"The Ikigai Machine" is an immersive, multi-sensory media installation experience that invites participants to engage all of their senses as they join a DeafBlind protagonist navigating a starship to New Earth. This project, designed by disabled artists to be accessible and inclusive for all ages and abilities, incorporates universal design at every stage of development. This family-friendly project is a platform for underrepresented disabled artists to showcase their creativity and innovation, challenging traditional narratives in media and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the realm of immersive art. The installation features multiple science fiction themed sensory spaces where small groups of 6 to 10 participants solve puzzles and collaborate to uncover a non-verbal narrative written by members of the Deaf community in Portland. Each space represents one “chapter” of the story, featuring different sensory experiences. The first chapter, currently being beta-tested, features a Starship launch in a 12x12x15 ft media installation. 

We seek multidisciplinary design teams who wish to apply Universal Design Principles in collaboration with Deaf and DeafBlind artists to help ideate, produce, test, iterate on some of the puzzles and applications being developed for this installation.

Media

• Brief Primer (Video)
• Previous Puzzle Room Installation (Video) at Portland Institute of Contemporary Arts 

Brief Background on Organization or Client/Sponsor

Chet Udell

Oregon State Professor of Biological and Ecological Engineering, Director of the Openly Published Environmental Sensing Lab. 

CymaSpace

CymaSpace is a nonprofit, Deaf-led Disability Arts & Cultural Hub in Portland, Oregon with the mission of making arts, culture and media accessible and inclusive to the Deaf community through Technology, Education and Outreach. We promote Deaf performers, train media technicians, mentor Disability Artists, and enable the diverse cultural communities that intersect with Deafness to enjoy representation within our organization and at public events throughout Portland and beyond. 

CymaSpace is inspired by the opportunities that cymatics, the study of translating sound waves into visual and tactile phenomena, provides to improve experiences for Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing and hearing people. We produce creative technology-driven media for live performances, artistic installations, and video recordings to “make sound visible.” Physically, we enable access through Open Captioning displays, sound activated light systems, and innovative multimedia art. Emotionally, we create opportunities for participants to feel deeply connected to works of art and communal activities that traditionally exclude them. Our work bridges sound—spoken words, sound effects and music—with its sensory partners—written text, light, vibrations, and patterns—to create experiences that resonate with all participants. CymaSpace advocates for the Deaf community by partnering with local and national art

and cultural organizations. Coordination of sign language services and open-captioned technical support provides Deaf people with communication access.We believe in creating an environment of Equity that addresses the needs of Deaf people. We promote Diversity through the intersections of Deafness with other cultures and disability groups. We foster Inclusion to build community between disabled and non-disabled attendees and artists. 

Outcomes

We’re open to student teams applying Universal Design Thinking to broad topics related to this project including:

• Brainstorm, ideate, investigate, and document issues and design solutions from social, technical, accessibility, environmental science, sustainability, business, and creative perspectives. 
• Communication and marketing plans
• Collaborating with other technical teams from College of Engineering Senior Capstone conducting focused electrical, computer science, and mechanical design to incorporate broader multidisciplinary perspectives
• Designing a subsystem of some of these devices.
• Understanding of Design for Assembly, Additive 3D Printing best-practices.
• Apply narrative-based game theory and accessibility design.
• Create puzzles and sensory experiences that adapt to a wide range of abilities.
• Apply multi-modal (e.g. tactile, haptic, touch), non-verbal & non visual interface designs.

Available Resources

• Materials & Components Budget (proposals available upon request).
• Mentorship from Production Professionals
• Consulting Support with People with Disabilities.
• Community Engagement with CymaSpace Events & Outreach.

Intellectual Property

The artist is a proponent of open-source design/engineering. Students may incorporate design elements and themes from the Ikigai Machine universe and are encouraged to release their sub-assemblies as open-source modules that are compatible with the design framework of the Ikigai Machine and the Starship.

The Ikigai Machine narrative and story and the Starship are to remain the intellectual property of the artist Myles de Bastion and cannot be appropriated for other purposes without express permission of the artist.

Seeking Skills

• Experience with DHH community, Sign Language
• Electric circuit design
• C/C++, Arduino Programming, DSP 
• Escape room puzzles
• Tactile interfaces, perception
• CAD, 3D printing
• Fashion and wearable technology design
• Visual Art, Digital Media, Installation Design