Japanese Philosphy on "Death and AfterLife"
EXHIBIT EXPERIENCE
TOP
Create an immersive experience for foreigners to explore Japan's cultural perspective of death while maintaining a subtle balance between culture and emotions
Acceptance
Sensitive
Sad
Complex Feelings
Unsettling
Scary
Reflection
When we think of Death…
It can be
But in JAPANESE culture
So HOW MIGHT WE?
Lets dive into the EXHIBIT EXPERIENCE
Life and death are connected, and death is not the opposite of life,
but the beginning of "another life"
We need to think about how living people reconcile themselves with facts that cannot be changed
When we think of Death…
Exihit design
Interaction 2
Conceptualized interaction 2. Created 3D models, GIFs of the kiosk display and rendered them using Fusion 360
Interaction 4
Helped in ideation of Interaction 4 and created the 3D renders and GIFs for the interactions. Also, inspired from Sumi-E paintings, designed the signages
Interaction 1
I came up with the idea of using cherry blossom trees as a metaphor for death. My teammates created the artworks, but I was the one who suggested the interactive floor and wall concept.
Personal Contribution
Where I made a difference
I also helped in overall research, conducted 2 interviews with employees and visitors in a museum, and helped in drafting the layout of our new exhibit
Personal Significance :)
I just wanted to say I had an amazing time working on this project
Interaction Design
Besides creating beautiful and user-friendly UIs, I’m also really passionate about Interaction Design, which led me to pursue a Master’s in HCI. This project is special to me because it’s focused on interactions. It involved understanding different user groups, cultures, and contexts to design interactions that are not only fun but also accessible to most. We put a lot of thought into each interaction, testing them with various users to ensure the final design worked well for all.
Challenges
My favorite part of this project was finding the right balance between respect and playful interactions. It was challenging but also fun and exploratory. Since death is a sensitive topic, we focused on creating interactions that reflected the neutral tone of Japanese philosophy while still being enjoyable for users, without triggering strong emotions.
Research
Let's kick off our adventure by taking a quick glance at research insights, all our designed interactions and then uncovering the reasons behind our choices
Project CASE STUDY
Research Insights | Primary Research
Research Insights | Secondary Research
We visited the Eskenazi Museum, Bloomington where we conducted interviews and observations.
I conducted 2 interviews with the employees and my teammates - 4 interviews with the visitors.
We conducted secondary research on Japanese culture, focusing on their perceptions of death, Japanese funeral ceremonies, and the key artifacts used in these rituals.
Text Descriptions are too long!
Text Descriptions are too long to read, missing out on information about artifacts. Visual aid would be helpful
No Distractions
Focus should remain around the artifacts, so no distractions are placed around artifacts. This is the reason why signages are small around artifacts
Separate Sections
There are separate sections for separate themes in the same exhibit. These sections can vary according to (for example, in case of paintings) painting styles, and timelines, creating a sense of direction for the visitors
These were the key insights from primary research that were used in this project
These were the key insights from secondary research that were significant for this project
Death
Attitude - Neutral. Composure is Valued while public display of intense emotions, such as crying loudly, are often restrained
Funerals - Cremation of physical body is seen as freeing the soul. The ashes are kept in an Urn and then buried in cemeteries.
Continuation - Japanese don’t see death as the complete opposite of life, but as a beginning of a new journey
Afterlife
Reunion - Afterlife is a place to connect with their ancestors and become one with God
Obon Festival - The deceased's spirt revisits their living family once a year
Reincarnation - 6 realms where the soul can be reincarnated based on Karma before entering spirit realm
Traditional beliefs/Cultural Significance
Cherry blossoms - Seen as a metaphorical representation of life and death in their literature
Lanterns - Used to honor the dead and also to guide the soul of the dead to the spirit realm
Cultural Art - Sumi-E, Stamps, Ukiyo-E paintings, Calligraphy, and history
Research Insights | Primary Research
Feel free to expand the layout and each interaction to see the iterations and design rationale
Lets look at the Layout
Lets look at the final layout and then dive into each interaction in each section of the layout. Each category can be expanded to see the iterations and design rationale
Feel free to expand the layout and each interaction to see the iterations and design rationale
Entrance
Serves as a medium to put our users into the context of death
The Exhibit LAYOUT
This is the layout for our exhibit. It's divided into 4 parts viz. the Entry, the Death Phase, the Transition Tunnel, and the Afterlife Phase.
