UNDER YOUR HALO 

RCA GRADUATION PROJECT 
SCHOOL OF DESIGN_DESIGN PRODUCT_DESIGN FUTURES



-INTRO


01.Who are we in a family? Mom? Dad? Somebody's legal guardian? That sounds great. But children who live in families without these typical roles can have plenty of love as well. Besides conveying responsibility relationship and blood bond, these labelling roles categories families.

If you have ever observed, sometimes people are hurt by this invisible border, especially children.

Families are diversifying, and the proportion of non-nuclear families is gradually increasing. This situation makes it necessary and ugent for us to question the rationality of family categorisation and explore the current identification system's dark side.

My response is an identification mechanism that is different from the legal and kinship status system. Relatively, it emphasises the human difference in natural attributes and the wholeness of all family members' identity, rather than assigning roles by labelling. In the utopia, Yugoo (the device) defines each family member with a short sound note. Sound identities are not labels nor comparable characteristic, which leads to the disappearance of family boundaries.


This project started from my childhood memories. As I can't speak yet, I can easily identify my family members by distinguishing the sound of their footsteps. But at that time they could only be named according to their functions, such as people who like to lift me up, people who like to rub hard "hair" (beard) on my skin, or those who sing for me with a sweet voice. In the early stages, my expectation for the project was a domestic sound installation which generate sound identity from footsteps for family members, called Yugoo.

Project has a name “under your halo” becaused I was deeply inspired by Buddhalism monasteries’ culture. People live together as a sweet family without any blood bond nor legal certifications.
我们是一个家庭中的什么人?妈妈?爸爸?某人的法定监护人?听起来真好!但是生活在没有这些典型角色的家庭中的孩子也可以很幸福。除了传达责任关系和血缘关系外,这些标签角色还对家庭进行了分类。

如果您曾经观察过,有时人们会被这种无形的边界所伤害,尤其是儿童。

家庭多元化,无核家庭比例逐渐增加。这种情况使我们有必要和紧迫地质疑家庭分类的合理性。

探索现行身份识别制度的阴暗面。

我的回答是一种不同于法律和亲属身份系统的识别机制。相对而言,它强调人的自然属性差异和所有家庭成员身份的完整性,而不是通过标签来分配角色。在乌托邦中,Yugoo(设备)用一个简短的音定义每个家庭成员。声音的身份不是标签,也不是可比较的特征,这导致了家庭界限的消失。


这个项目起始于小时候的记忆。还不会讲话的我,可以轻易的通过分辨脚步声识别家人。但是当时只能根据功能为他们命名,比如喜欢把我举高的人,喜欢用坚硬“毛发”(胡须)在我皮肤上摩擦的人或者用甜美声音为我唱歌的人。在早期阶段,我对项目的预期是一个根据脚步声为家庭成员生成声音身份的家用声音装置。

项目叫做“在你的光环下”是因为我收到佛教寺院里类家庭模式的启发。没有任何血缘关系和法律认可的人们可以像家庭一般相亲相爱。



-GALLERY EXPERIENCE DESIGN




-EXPLANATION  OF THE VIDEO

02. My main target audiences will be families, organizations and welfare department. So I prepared seperate versions for both children and adults. (starting)

I didn’t design a form for Yugoo because I believe that it has many possibilities. It can be shaped into a new category of household products, smart plug-ins or software integrated on existing sound equipment like Alexa or Siri. In the future, it even can be everywhere without any form. At this stage of the project, I think a “fine” prototype has no practical meaning, it is a limitation.

03. (pause)What Yugoo project opposes is the monopoly of using legal identity and kinship identity to define family members. So I decided to choose five strangers to experience my device. Usually, the audiences of the exhibition are strangers to each other. (restaring) I just took advantage of this fact. I regarded this easy and reasonable decision as a speculative expression method.

The subtitles on the left side of the screen are algorithms after simplify translated.

This experience requires the audiences to produce long-term footstep sound because only if, with a sufficient amount of sound data collected, Yugoo can identify the sound source as a family member. Due to facility restrictions, I decided to guide audiences to follow a certain route around the device, so I chose a cylindrical booth.

