This project is built around the idea of designing hardware for accessibility. In the modern context, many accessibility solutions are built around software. While this allows for a lot of flexibility in terms of features and content, it is an imperfect approach to design for users of all abilities. In particular, blind and deaf-blind users are poorly accounted for in terms of hardware design. They are a user group that is highly limited by the inadequate features designed for their needs, and this project will demonstrate that users feel frustrated by these imperfect solutions to using a smartphone without sight. Not only will this project present its own accessory to accompany software accessibility features, but this project will also try to push first-party manufacturers to design and create their own hardware solutions. LOUIS is a refreshable braille display that magnetically attaches to a smartphone case. It will give braille users the tools they need to not only operate their phone through hardware, but read and write through braille. It includes a braille display that can read out on-screen information using existing software APIs. It also has Perkins brailler keys for users to compose texts, emails and other messages. It is packaged into a thin and highly-portable package that will allow users to continue to pocket their phones easily.

Filmmakers seek to create story pieces that are visually beautiful and engage the full attention of their audience. They typically abide by a 3-step process moving through pre-production, production, and post-production. Within each step, there are a series of tasks that need to be accomplished in order to reach the completed film. A successful film requires careful planning and strategy in pre-production, timely and decisive execution in production, and minimal unforeseen retouching in post-production.<br/><br/>Even though filmmakers have continued to follow the same formula throughout the decades, the filmmaking process has remained largely inefficient. It is extremely common for pre-production planning to be undercut, for production filming to run far too long, and for post-production VFX and editing to send the project over budget. These instances can cause major issues as the project is being finalized. In many scenarios portions of the project need to be reshot, the box office revenue isn’t enough to make up for extensive VFX retouching, or the project may never even come to fruition. <br/><br/>The reason for this recurring theme of films being over budget and out of time is quite simply that technology has made filmmakers lazy. “Fix it in post” is a disgustingly common phrase used in the film industry. It describes the utter abuse of computer retouching in the post-production phase of filmmaking. Despite working in an industry that seeks to entertain the human eye, filmmakers have become blind to all of the small mistakes that could cost them hundreds of hours and millions of dollars in the long run.

Bioluminescent algae has long fascinated humans as a beautiful natural phenomenon. This creative project uses bioluminescent algae to push the limit of biomimicry, using the algae not as a model but as a technology. Through experimentation with algae samples and industrial design, two potential applications of bioluminescent algae as a sustainable lighting technology were generated. One design focuses on indoor, private lighting, while the other focuses on outdoor, public lighting. Both outcomes attempt to solve problems generated by nighttime lighting including light pollution, wasted electricity usage, and negative impacts on human and environmental health while retaining the benefits of safety and convenience.