Enhancing the Visual Performance of Chinese Traditional Wedding Ceremonies through Interaction Design

1.Research Questions

• Main Question:

How can interaction design enrich the visual performance of Chinese traditional wedding ceremony in contemporary contexts? 

• Sub questions:

1. What motivates people to choose a Chinese traditional wedding?

2. What are the existing elements that enhance the visual performance of the Chinese traditional wedding ceremony?

3. How can interactive technologies impact user experience of Chinese traditional wedding in the future?

2. Venn Diagram

3. Mind Map

4. Design precedents

-Apply holographic technology in wedding

Holographic wedding ceremony is designed by using 3D holographic projection technology (Thomas, 2018). By using high-tech holography, the wedding ceremony can achieve the immersive effect (Thomas, 2018).  In the wedding scene, holography technology can create the star sky, transform castles, change seasons from spring, summer, autumn to winter, and even display the characters in fairy tales (Thomas, 2018). Moreover, the three-dimensional object can be suspended in the venue, which bring people a unique wedding memory (Thomas, 2018). Furthermore, the wedding dress can present different patterns due to the holographic light changes (Thomas, 2018). The applying of holographic technology in ceremony not only improve the visual performance of the wedding, but also improve the interactive experience of people who attend the ceremony (Thomas, 2018).

This design precedent is a good example of the wedding ceremony applying interactive technology, which can be used in Chinese traditional wedding to provide an incredible visual performance in the future.

-IOT design with accessory

This is an electronic jewelry, which is a wooden bling hair needle that made of LEDs, wood, conductive thread, hand painted silk fabric, and an accelerometer (Wright, 2008). This interactive jewelry combines a wooden structure with accelerometer and light (Wright, 2008).  Since movements of the head correspond to basic movements of the body, there are different patterns of blinking lights that change based on movements that detected by the accelerometer (Wright, 2008). After switching the hair needle on, it can be worn as an normal accessory for keeping the hair in place. While the light patterns visible through the silk fabric, it can change speed and intensity according to the degree of movements performed by the wearer (Wright, 2008).

This design precedent is a good example of IOT applying in accessory design, which can be introduced in Chinese traditional wedding accessory design to enhance the visual performance in the future. 

-Colors & Elements of Chinese Wedding Dressing & Decoration Settings

The main color of Chinese wedding dress and the decoration settings is bright red, also called Chinese red (López, 2013).  As you may know red is the most favored color by Chinese and it represents happiness and lucky in Chinese culture (López, 2013). In Chinese weddings, red is also considered as a symbol of good fortune which can drive bad luck spirits away (López, 2013). The traditional Chinese wedding dress in northern China is one piece frock named Qipao(旗袍), which is designed with red color and embroidered with gold and silver pattern (Whyte, 1993). Brides in Southern China prefer to wear two-piece dress named QunKwa(裙褂) (Whyte, 1993). As they are often elaborately with gold dragon and phoenix, they are often called longfeng gua(龙凤褂) in modern China (Whyte, 1993).

This design precedent is a good example of aesthetic elements that already being used in Chinese traditional wedding. Assist with color and Chinese tradition wedding elements, the visual performance of Chinese traditional wedding is full of culture sense and unique.

5. Annotated bibliology

Pan, Y. and Blevis, E. (2014). Fashion thinking lessons from fashion and sustainable interaction design, concepts and issues. Vancouver, Canada.

Pan (2014) presented a design experiment on how interactive technology could be designed with inspiration from traditional dressing styles, instead of being designed as technologies products among others. In this article, Jewelry as a strong personal meaning and it is absolutely that culture may provide important insights for designing aesthetic experiences with interactive accessories, which emerging from the interaction between object and wearer. The focus of the paper is the fashion trend with culture, lifestyles, consumption behaviors, especially with applying of interaction design. The purpose of the article is introducing an interesting field for technology and bridging design, since it concerns visible items that are close to the life of individual, associated with dressing practices, culture and digital functionality. This article is a great resource related to the how interaction design applies in Chinese traditional culture because it provides new information of interactive design in jewelry.  Moreover, this article should be used by jewelry designers or students seeking to learn more about interactive accessory and culture.

Bardzell, S., Rosner, D. and Bardzell, J. (2012). Crafting quality in design: integrity, creativity, and public sensibility. Newcastle, UK.

In this paper, Bardzell (2012) present a series of design ideas on the theme of mobile technology and wearable devices through the lens of jewelry design, which focus on the properties of traditional fine jewelry in terms of crafting processes, material considerations and considerations related to patterns of wear and interaction. This paper discusses the gestalt of electronic artefacts versus jewelry design, interactive properties of physical materials, material preciousness, and jewelry usage as an inspiration for new interactive designs. This paper focus on the knowledge from different fields and ‘combining interactive technology design with crafting practices of contemporary jewelry’. The author also indicates the limitations of interactive technologies apply in jewelry design. Although interaction technology can be applying to Chinese traditional wedding accessory, the traditional fine jewelry is very rarely interactive – most commercially available electronic products reflect a specific aesthetic gestalt that stands in sharp contrast to that of fine metal craftsmanship. The paper indicates that fine jewelry is commonly designed to last, electronic products are not. This article is a great resource related to jewelry design and interaction design. Moreover, this article should be used by designers or students who want to use interactive technologies in traditional accessory design to enhance the visual performance and interactivity of the product.

6. Bibliography

• Adams, Randy, Gibson, Steve, & Arisona, Stefan Müller. (2008). Transdisciplinary Digital Art. Sound, Vision and the New Screen: Digital Art Weeks and Interactive Futures. Berlin, Heidelberg
• Bardzell, S., Rosner, D. and Bardzell, J. (2012). Crafting quality in design: integrity, creativity, and public sensibility. Newcastle, UK.
• Elblaus, L., Tsaknaki, V., Lewandowski, V and Bresin, R. (2015). Nebula: An Interactive Garment Designed for Functional Aesthetics. New York.
• López, K. (2013). Chinese Cubans: a transnational history. UNC Press Books.
• Whyte, M. K. (1993). Wedding behavior and family strategies in Chengdu. Chinese families in the post-Mao era, 17, 189.
• Pan, Y. and Blevis, E. (2014). Fashion thinking lessons from fashion and sustainable interaction design, concepts and issues. Vancouver, Canada.
• Schechner, R. (2002). Performance Studies: An Introduction. Routledge, USA and Canada.
• Seymour, S. (2008). Fashionable Technology: The Intersection of Design, Fashion, Science and Technology. Springer Wien, New York.
• Thomas, T. (2018). The wedding brawl on the road to goroka. Quadrant, 62(3), 103.
• Wright, P., Wallace, J. and McCarthy, J. (2008). Aesthetics and experience-centered design, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. 15(4), pp.1–21.