In order to let the audience integrate into the experiencing atmosphere of the Yugoo project as soon as possible, I added some functional props related to the family concept, such as a cylindrical booth, a cake and tableware. The cylinder is shaped like a round dining table, representing equality and sharing. The cake and tableware reflect that Yugoo gives every family member a sound identity that belongs to the same sweet chord, emphasizing the sense of wholeness while weakening the specific identity positioning and differentiation.

As the equipment gradually generates complete family chords, the lights shrouded in the cylindrical booth will gradually light up, enveloping people in the halo of love.

这个关于体验设计的实验性视频是主要产出之一。我没有给Yugoo设计外形是因为我相信它有很多的可能性。它可以被塑形为新类别家用产品,集成在现有声音设备上的智能插件或软件。在未来它可以以各种形式无处不在。在个项目阶段,我认为一个模型没有什么实际意义,反而是一种限制。

这个体验需要观众制造长时间的脚步声,因为经过足够量的声音数据收集,Yugoo才能将声源识别为家庭成员。由于场地限制,我决定引导观众按一定路线绕行,所以选择了圆柱体展台。

为了让观众尽快融入Yugoo项目的体验氛围,我加入了和家庭相关的一些功能道具,有圆柱体展台、蛋糕和餐具。圆柱体形似圆形餐桌,代表平等和分享。蛋糕和餐具映射yugoo赋予家庭里每个人的声音身份都来自于同一个甜美的和弦,强调整体感而弱化具体身份定位和差异性。

随着设备逐渐生成完整的家庭和弦,笼罩在圆柱体展台上的灯光将逐渐亮起,把人们笼罩在爱的光环之中。

Yugoo项目反对的是用法律身份和亲属身份定义家人这种做法的垄断地位。因此我选择了五个陌生人体验我的设备。通常,展览的观众对互相来说都是陌生人,我只是利用了这个常态,并把这个决定看作是一种思辨的表现手法。


Polyamorous family is my main research model. In the current social environment, poly families are facing a very complex and difficult situation. Both adults and children will be affected and hurt by the traditional family values embodied in all aspects of their lives. As children grow up, they will gradually realise the uniqueness of their family compared to the surrounding environment, and begin to have self-doubt, and then keep secrets nervously. How much information should we disclosure to children about our adults’ relationship? As a family, how should we look like while we are exposing ourselves to the outside world?
多婚家庭是我的主要研究模型之一。在当前的社会环境下,多婚家庭正面对非常复杂和困难的处境。不论是大人还是孩子,都会受到体现在现在社会方方面面的传统家庭价值观的影响和伤害。孩子在成长的过程中会逐渐意识到自己家庭相比周围环境的独特性,并开始产生自我怀疑,然后时刻紧张的保守秘密。我们该像孩子吐露多少关于成人们之间关系的信息?作为一个家庭我们应该怎样把自己暴露在社会之中?


The stigmatized and marginalized people are far more than poly families. But there’s no one should be blamed. In most occasions, harm is caused unintentionally, especially when we live in a reality which is monopolized by unique family values. No family can escape from being labelled by legal status and kinship system. Facts have shown that two important traditional identity mechanisms are not suitable for all situations, not to mention that the proportion of non-nuclear families is gradually increasing.
受到污名化和边缘化的家庭远不止多婚家庭。但是没有人应该受到责备。伤害大多数时候是无心造成的,尤其当我们生活在一种家庭价值观垄断的现实中,任何家庭都不能逃离被法律身份和亲属身份的标签。事实表明,作用重大的两种传统身份定义机制并不适用于所有的情况,何况非核心家庭的比重正逐渐上升。



A research report pointed out that with the emergence of new concepts such as cooperative parenting and village parenting, some poly families have spontaneously established new kinship models at home. Inspired by non-native culture, adults accepted another identity label, such as 'fairy Oddfather' and 'Trible aunt'. This approach represents an emerging shared discourse among poly families and in poly communities in providing appropriate and affirming family and kinship terms as points of identification and belonging.

