EMBRELLA
2014.10 -- 2014.12 / Semester 1, MA: Design Informatics- 个人项目
硕士研究主题-移情（Empathy）和设计，系列作品1
Embrella是一把可以感知附近需要帮助的人的雨伞。
下雨天当你的背后有没有雨伞的人的向你走进的时候，Emrella上面的绿灯就会亮起提醒拿雨伞的人去主动提供帮助。
人们使用Embrella的时候，不需要特意把它当做一把乐于助人的雨伞，它的主要功能除了雨伞的基本防雨功能以外，其实是希望可以向持伞者发出一定的“移情（Empathy）”信号。当持伞者收到这个信号的时候，他知道他周围有需要帮助的人，但是他可以根据自己的实际情况选择提供帮助与否。
为什么“移情 (empathy)"在生活中如此重要？
The best part of empathy is that a person feels and relates to another’s emotions and thoughts without any of these directly communicated to the person. Empathy has great relevance as a communication skill. Communicators can instantly relate to their audience and share their emotions. It is this sense of inspiration and mutual understanding that creates a rapport between the speaker and his audience.
Project Background / 项目背景
The video describes the phenomenon that happens a lot in our daily life, but how to explain this kind of phenomenon?
Research Context / 设计研究
Why is asking for help so difficult?
There are many reasons people fear requesting assistance, primary among them not wanting to seem weak, needy or incompetent.
Other reasona such as fear of rejection, fear of being a burden and belief that we should not have to ask for help.
But actually, people fear of asking for help. However people love to offer help.
Prosocial Behavior
A 2005 British study shows that bystanders are more likely to help strangers in distress when they recognize such strangers as belonging to a common group.
There are two motives for helping: our desires for mastery (emotional rewards) and concrete rewards, and connectedness with others.
Sharing Economy
The sharing economy (sometimes also referred to as the peer-to-peer economy, mesh, collaborative economy, collaborative consumption) is a socio-economic system built around the sharing of human and physical resources.
Gift Economy
In the exchange process, the giver does not have any requirements and expectations of getting any value in return.
Gift Economy is a model for collaborative community.
Design Opportunity / 设计机会
Why do people ignore what is in front of them?
Such as in a rainy day, lots of people have no umbrellas are waiting for help.
"Because becoming involved takes a completely different type of courage. When you stand up for a bully victim, you are intentionally putting yourself into harms way.”
--- Charlie Davidson
Design Practice / 设计成品
What if the person with umbrella offered help –“would you like to share my umbrella with me?”, instead of making the person without the umbrella ask for help.
Green Light: A signal for the best time to help.
It works when the following conditions are met simultaneously
• Only works when the Embrella is opening
• Rain is heavy enough
• A person is approaching Embrella (Distance < 1.2m )
• The person is approaching has no umbrella
Data Visulization / 数据可视化
Figure1: Data from Water Sensor
Figure2: Data from Ultrasonic Ranger Sensor
Figure3: Data Analysis from Two Sensors (Water Sensor and Ultrasonic Ranger Senser)