Designing Wisdom

by Hua Mao

For those concerned about air quality， real-time environmental data is available from Fishbo， an air quality monitoring product. When missing loved ones away in another city， people can touch EMO， a series of smart toys developed to express emotions over long distances. After installing the“Global Choreography” app， dancers in opposite corners of the world can move together， guided by virtual augmented reality cubes floating above their heads.

The center stage exhibition of Beijing Design Week （BJDW） 2013， Smart City 2013 – International Design Exhibition was recently held at the China Millen- nium Monument Museum of Digital Arts（CMoDA）. During the event， 58 works from design studios， labs， and enterprises of 10 countries were displayed， inspiring critical discussion of future life and finding solutions to pressing problems.

The exhibition was divided into three sections： Smart City Public Platform， Smart Living， and Smart City. Rooted in real-life application， the show explored peoples livelihood and related industries from aspects of “design changes life” and“design changes cities，” covering areas of urban planning， city management， living， urban mobility， health and security.

The “Smart City” concept touches on the areas of living， community， health， education， security， transportation and environment. Through sharing information resources， smart cities can evolve into new management eco-systems. “The theme of the exhibition， The Tao of Being Smart， explores synchronized curation of digital design in the urban context to create new possibilities for channeling and motivating fragmented data assets， talents and interests into strands of positive energy and a driving force in the smart city movement，”explains Yang Lei， acting curator of CMoDA and a mastermind behind the Smart City 2013 event.

Many displays highlighted the comple-mentary relationship between smart designs and the information era. A long line quickly formed at a massive “bubble，” a product named Eco Air Bubble. Within the bubble， designers placed three stationary bikes， air quality monitoring and data visualization equipment， an air purification system， and green plants. When a user pedals a bike， power is generated to run the air purification system. Simultaneously， the plants generate fresh air and enhance the environment， while the air quality monitoring equipment displays real time indoor and outdoor air quality and PM2.5 concentrations. While motivating participants to exercise， the three pieces together create an eco-fresh air zone.

Another popular display featured a headband with cat-shaped “ears.” “It is not an ordinary headband，” declared a volunteer at the exhibition. “It can sense its wearers emotions. The headband is equipped with a brain wave sensor. The ears perk up when the wearer is happy， and flop down when in bad mood.”

The exhibition explores how design is crucial in constructing a smart city. When building a smart city as a complex system involving many industries and fields， design is broadened from traditional form and function into domains of top-level design and system design. At the same time， smart city development will certainly upgrade the traditional design industry and fuel the development of more new design categories， such as information design， service design， and application design.

Along with the exhibition， the Smart City 2013 Symposium was held by CMoDA. The symposium invited members of think tanks， policy makers， and industry leaders from China and beyond to discuss building and developing smart cities and brainstorming solutions to a wide array of problems all people face every day.