People in Facebook’s poly groups also confirmed this tendency. People have realized that harm comes from the differentiation and delimitation of families caused by traditional identity’s labelling mechanism, but they cannot find an appropriate alternative. It is a good idea to find another language with representative functions from people’s attributes. Comparing with labelling, Identifying people with their attributes has more blurred differentiation.
研究报告指出,随着合作育儿和村庄育儿等新概念的出现,一些多婚家庭自发在内部建立了新的亲属关系模式。受到非本土文化的启发,成年人接受了另一重身份标签,比如神仙教母和部落阿姨。这些行为代表了多元家庭之间和多元社区中新兴的共享话语,以提供适当和肯定的家庭和亲属关系术语作为识别和归属的点。

Facebook多婚关系群组里的人们证实了这种倾向。人们意识到伤害来自于传统身份机制的标签造成的家庭差异化和边界化,但又找不到和标签化不相干的机制。如何做到定义家庭成员的身份而不使用标签?我想从人的自然属性中寻找另一套有代表功能的语言。用自然属性定义一个人相比标签,拥有更模糊的差异化。

Sound can represent a lot of potential content. Using voice to convey status information is more gentle, more protective, and easier for people to accept than using legal identities and kinship to label people.
声音能代表很多潜在内容。用声音来传达身份信息,相比于用法律身份和亲属身份去标签化人们,更含蓄,更具有保护性,也更容易让人们接受。



I interviewed a Nepalese monk who grew up in a Buddhist monastery, a place under “his” halo. I was quite surprised how those temples operate so well with a huge amount of monks with extremely various background. People there call each other with a given Buddhist name, take care of each other like a family, but they have never thought the monastery as a family. Family should be the place where people gather because of love. Nowadays, complex topics and affairs about family are so common, but monks regard family and members' identity as such a simple thing. Above is the juncture that I decided to explore inspiration from Buddhism.

Then I found Yugoo. I remember clearly that when I was a child, I went to temples many times to make wish, from the moment we stepped into that quiet architecture, everyone was captured by the unique sound of Yugoo. Its sound reverberates in that space and creates a halo of zen. Monks expect Yugoo sound to remind them to never forget his admonition.

When it’s quiet, the sound of footsteps takes a large part of family members’ interaction. In my memory, I could distinguish people by listening to their footsteps. That sound is one of the earliest identities. This identity will be replaced by other more complex identities given by society through our growth.

研究表明非核心家庭将会是未来占很大比重的家庭类型。 我认为用法律赋予家庭成员社会身份或依照生物学规则赋予亲属身份的做法,将不再适应未来的家庭需要。这个社会需要更包容和开放的身份定义方式去应付家庭类型多样化的冲击。

我的设计就是继承佛教寺院内僧侣相处模式和传统佛教乐器鱼鼓背后哲学思想的,赋予家庭成员声音身份的设备,以及因它而存在的家庭乌托邦。我采访了从小在寺院、”在他光环之下”长大的尼泊尔僧人,我震撼于背景如此多样化的庞大僧侣群体在维持寺庙平稳运行的同时,互相爱护,亲如兄弟姐妹,却从未将寺庙联想成为家。家是人们因为爱而聚集的地方。在当今社会,家引起层出不穷的复杂话题,但在僧人眼里家却如此简单。这是我决定从佛教智慧寻找灵感的契机。

后来我找到了鱼鼓。记得小时候去寺庙祈愿,踏进寺庙的那一刻,每个人都被回荡在庙宇中的鱼鼓声笼罩/捕获在禅意的光环中。僧人们企图用时刻敲击鱼鼓的方式,提醒自己时刻记住他的教诲。

一家人一起相处经常是安静的。家人于房间的交互很大一部分是脚步声在空间内的回响。我清楚地记得小时候我可以清楚的分辨出家里每个人的脚步声,这些声音仿佛是家人的另一重身份。只是随着孩子的成长,这重脚步声身份逐渐被社会赋予的复杂身份替代。

