Kelly Ho
About
Kelly, a multidisciplinary designer originally from Hong Kong has a Graphic Design background specialising in motion graphics and storytelling. She integrates research findings into evocative narratives. Passionate about educational development, Kelly's projects revolve around raising awareness of disabilities and fostering impactful experiences that bring people together, empowering them to build strong and supportive communities.
Drawing on emerging technologies and user experience, Kelly crafts immersive solutions that prioritise accessibility and inclusivity. Her expertise lies in creating inclusive and accessible experiences that bridge the gap between the present and the future. By combining digital and traditional mediums, she engages users on multiple sensory levels.
Taking a holistic and immersive approach to design, Kelly strives to create multi-sensory experiences that deeply resonate with audiences. Central to her practice is the art of communication, using powerful and thought-provoking aesthetics to deliver substantial concepts.
Statement
Emotional regulation can be a significant barrier to learning for many students, as they struggle to regulate their emotions throughout the day. This dysregulation hinders their learning engagement, and there is a lack of consensus on technology's long-term impact on children. While schools provide appropriate regulations, children still struggle to identify and express their emotions independently. I see this project as a starting point and reimagine a world that enables new forms of emotional expression. I envision an emerging reality where children can express emotions beyond human capability, exploring their emotional landscape.
There is potential in building a safe and mindful space for children to explore their internal experiences. It has always been a major interest of mine to create an immersive journey that encourages communication and emotional exploration through different senses. I want to go into impressive detail about how emotions originate interiorly and are reflected in the body as I sketch out a series of line emotions on which new kinds of speculative emotional expressions evolve.
The project presents a speculative world with concrete and abstract designs. It delves into the origin of emotions and their reflection in the body, evolving and visualising our current state of mind. I intend to raise awareness of emotional complexity in children, prompting us to think and experience, while introducing alternatives for parents to strengthen relationships and foster understanding of children's inner worlds. Ultimately, the project aims to assist adults in interacting with children and creating meaningful connections based on understanding their emotions.
Prioritising Academic Achievement over Emotional Well-being
In today's education, schools often overlook the importance of emotional well-being in favour of academic achievement. This reality poses significant challenges for children, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The unique characteristics of ASD, including difficulties in social communication and restricted interests, make it challenging for these individuals to communicate their emotions. As a result, they often struggle to control their feelings, leading to emotional dysregulation.
In a competitive society, parents of autistic children often expect their children to conform to neurotypical behaviour to gain social acceptance. This pressure to fit in can further alienate these children and exacerbate their emotional struggles. While schools provide practical support such as Positive Behaviour Support and adaptations like the Zones of Regulation, autistic students still find emotional regulation to be a significant hurdle. This difficulty in managing emotions can impede their engagement in the learning process, hindering their overall academic development.
To shed light on these challenges, I conducted interviews with various educators, including an XR researcher who is also a father of an autistic child, a head teacher, and a teacher/carer in the local special educational needs (SEN) community.
After interviewing three diverse educators, I created a narrative that is predominantly non-verbal but has a special way of communicating with the world around her. She exhibits echolalia tendencies and struggles with verbal communication, yet she possesses a remarkable knack for maintaining eye contact and smiling. It seems she speaks a language understood only by those who engage with her, creating a profound connection. Although her words and sounds may not always convey meaning, her genuine smile and unwavering eye contact radiate, making her a delightful presence.
What if Emotions Could Be Expressed Wordlessly?
Studies show that the choice of colours and shapes in children's artwork portrays their state of mind, which we can understand by reading the visuals. Equivalently, children with autism can recognise emotions through transformed visuals and reduce confusion.
In the reflective trapezoidal prism, moving shapes are mapped onto the model using projection mapping. A leap motion installed tracks the gestures we create so that we can control the visuals. The goal is to allow us to express our emotions without having to use words.
Medium: Mixed media
Senmersion - A Virtual Reality Journey of the Senses
The VR trailer presents a visionary world, showcasing a sensory room that enables children to explore and comprehend their inner world. This space is meticulously designed as a sensory room, offering diverse themes and experiences that facilitate a profound understanding of emotional expression throughout the journey. This integration empowers both us and children to not only control but also interpret our emotions through experiential learning, providing a distinctive and immersive approach to emotional understanding.
Medium: Virtual Reality, Blender and Unity
Shaping Emotions - Interactive Control of Transforming Forms
Through envisioning a world where emotional expression can be wordless, I designed a sensory toy that responds to our movements and represents our emotional states. This concept enables us to express our emotions more fluidly, as words alone often fall short of capturing the breadth of our inner feelings. However, I acknowledge the inherent challenges in expressing emotions, as our internal landscape is intricate and hard to articulate. This design embraces complexity, offering a tangible means to communicate and convey our state of mind.
Medium: Arduino, TouchDesigner and Plywood
Development Process
Abstract visuals are created with extensive colours and shapes.
Medium: Paper, Clay, Cardboard, Clear acrylic sheet, Leap Motion and TouchDesigner
Next Steps
With the projection of the trapezoidal prism, children can express emotions beyond their ability to do so with traditional visual interactions. Children are empowered to communicate and explore their feelings by immersing themselves in sensory experiences. It opens up new possibilities for children to express emotions at school when challenges are addressed. This innovative approach will be refined further and would be implemented in collaboration with educators to foster emotional understanding and well-being.