanded further. There were fun notes like “fire,” and another one simply said “for what?”—which I found quite funny, tickling my existential bone. Another person appreciated how I explored the boundaries between nature and technology.

Ⓑ Suggestions
Several people suggested I could include natural inputs—like sunlight or soil data—into the screen animations to make the “interspecies” aspect more believable. Others proposed incorporating human bio-signals such as smiles, heart rate, or breath to create a more affective response. One suggested tying the visual feedback more directly to Hearing Life’s soundscape.

Ⓒ Supervisors' Feedback
My supervisor sketched out some diagrams to help me visualise how the different components—video, publication, and artefact—should support the existence of A Friendly Hand. The core idea is that the focal point should remain the hand itself, exploring the speculative world I’ve built around it through the hows and whys.

    • Notes from visitors organised from left to right; Opinions, Suggestions and Supervisors' Feedback 8 Apr 2025

I thought the supervisor's feedback made a lot of sense—and honestly, it lifted some pressure off. I don’t need to prove that A Friendly Hand is a “real” interspecies sensor. Because it isn’t. I’m simply dreaming it into being - using everyday materials, tools, and technologies to imagine a softer way of relating to the natural world.

Part ③: The Plan Ahead

As I move toward the final presentation, I’ve mapped out three key outcomes that bring Dreaming of an Interspecies Sensor to life. Each offers a different entry point into the world I’ve been building—through emotion, interaction, and reflection.

① A Machine Fantasy of the Forest
A short video essay exploring how A Friendly Hand—a playful, sensing machine—sparked the question: what if trees could dance with us?

② A Friendly Hand
A physical artefact that invites people to witness how something synthetic and silly can still carry emotional weight and suggest new ways of relating to the more-than-human world.

③ Dreaming of an Interspecies Sensor
A publication that documents the full journey—questions, readings, experiments, and speculative performances. Equal parts archive, essay, and quiet daydream.

  • The Plan Ahead 10 Apr 2025

Together, these outcomes open up different ways to engage: to feel, to play, and to think with nature—just a little differently.

Thinking Animation

Week 13 : Feedback & Reflection

This week marked our final atelier group consultation. The proposed final outcomes were approved, though I was reminded not to cut down too much. I was also advised to include the posters and images that were pinned on the partition wall during Open Studios for my Viva Voce presentation, as they provide helpful visual cues for the audience while I share my concept and story.

  • First Atelier Picture 10 Apr 2025