04. This design should translate complex footsteps sounds into artistic, unreadable directly and shorter notes to define family members. The process can reduce the exposure of information and eliminate the possibility of voice identity being re-labelled because of stereotyping. For example, high-heeled shoe sound must be made by female members. Another layer of sound covering on the top of footstep sound is more abstract with more blurred differentiation, it’s just a musical note!
把复杂的脚步声用算法翻译成美化的、不可直接读取的、更简短的声音来定义家庭成员。这样做能减少信息的曝光量,排除声音身份因为信息被思维定势而重新被标签化的可能性,比如高跟鞋脚步声音一定是女性成员制造的。覆盖在脚步声之上的另一层声音更抽象且拥有更模糊的差异化,它只是一个音符。



-THE UTOPIA




-MECHANISM


It generates a unique harmonious tone as an identity for each family member by collecting and analysing their footstep sound. Once the tone is generated, my device will display the corresponding sound identity if it recognises that footstep again. I hope that Yugoo sound can keep its original reminding function by creating a harmonious sound environment.

A fundamental challenge is finding the connection between human movement behaviour and various detectable sound features. The pitch, timber, and particular noise determined by, such as walking habits, contact material, weight, correspond to a character's identity. Loudness and frequency relate to the current moving mode of the character. According to the current synthetic voice technology, the voice identities that Yugoo can generate have endless possibilities. This is the premise that Yugoo will cover a wide range of users in the future. The combination of various sound parameters can make footstep sound analysis and sound identity very precise.
Yugoo可以通过收集、分析家庭成员的脚步声为每个人生成独一无二的声音身份。一旦识别了某个特定的脚步声,当它再次收集到相同音频的时候就会播放对应的声音身份。

我的研究重点在于找到人的移动行为与可以侦测识别的各项声音特点之间的联系。被行走习惯、接触材质、重量等决定的音色、音调和特殊噪音对应着一个身份。响度和频率对应着该用户的当前行动模式。根据对当前合成音技术的预测,Yugoo可以生成的声音身份有无穷的可能。这是在我规划中Yugoo将会涵盖广泛用户的前提。各项声音参数的组合可以让脚步声分析和声音身份更加精准。


-VALIDATION



Compared with noise, musical notes have more obvious Regularity. According to this principle, Modern technologies are able to distinguish and reduce noise. Footstep sound is similar to notes. Yugoo can recognise noise around in using circumstances, which makes it more sensible to footsteps.

Our sound team, engineer and I  co-worked online through out the whole project process. Earlier, we found that without human operation, Yugoo sound generated automatically was mostly unharmonious. We introduced chord concept into the project aiming to optimise this situation. Every chord may consist of 1 to infinite number of tones. Without tone number’s limitation, yugoo suits any types of family with no matter how many members.
音乐性的节奏 相比噪音有一定的规律性。现代技术可以根据这个原理将两者区分开并用算法降低噪音。脚步声和音符类似。Yugoo能够识别并忽视环境中的噪音。这一做法使Yugoo对脚步声更为灵敏。

在整个项目过程中,我和声音团队、工程师都保持线上沟通。在项目早期,我们发现,在没有人为干预的情况下,设备自动生成的声音通常是不和谐的。我们希望通过优化算法达到限制不合适声音出现的几率。我们加入了和弦音的概念。每一种和弦可以由一到无数个音调组成。没有数量限制意味着Yugoo适用于任何家庭,不论这里有多少人。


We added movement pattern analysis module to diversify Yugoo’s performance. According to analyse of loudness and frequency, we sorted users movement patterns into six basic elements, slowing down, speeding up, uniform speed, running, moving towards and moving away. With variety of their combination, sound identity becomes preciser and various. Yugoo’s sound display is not boring repetitions anymore while interacting with users.
为了多样化Yugoo的声音表现,我们增加了移动模式分析模块。根据对音量和频率分析结果的不同,我们将用户的行走模式分成了六个基本模式:加速、减速、匀速移动、快速移动、靠近和远离. 加上这六种基本模式的组合,声音身份变得更加准确和多样化。 设备与用户进行交互时,声音展示也不再是单调的声音重复。




We suggest to put Yugoo somewhere with a bigger flow of people, no matter it is at home or in public space. According to users’ interaction mode and detailed needs, we designed a series of recommended loudness limits for different using circumstances to ensure Yugoo’s proper sense of existence.