Death
Showcases different artifacts depicting death according to the Japanese culture. It also has interactive display kiosks to explore more details about the artifacts.
Transition Tunnel
Separates the Death phase and the Afterlife Phase. It has the fire sparks interaction through cherry blossom petals.
Afterlife
Houses artifacts depicting Japanese afterlife beliefs and the Obon festival. It also has multiple interactive display kiosks and Lantern Interactivity
Iterations and Design Rationale
The walls of the entrance gradually depict cherry blossom flowers falling from the trees, immersing users in a natural representation of death. The floor is interactive; stepping on it causes cherry blossom petals, which have fallen from the wall trees, to appear beneath your feet. As you move forward, more petals appear beneath your feet while the trees on the walls show fewer blossoms.
Interaction 1 | Entrance
Cherry Blossom Path
This entrance wall displays gradually withering cherry blossom trees, which is a metaphor for the death.
View Wall
artwork
Let's look at all The Interactions
View Floor
artwork
Where?
Interaction 1 | Entrance
Cherry Blossom Path
Iterations and Design Rationale
Interaction 2 | Death Phase
Interactive Lanterns and Displays
Lantern
Display Kiosk
Interaction
Signage
Where?
Interactive Lanterns
In Japanese culture, lanterns are highly significant, used to honor the dead and guide spirits to the spirit realm. We incorporated these gestures into our interactions. Our users pick up a light weight lantern at the entrance, and keep it on the Display Kiosks as a representation of honoring the dead. Placing Lanterns on the kiosks activate the displays. Users carry the lantern with them throughout this exhibit and drop off at the final interaction(explained in Interaction 5) before exiting.
Interactive Display Kiosks
Kiosks offer our users information about the artifacts in a visual way, replacing the traditional text descriptions. Users can zoom in on the display to view hidden details of paintings and sculptures. The digital format allows us to showcase more information than is possible in the limited size of text descriptions.
Interaction 2 | Death Phase
Iterations and Design Rationale
Interaction 3 | Transition Tunnel
Fire sparks walls
Where?
The transition tunnel marks the end of the death phase and ushers users into a new phase. Users pick up cherry blossom petals kept near the tunnel and place them in a designated spot at the entrance, triggering a fire animation. Fire sparks transform into light at the tunnel's end. The petals symbolize the deceased's body, the fire represents cremation in Japanese rituals, and the light signifies entry into the afterlife.
Watch Video
Interaction 3 | Transition Tunnel
Iterations and Design Rataionale
Interaction 4 | Afterlife
Lantern Pool
Interaction
During the Obon festival, Japanese people float lanterns down the river to guide their ancestral spirits back to their realm. We incorporated this tradition into our final interaction. Before leaving the exhibit, users place lanterns in a pool filled with water. The pool has lights at the bottom that illuminate the water surface near the lanterns when they are placed.
Signage
Where?
Interaction 4 | Afterlife
Iterations and Design Rationale
Project Reflections
Exihit design
Coz What's the point if you haven't learnt anything
Diversity
I learned how to work efficiently with a diverse group of people. I got to work with an awesome, diverse team—Indian, Chinese, Taiwanese and American all together—trying to crack the code on Japanese culture. It was such a fun experience! We didn’t just explore the Japanese perspective but also got to compare our own unique cultures along the way.
Japanese traditional art
Even though I already knew what Sumi-E and Ukiyo-E paintings looked like, I finally got the chance to dive deep into their origins and history. It was such a cool experience, and now I’m totally inspired to explore even more diverse art styles!
Accessibility
Though we couldn't include every differently-abled individual, it still gave us a chance to think deeper and make it as accessible as possible. This included user-testing and iterating with different people, learning and adapting each time to make our designs better. Sure, we had to tweak some of the interactions from the original way, like raising the lantern pool height instead of sticking to the traditional Japanese way of bending down, but we managed to keep the essence same.
Project Reflections
Thank you | ありがとう
Team
Timeline
Platforms
Fusion 360
Blender
Figma
Photoshop
Illustrator
Mukund Bhat
Kaidi Fan
Li-Hsuan Shih
4 weeks