For their final projects, participants were asked to produce a design for a service that explores the theme of sharing, leveraging technologies that might be plausibly available withing the next 10 years. Project deliverables include slides appropriate for a pitch to potential investors as well as supporting documents in the spirit of ''design fiction,'' a playful research method that invites designers to blend design innovation and science-fiction in imagining the broad social and technological contexts in which their services will be deployed, e.g., the trends that fuel the proposal or even the opposition it might generate.
Traffic is an omnipresent problem in today's world, and will likely remain one in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, wouldn't it be great if there was a way to distribute traffic more evenly, and get rewarded for it? There's an app for that: CarDiac Traffic. CarDiac Traffic identifies congested areas in an innovative way: in addition to conventional traffic measurements, CarDiac Traffic determines the severity of traffic by "reading" and recording the stress levels of drivers within congested areas. When congestion (and stress) reaches a certain threshold, CarDiac Traffic establishes 3 or more alternate routes circumventing the backed-up portion of the road. To compensate for going slightly out of one's way, drivers who take these alternate routes will receive reward points from various businesses! Less stress, more speed, and special perks- it's the CarDiac way!
"Cooking for one is like a performance without an audience." SwapUp provides a model of collaborative consumption to solve the problem of leftovers, connecting amateur chefs with adventurous eaters. As an alternative to cooking for one, eating out, and supermarket prepared foods sections, SwapUp reintroduces community, spontaneity and sustainabiltiy to the dinner table.
As the world continues to move faster with new technology at every turn, we've lost touch with the people right around us: our neighbors. In times of need, you need people to lean on, to borrow a cup of sugar, a lawnmower, or a juicer. Villagers helps you share your stuff with the people around you, growing better communities and using the web to reinforce real-world interactions.
Creature Comforts is an on demand pet-sharing service that seeks to connect lonely dogs with local human companions. Whether you are a pet owner seeking a friend for your dog during the hours that you are away at work, or if you are a dog lover seeking a furry companion, this service is for you.
"Glamorizing together, because it's worth it" JewelryShare is a service that facilitates sharing of your accessories with friends, families, and strangers. This centralized web-service provides a web and mobile platform for you to loan your jewelry, return, and repeat. Be a part of this community to have access to unlimited styles, colors, and designs of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, cuff links, and much more. The world of glamour awaits you, just a click away.
Maximizing the usage of gym equipment has long been a problem for resource limited gyms such as university gyms. In our project, we focus on the effective equipment sharing of UCLA gyms. We propose a system called GymManager, which can provide users with up-to-date information for the availability of gym equipment. Users can access the information either from a mobile app, webpages or from on-site screens. We also improve current workflows and regulations in UCLA gyms to improve the accuracy of information that users can access.
Considering the existing plan for bike sharing on UCLA campus, our project will further develop the idea by focusing on the bike stations' locations and connections with other transportation systems. We will also consider possibilities for a mobile app with real-time capabilities for monitoring bike inventories at various stations.