Then we added movement prediction module to deal with certain situations, such as strong noise disturbing, footsteps overlap or sudden loudness drop. Yugoo also has a mixing plug-in to optimise sound fluency in multiple-user-interactions.
我们建议把Yugoo放置在人流量大的地方,不论是在家里还是在公共场所。根据对各场合发生的用户交互行为和具体需求的分析,我们为各个场合设定了最优音量限制来保证Yugoo在不同场合有适当的存在感。

我们添加了移动预测模块以对应特定情况下,比如强噪音干扰、多用户脚步重合时,声音的戛然而止。最后是混音插件,Yugoo能进行简单的混音以保证声音的流畅度。



-VALUE ASSESSMENT


4. I hope to give the project a solid meaning in society so an evaluation is necessary.

01.Different from traditional identities, sound identity is not constrained by uniform definition frames. What it expresses and emphasises is the difference of people rather than the difference of labels. There may be 12 people in ten families labelled as fathers, but nobody will have the same sound identity.

02.Traditional identity is a label posted onto people by legal and biological frameworks, while sound identity is a proper application of human’s attribute.

03.Due to Yugoo’s chord mechanism and concept, people’s sound identity will always be affected by other family members and updated at any time. It respects more the harmony and complementarity of the family as a whole. While,  traditional identities highlight the role and position of each person in a family, and in most cases, it accompanies people for life.
01.和传统身份不同声音身份不再受到统一定义规范的约束。表达和强调的是人的差异性而不是标签的差异性。十个家庭里可能有12个人被贴上爸爸的标签,但不会有两个人有相同的声音身份。

02.传统身份是法律框架和生物学框架贴在人身上的标签,而声音身份是人类个体特征的合理应用。

03.由于yugoo的和弦音机制和智能算法,个人的声音身份会更多受到家庭其他成员的影响而随时更新。它更尊重家庭整体性的和谐和互补。而传统身份更凸显每个人在家庭里的角色和位置,大多数情况下伴随人们终生。


-FUTHER APPLICATION AND VALUE
YUGOO & SOUND IDENTITY & VERIFICATION

05. We envision that people’s sound identity will be store on the cloud as data in the future. As new IDs, these identities will work in specific occasions.

Traditional identities are detailed expression in both necessary and unnecessary situations. For example, father in law means a person’s legal partner’s legal father. While, sound identity is detailed and blended. It represents a certain person but mostly, it helps verify families’ boundary, which means that it proofs someone from a family. Through weaken traditional identities’ family framing effects, Yugoo and sound identity can help harm-neutralised verification in unnecessary occasions for protecting special groups.

After analysis about thousands-years complex relationship of traditional identities and human society, we confirmed sound identity’s limitation. We can only regard it as an alternative but not a replacement of the traditional ones, because sound identity has not mandatory and morally binding, what’s more, a large part of human culture relies on blood relationship.
我们设想,未来人们的声音身份会以数据的形式保存在云端,成为新的id,在一些特定场合发挥作用。

传统的法律身份和亲属身份在任何场合都是对一种关系的具体表达。比如”岳父“指的是一个人的法定配偶的法定父亲。而声音身份是一种既具体又模糊的身份。它同样能代表一个特定的人,但它更多时候用于验证家庭的边界,也就是代表这个人属于某个家庭。通过弱化法律身份和亲属身份对家庭样貌的塑造, Yugoo和声音身份能够在非必要场合进行伤害中和化的验证,以保护特殊群体。

在系统研究几千年来,法律身份和亲属身份与人类社会密不可分的复杂关系后,我们发现了声音身份的限制,它只能做为一种选择,而不能将前者取代。因为声音身份并不具有强制约束力和道德约束力,而且人类文明很大一部分非常依赖血缘关系。





06. Let us have a quick view of verification technologies’ development. We seem to chase for higher precision all the way. However, sound verification is for blurring harmful identity features. It serves in the family category, not personal category.

