Congratulations — Cindy is now a Lottie Certified Expert! She has completed LottieFiles for Figma Certification!
The report “emotion-centered-design, smart home and elderly’s well-being” studied the role and implication of positive technology and emotion-centered-design on designing a smart home for the elderly’s well-being. Four emotion-centered-design (ECD) tools are proposed to demonstrate how emotion can be applied in designing effective smart home devices. By conducting a correct ethnography for the design of a smart home, ECD smart home devices can encourage a user’s adoption, engagement, and effectiveness of the system. When prioritizing emotional needs in the design process, a designer can balance the goals of a business and the needs of the user with the imposed technology constraints.
A happy home is an important part of one’s wellness. And emotion-centered-design smart home devices can better support the elderly to age-in-place.
Case Study | Seoul – Bridge of Life, 2012
Location | Mapo Bridge, Yeoeuido-dong, Seoul, South Korea
| Background |
Mapo bridge is known as the “Bridge of Death” because of its high rate of suicides. 901 people attempted to give up their lives by jumping off the bridge into the Han River from 1998 to 2012 and the fatality rate is around 40%.
Launched in 2012, the campaign “Bridge of Life” aims to bring passengers joy and eliminate the number of deaths from the bridge. 2.2km long interactive handrails are installed on the bridge and positive messages or images are illuminated when passengers walk pass. “How have you been? If you need to talk, why don’t you talk to us?" the messages ask, with hotlines that directly call to Lifelines Korea. The bridge’s suicide rate has fallen by 77% in the first year after the installation, but the attempted suicides rose by 167% in 2014.
| Comments |
The famous Mapo Bridge and the life campaign drew not only tourists but also a larger amount of people to commit suicide in this specific location. The positive messages and family pictures on the railing are meaningful to me, but some have criticized that the photos of families may trigger emotions rather than offering encouragement. Also, the higher railings indeed stop people from jumping off the bridge effectively, but it also greatly affects people from appreciating the aesthetic view of Han river. Glass fencing or nets to stop or catch bridge jumpers may work better in this case.
Besides, I agreed with Baseel, C (2014) that “the Bridge of Life project would have fed into Mapo Bridge’s unfortunate image as a place to commit suicide”. I think seasonal community art projects can take place on the bridge to help send positive messages and warmth for every passenger and connect different age group of people in the community at the same time. See example (Figure 5 & 6) by La Belle Epoque, who made hand-stitching crafts on railings at Central and West District Promenade in 2019 and Festival Walk at Causeway Bay in 2018.
To conclude, I see the “Bridge of Life” project as successful because it raises people’s awareness of mental health and advocates people to care for someone who is in need.
| Reference |
Baseel, C.(2014, February 26). Seoul anti-suicide initiative backfires, deaths increase by more than six times. Retrieved from https://soranews24.com/2014/02/26/seoul-anti-suicide-initiative-backfires-deaths-increase-over-than-six-times/
Starr, M. (2019). ‘Bridge of Life’ projects messages to prevent suicides. Retrieved 10 September 2019, from https://www.cnet.com/news/bridge-of-life-projects-messages-to-prevent-suicides/
삼성생명 . (2013, February 15). ‘The Bridge of life’ by Samsung Life Insurance (삼성생명 bridge of life ver. Eng). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDsVOXTQAIs
Seoul ‘bridge of life’ still attracts suicide attempts – WSJ blog. (2013, Nov 07). Dow Jones Institutional News Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lb.polyu.edu.hk/docview/2088836720?accountid=16210
Trott, D. (2018, July 17). Looking beyond awards to real-world impact: The ‘Bridge of Life’ campaign in Korea. Retrieved from https://www.mumbrella.asia/2018/07/looking-beyond-awards-to-real-world-impact
(2016). [Photo] Another attempt to prevent Mapo Bridge suicides. Retrieved from http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/760575.html
John, C. (2014). “Bridge of Life” Proved Popular Spot for Suicidal People. Retrieved from http://koreabizwire.com/bridge-of-life-attracts-more-suicidal-attempts/15816
Starr, M. (2013, June 25). ‘Bridge of Life’ projects messages to prevent suicides. Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/news/bridge-of-life-projects-messages-to-prevent-suicides/
Eunice, L. (2019)西環好去處-手織欄杆現西環海濱！172米靚景長廊開幕/情侶望海公仔率先登場. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2kGqvPt
Eunice, L. (2018) 聖誕節2018-銅鑼灣手織聖誕欄杆回歸！全新寵物造型12月登場 . Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2kegxEM
Thank you for your attention!
-Report End-
As one of the organizers of illusfairHK, Jam-nut-bean together with over 80 local illustrators and artists celebrated creativity together in the first Hong Kong illustration Fair in March 2019.
About IllusfairHK 2019 “Colours of Life”/
Showcasing over 80 talented, contemporary Hong Kong Illustrators in Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC) at Shek Kip Mei, IllusfairHK connects artists and audiences. It is also a festival, a movement to express positive energy.
With Special Thanks to/
Cathy Hung, Cindy Yuen, Core Lo, Helen Tam, Hilda Fung, Kafka Poon, Kian Cheung, Kiki Cheng, Knoa Chung, Miloza Ma, Pei Lam
Venue sponsor/ @JCCAC
Sponsors/ hkginger, e-print, e-banner Hong Kong
Drinks sponsor/ miloza ma, Aaron
Guest speakers/ Kenny Wong, Johnson.johndog, steveyuensk, sindylaulau, terencechoiyt, @joe.lee.50702, 高佩聰, 張煒森, 兒童文學文化協會, oddoneouthk, Winson Ma, flyingpig.work
Speed drawing artists/ @Sisi_illustration @Ohmankee illustration @dark.calligrapher @怪叔叔の散步道
Music/ C Chung施春
Photography/ Steven Chui, Mickey Mic / 3isual Design, Knoa Chung
Helpers/ 豬肉, Lok Yan, Abby, Cathy, Ivy, Man man, kungchinchin 工千芊, Stephane To, Alice Yuen, Karen Tse, Jim, Helen Li, ednaillustration
Key Art/ Joe Lee
Getting Married!
I am moving on my new life as wife. My husband and I now lived at Wanchai and we are just one block from where we work. He is a 3D render and he now works as a project assistant in an interior design firm. He also teaches me handle excel sheets when I struggle in planing the media plan for clients.
There are so much for me to learn. It is always more than design for a designer need to know in order to survive. I am excited to take the challenge and learn new skills. Next step I hope to develop my html and JavaScript coding knowledge so that I can handle more complicated interactive banners and website design. Wish me succeed ^^ ~
Thank you for coming to our first joint exhibition “Too Sweet to Forget” @Part-of Gallery, Wan Chai. HEre is a short description of our group of six illustrators. Whatsapp us if you wanna know more : (+852) 91941460.
Comic drawing to share with you. The story of banana boy Ben and tomato girl Vicky.
China Telecom CSR Report 2015 with Toppan Vite Ltd.
Having worked with Toppan for three years, I know well how to collaborate with designers and the company to create a creative solution for books and design. It is a pleasure to work with Nicky Wong and professionals at the company in providing such an inspiring work for Clients.