Yes! The design paper my team submitted for the CHI 2006 Student Design Competition is finally accepted into the next round of competition!! We originally did this project as an assignment in our class, and I’m glad our advisor Jodi Forlizzi encouraged us to submit the project for the competition. Considering how we managed to just spend 3 days putting together the project into a paper and poster for the submission, it was really a worthwhile effort to say the least.

We were tasked to design a service for personal monitoring of diet, exercise and health for individuals. We conceptualized and developed the prototype of a wearable watch-like device aimed to assist young women aged 18-25 to keep track of their diet and exercise habits. Our device encourages the user to balance the many aspects of attaining good health, including nutrition, exercise and the social aspects of health.

Read our paper and play with our prototype to find out more.

Way to go, Team AVIVA!

Modeling in Maya is really fun. After 4 weeks of lessons and workshops, I’m finally getting used to working in the program environment, and thinking 3D. One thing I’ve learned is that it’s god-damn tedious! I’ve done a low-polygon modeling of a 1923 Ford Model T car, and currently working on creating a NURBS humanoid face for my second assignment. For inspirations, I’ve found some very accomplished works out there. Hope I could attain such a level one day…

This Toyota Cecilia is one of the best car models I’ve seen on the web. Superb photorealistic rendering! Oh boy, I love the details on the wheels. When I’m ready, I’m going to take shot at modeling my Ford Escort ZX2.

I couldn’t believe this when I first saw it. This model of Zhang Ziyi looks like the real deal! Notice how Fangwei Lee, a technical artist from ETC @ CMU plays around with her facial expressions.