Such as in internet-related fields, unlocking children’s lock and sensitive information, or in real life, Kindergarten children hand over secure identity verification, Hospital ward visits and parent meeting registration. The mainstream family value supported by legal identity and kinship identity affects our lives from any perspective. Yugoo and sound identity may be one small step for solving this problem, but it also may be one giant leap for children who need it.

Yugoo identity is suitable in most cases when a genuine family relationship is all people need to pass verification. We just follow the requirement of walking performance combination. This is a brilliant way to reduce family identity difference exposure compared with current ways under the traditional identifying framework.

When verifying, Yugoo sound identity can accurately locate a person, but if it is unnecessary, the process will stop after recognising that target people belong to a certain family. However, traditional verification methods seek to answer “Who is that?” accurately under any circumstances.
让我们快速了解一下验证技术的发展。 我们似乎一直在追求更高的精度。 然而,声音验证是为了模糊有害的身份特征。 它的优势体现在家庭范畴,而不是个人范畴。

如在互联网相关领域,解锁儿童锁和敏感信息;或在现实生活中,幼儿园儿童交接安全的身份验证、医院病房探访和家长会登记。Yugoo的潜在应用价值有很多,因为法律身份和亲属身份支持的主流家庭价值观从各个角度影响着我们的生活。 Yugoo和声音身份可能是解决这个问题的一小步,但对于需要它的孩子来说,它也可能是一大步。

声音身份适用于大多数只需要确认家庭关系就能通过验证的场合。人们按照验证要求行走就能通过验证。行为组合型的要求可以保证验证的精准度。

在验证时,Yugoo声音识别在能够精准定位一个人的同时,在非必要的情况下,会在验证几个人属于同一个家庭之后停止。传统验证方式不论在什么情况下都追求能够精准回答“你是谁”。


-IMPACT MAP, STAKEHOLDERS AND AUDIENCES



07. This is an impact order diagram. My audience includes people whose work or life is closely related to family elements and children, such as family audiences, human rights organizations, social workers, media and other influencers. In my plan, they will be directly affected. The success of my project lies in the approval and authorization of the secondarily affected target, the government. I hope that those directly affected can convey my project’s main purpose and demands to the government through various channels. The government’s positive response will benefit ordinary families from all aspects and give Yugoo a foothold in society. This is a challenge to the tradition and mainstream values. I see it as activism in the form of product design.
Yugoo and voice identification system are a supplement to the two existing identification systems in current society. While this society needs precise and sharp systems, it also needs a gentler one. This helps make society more tolerant and fluid and ultimately weakens the social contradictions of family differentiation and boundary.
Yugoo is a speculative design for exhibitions. So far, the way I verify it has been mainly by collecting and analyzing the replies and comments of the target audiences on social media.
这是影响顺序图。我的观众包括工作或生活与家庭元素和孩子息息相关的人群,包括家庭观众,人权组织,社会工作者,媒体和其他影响者。在我的规划中,他们将会是直接受影响者。我项目的成功与否在于次级受影响者-政府的认可和授权。我希望直接受影响者能够通过各种渠道向政府传达出我项目承载的主旨和诉求。政府的积极反应会从各个方面惠及普通家庭并让Yugoo在社会上有立足之地。这是一场对传统和主流价值的挑衅,我把它看作是产品设计形式的激进行为主义。

我将 Yugoo和声音身份识别看作是对社会现有的两套识别系统的补充。这个社会需要精准的识别系统的同时,也需要更温和的一个。这有助于让社会变得更包容和流畅,最终达到弱化差异化和边界化带来的社会矛盾的效果。作为一个设计师,挑战人类传统和社会底线是一件疯狂的事情,但这是我喜欢的课题。除去后面待发展的内容,Yugoo是只为展览而做的思辨设计。到目前为止,我验证它的方式主要是通过收集并分析社交媒体上目标观众的回复和评论。