Appetizer Mobile: The “Unfolding” Event at Parsons School of Design

Yesterday, Appetizer Mobile attended the “Unfolding” event at Parsons School of Design. It’s a showcase of projects and events from students, specifically MFA and BFA as their thesis and final projects from the year. Parsons is an art school so you can imagine the many different types of sculptures and installations that they had at this exhibit. Some of which were based around AR and VR as well as interactive art technology. The exhibit itself didn’t have a specific theme but everyone’s ideas in some way dealt with helping others or achieving a goal. There was an interactive garden at the exhibit in which you walk toward it, imagine yourself in the setting and scents you that would emit from the flowers would come to fruition. This was incredible as it was something that awoke your senses but at the same time, it made you privy to something that in this day in age we often may forget; stop for a moment, take in your surroundings and relax. While browsing, I came across someone who created a children’s book with a simple concept: Augmented Reality and teaching the basics to children. The concept was extremely ambitious yet very unique, as I’ve seen such books before but not in the way of teaching children about different parts of life. You needed to have an iProduct (Which everyone has nowadays, even children), and then throughout the book, there were different prompts to alert you to what the next step was. Creations like these make for a diverse experience, be it adult or child. A number of new technologies are being developed and produced so there’ll always be something that will have us in awe.

 

 

Among the other projects was a room where everything was interactive and intuitive. One installation stated, “ Use the flashlight on your phone to see your reality”. In front of me was a lone plant but upon further inspection, I realized that the plant was actually rapidly moving while the lights in the room shone above it. This was one of the more thought out and “you seek the answer” kind of pieces of the event.

 

Creativity knows no bounds and this is what this event taught me. Everyone has a story to tell and express those stories in different ways. The pieces blew my mind and were very inspiring. It takes a lot of hard work to create something and put your heart and soul into it and then present it to the public. Much respect to the exhibitors and I can’t wait to see how their projects evolve over time!