This work is inspired by the string phone that everyone has played in the childhood. It's a wonderful and simple pleasure to communicate with a friend through the string phone from the distance.
Nowadays, however, even when people are having a meal or walking together, they would be playing their mobile phones without saying anything. Through this work, we hope to connect more people and free them from the constraints of mobile phones so as to talk to people and communicate with each other by heart. Namely connecting people. No matter where you come from, whether you are a stranger, a passer-by or a tourist, you can communicate with others through this simple interactive installation.
A simple greeting or an understanding smile can be passed through the work “Nice to meet you”.
This installation is made up of 4 cubical modules of string phone in different colors, with special considerations for different needs of adults, children and people with disabilities.
Source: Supplied by Stephen Jia
The principle of the string phone block is like that of a voice tube. Each module is equipped with an integrated screen and sensor for recognizing facial expressions to generate ANIMOJIs. People in different block can communicate through the voice tube of the string phone for vocal communication and can see the lovely ANIMOJIs and hear the voices of each other. At the same time, the sound and light will also be transmitted to the friend at the other end with the voice tube, thus forming a wonderful 3D interactive art that combines light, sound and image.
A work can encourage autistic people to communicate
This work sought advice from the Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect), one of Australia's largest service providers, about making the installation more autism-friendly.
The work considers the needs of children and people with disabilities in addition to needs of the general adults since the beginning of the design and has designed comfortable interactive installations with suitable height, which have greatly enhanced their participation.
This work has incorporated the advanced face recognition technology, which, with the support of Apple’s products and technologies, can convert facial expressions directly into ANIMOJIs to be transferred to the person on the other end, making every communication full of fun and joy.
Source: supplied by Stephen Jia
And such a tactful idea is what Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) values because such a work can encourage autistic people to open their minds and try to communicate with the outside world. In addition, more people can take the initiative to communicate with the others, and pay attention to and help people with autism around them.
