Experience Kaleidoscope

red dot
red dot award: design concept 2008

Initiator:

National University of Singapore

design:

Design Incubation Centre, Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment

Experience Kaleidoscope enables children to capture and project images of all things new and interesting to them as a personal and interactive experience diary.

It has been observed that children like to capture, gather and share their experiences spontaneously with others. They spend hours chasing after butterflies, closely examining caterpillars they catch in the fields and keeping pressed leaves in books to record their memories.

Experience Kaleidoscope has been conceived as a personal experience diary for children. A child peers through the viewfinder of the kaleidoscope to observe the surroundings, and intuitively turns the wheel to capture what is seen. Returning to a classroom setting, the child is able to project the captured image(s) onto the walls and ceiling to share the personal experience with others.

The overlapping projections and dynamic sharing of images create an interactive and spontaneous learning environment. In this manner, children are encouraged to learn through the action of play, both individually and as a group. Through this simple and direct way of capturing and projecting images, adults are also encouraged to see the world through the inquisitive eyes of a child.