The Ways of Water

(This work was published as a full paper at Halfway to the Future 2024 )

We engage with a variety of materials daily, but none are as pervasive and integral as water. From drinking and washing to swimming and fishing, our interactions with water are intrinsic and diverse. Its ubiquitous presence symbolizes purity and fluidity, making it an ideal medium for designing rich interactions. This project translates the concept of “The Ways of Water” into practice through the creation of three design artifacts in the form of a water container: a Water Tank Display, an Interactive Dish for Tea Tasting, and a Water Plant Terrarium and their corresponding narratives, that aim to provoke the embodied meaning of the water – to embody, encalm, and enliven its encounters. Water Tank Display is an ambient display that presents information about environmental conditions such as weather, time, or personal health data like water consumption through the emergence and disappearance of swelling crests on the water’s surface. In Interactive Dish for Tea Tasting, we invite users to engage in a ritual-like, multi-sensory experience through mindfulness exercises by manipulating a floating leaf while tasting tea. The Water Plant Terrarium is a miniature aquatic ecosystem equipped with a user-controlled moving water crest to agitate water to create space for the floating weeds in their habitat. Each design uses the same water manipulation technique but applies it in different contexts, bringing unique qualities of engagement.

Credits

Artists: Kuan-Ju Wu, Yasuaki Kakehi Technical and Fabrication

Support: Hiroki Kaimoto, Haruma Tasaki, Shun Kainuma, Junwei Ao, Hiroaki Takahashi, Kanon Aoyama, Takafumi Morita, Tomomi Imamura, Risa Nagata, Rei Sakura, Harpreet Sareen Video and Photography: Ziyuan Jiang Logistic Support: Hideka Hatoh

Support received from

University of Tokyo International Graduate Program of Innovation for Intelligent World

University of Tokyo Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies

NTCRI National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute

Ichikawa Art Festival