The Journey - Week 9 (Force Connections 1)

Stack-able tea pot and tea cup. They look like a whole jug when placed together. 

What should I eat today? Bread or Noodles? Why not have both!

This "Yakisoba-pan" is both Yakisoba and bread!

A variety of coffee are just a button's push away. Modern day coffee machines combine the actions of pouring milk, water and grinding coffee beans for efficiency and convenience.

The vanity is a combination of a mirror, table and drawer. Now you can doll yourself up while sitting down, with all your cosmetics in one place.

(Source: http://www.businessinsider.sg/20-year-old-owns-a-chinese-factory-2014-10/#.VgbEaRErKM8)

18 tools in a single credit card-sized card that can be conveniently kept in your wallet. Saves the hassle of carrying a whole toolbox around.

(Source: http://bxscience.edu/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=77762&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=454905)

The spork combines the spoon and the fork. It is convenient and reduces wastage of disposable utensils.

A Passionate cup. It is oozing with steam (passion).

A Sad cup. Broken in pieces. Even if it was fixed with glue, there are still scars.

A Brave cup. An extra handle to give a confident look.

A Creative cup. It dares to be different.

A Greedy cup. Do not try to contain more than your capacity.

A Hardworking cup. Addition of wheels for faster serving.

Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work video reflection

I feel that Shawn Achor's TED talk is one of the most entertaining so far. There were 2 points he mentioned in his speech which caught my attention. The first one being how we should not ignore or neglect the outliers. Instead, we should study it and improve the overall average. I find this concept mirrors how creativity works. In the process of creative thinking, we always try to think outside of the box. We want to brainstorm and create something novel and different. We strive to be the outlier, to rise above the average. The other point he mentioned is how we can be happier. He pointed out how we always place happiness after success, which I think it is very true. I strongly agree that we will never achieve happiness that way. This got me thinking about the quote "Live life to the fullest everyday". It tells us to live in the moment, to focus on the present. Though it is good to plan for the future, we should not spend too much time mulling over it because before we know it, the present would become past and we will never be able to go back and change it.

The Journey - Week 8 (Analogical Thinking 2 - A Journey of Bottles)

Whenever I look at bottles, I see different exaggerated human body shapes. Narrow contours resemble a thin waist, while broader sections look like a human's chest. Bottles come in all shapes, sizes and forms, just like humans. On a typical morning in the world of bottles, mineral water bottles are ready to take on the day, standing tall, broad and proud, giving the feeling of confidence as they step out of their house. Detergent bottles look like they have beer bellies, they rumble and groan with a deep and loud voice, they definitely aren't morning people. The child shampoo bottle is excited to start the day, its arms and legs spread wide. The adult (parent) shampoo bottle silently follows behind the child, stoic as ever as they are already used to the monotony of life. Being the classy one, the coffee container steps out of the house all dressed up in a suit, a masculine scent of cologne trailing behind him as he strides through the busy streets. The wine bottle ladies in their elegant dresses all tingle with excitement as they fixed their eyes on him. The hand soap bottle policeman remains vigilant as it watches the bustling morning.

Analogical Thinking Introduction video reflection

The speaker in this video spoke about the benefits of analogical reasoning. I find his demonstration of using analogical reasoning to explain about a nanosecond interesting. From that demonstration, I feel that analogical thinking could also be a tool to make difficult concepts easily understood. Using analogical thinking, we could link difficult concepts with objects around us to help us see better. Not everyone learns the same way, thus one cannot expect someone to understand a concept right away with just reading the definition of the theory. Some people learn better through visualisation and that is when analogical thinking comes into play. A simple example would be how my math teacher taught my class addition back in kindergarten. After writing down the equation on the whiteboard, she would then use cookies to demonstrate why 1+1=2, 1+2=3 and so on. It made us understand the concept of addition better and made the lesson much more interesting. The human brain absorbs information much more easily when the learning process is enjoyable.

The Journey - Tutorial Week (A visit to SAM)

This artwork seems like it is confused. Projections protrude in all directions, they do not know where to go. Entwined and tangled with each other, there is no clear path.

A ram-shackled room emanates depression. There is a heavy feeling of hopelessness.

These two are in shock to see each other degrade into nothing but skeletons.

This reminds me of the saying "As proud as a peacock".

Fauna and flora can calm a frantic mind.

Leaning on one side, all alone in a dim room, I cannot help but feel a certain sadness and loneliness from this metal sphere. It has seen better days.

I see a happy face! Ironic how this is part of a tank sculpture, a weapon of mass destruction.

From this angle, this bird sculpture look like it is angry. A likely scenario would be that I have stolen something important to it, and have fled away to high place where it could not reach me.

Little metal balls slide quickly from one side to the other while the contraption tilts. They look like they are anxious to reach the other side in time.

The fear of going on a quiet road with no end in sight.

The Journey - Week 7 (Analogical Thinking)

We did 2 classroom exercises this week. One was to find objects around us that are analogous to each other, such as the window resembling eyes and the magnetic sensor hinge on the door swings out like an arm.

The other one required us to find analogy from 3 existing products:

 to 

(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear)

(source: http://www.madisonavemall.com/products/product.asp?sku=207WHTFX)

 to 

(source: http://pngimg.com/img/animals/duck)

(source: http://www.comparaboo.com/best-diving-fins)

 to 

(source: http://photographyblogger.net/20-fantastic-pictures-of-birds-flying/)

(source: https://www.bulletproofexec.com/hack-your-flight-how-to-save-your-ears-while-flying-with-a-cold/)

Pencil, Clock and Candle exercise: 

Happy pencil twirling on paper.

A heartbroken pencil.

A stressed-out pencil.

Tired pencil leans against wall.

Confident pencil stands upright.

Depressed clock has lost all hope.

This clock is excited for me to wake up.

Exhausted clock falls flat on its face from tiredness.

This crazy clock is out to have fun! It can't tell the time though.

The iconic grandfather clock as wise-looking as it'll ever be. It stands at the sidelines watching over us through thick and thin.

Poor candle...

An angered candle flares up in flames twice its size.

Aww, this shy candle hides within the comfort of its candle holder.

Aromatic candles not only produce a scent that relaxes people, they themselves look collected as well.

A bored candle rolling around a flat surface waiting for someone to light it up.