Artifacts, Designers, Users

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How can an interactive, cyber-physical artifact support marginal groups to co-generate media and make this media visible and “heard” in the larger community?

How might a multi-sensory system support groups in sharing their sentiments and aspirations and cultivates affective bonding during quarantine?

How Can Inclusive Augmented Toys Enhance Social and Cognitive Skills in Children with Autism?

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How can a suite of interactive furnishing help elders to age in place more independently?

CoDAS - Co-design at Scale

The Design, Technology, and Society (DTS) Lab investigates the relationships between artifacts, human experiences, and societal structures through an interdisciplinary approach informed by Science and Technology Studies (STS), Philosophy, and Design Theory. Our research investigates how artifacts mediate human experiences, influence societal structures, and shape cultural values. We employ a combination of empirical research, speculative design, and critical inquiry to:

Design and analyze emerging technologies in the form of interactive environments, objects, and spaces that foster inclusivity, accessibility, and social engagement. Our work examines how technological artifacts shape and are shaped by societal needs, power dynamics, and cultural narratives.
Critically engage with material culture to uncover the sociotechnical, psychological, and political forces embedded in the design, production, and appropriation of emerging technologies.
Interrogate speculative futures by examining how design practices construct visions of the future, questioning who is included or excluded, and fostering alternative narratives that promote equity, sustainability, and pluralism.

Through our work, we seek to bridge theory and practice, producing knowledge that informs design methodologies while fostering socially engaged and critically aware design practices.