Flow

This qualifying paper is composed of two parts. The first part of the paper encapsulates the explored design theory, which is the reshaping of smartphones in designed immersive experiences to enhance the activation of the setting in order to create a deeper sense of awareness and presence. The paper is structured around understanding the current uses of the smartphone and its place in current media culture as well as looking at the labeling of it as a device of a distractive nature. Then, the paper launches a set of arguments, case studies, a prototype, and interviews to prove how this notion can be changed by embedding more meaning into the modern-day smartphone’s uses in immersive settings. It aims to enable the smartphone to become a powerful tool to help deliver content as well as facilitate it to in becoming a resource to capture the visitor’s interest and attention in creating mnemonic memories. The second part of this paper investigates the design solution accompanying the set forth design theory, which considers customized smartphone applications and up-and-coming digital interface technologies to be utilized to transform the normative uses of the smartphone. The exhibition project is built from a combination of design intensive and narrative curation through the stages of concept development to design development, including schematics, 2D graphics, drawings, renderings, and 3D digital and physical models. The thesis’s arguments explore audiences demand for the ability to chronicle immersive experiences, and therefore connect the reliance on smartphones to their responsibility in chronicling and preserving moments, especially in such settings. The set of arguments highlight the detaching quality of smartphones and their barrier-like role in the absorption of content, as well as their disruption of the audience’s ability to be in sync with the moment and aware of their surroundings. Understanding this deep-rooted issue, the set of arguments shine light on the idea of repurposing the use of smartphones by expanding their definition in immersive settings, therefore indirectly shifting the behavior of the audience through these new applications as alternate solutions. The case studies that are in support of these arguments also underline the importance of the levels of immersion within the presented content and its impact in creating long-lasting and meaningful experiences for audiences. The case studies also illuminate how high levels of immersion are interconnected with presence in the moment and awareness of the surrounding setting. To initiate this chain of events, the case studies exemplify creating seamless, personalized integrations of smartphone technologies and flexible user interfaces which encourage enhanced immersion and intimate interactions, therefore leading to enjoyable and significant experiences that target the individual as well as the collective group in designed settings. In consideration of these viewpoints, the exhibition project consists of multiple partnerships between FIA (the head organization of F1 and Series), Apple (a smartphone technology company) and Adobe (a design software company). The exhibition project is set to travel between cities which hold significance to F1 Racing and motorsport history. These cities include Miami, Silverstone, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. The exhibition subject is the story of Csikszentmihalyi’s flow experience, which is told through multigenerational voices of motorsport women. Flow is defined as a state of total immersion while participating in an activity that creates an optimal setting for the experiencer. In light of this, Flow, the exhibition, sets a stage to convey the enhanced future of female F1 racing and investigates the activities that are a part of motorsport racing that trigger flow state, as well as activities that impact the mind, the body, and the soul for a wholesome immersive experience. The exhibition project targets an audience ranging from young rising female athletes to young uninitiated women from different backgrounds and interests, encouraging them to become more involved in the subject of racing and potentially pursue it as a career or a hobby. The results of extensive explorations in defining and cultivating the project parameters, the thesis statement established the importance of thinking outside of the box for designing unusual and unique experiences while expanding the roles of the tools that are available to audiences. Therefore, the thesis statement has put forth the alteration in the definition of utilizing mobile phone technology. This allows it to become a tool for a deeper manifestation of immersion with the content, the environment and most importantly within and among other individuals. Current designed immersive settings most often lack the quality of delivering the complex narrative to audiences through smartphone technologies: they often remain on the surface by obtaining the profile of photo backdrops an