Experiencing Abstract Information

'Experiencing Abstract Information' is a bachelor thesis by Stefan Kuzaj and Jochen Winkler. In a nutshell it's an interactive display for various data. I had the opportunity to interview Stefan during the EuroPrix 2010 since they were nominated in the 'Interactive Installations' category.

First of all, how did you come up with the idea for 'Experiencing Abstract Information'?

We read an article on how much people have to work in different cities to buy a Big Mac - that was the initial idea. Then we thought about what kind of topics we want to cover. Quite fast we agreed on focusing on sustainability. It was half a year of lot of research in the field of sustainability, how the people's behavior can be changed in that sense and so on. We wanted to display information that really touches people… it's not that important to show every bit of the information, every figure. As long as the people get the point and it's something they can relate to, we're happy.

And you also had that Water Pollution segment, which looks really nice. Can you tell me a bit more how you made it?

Yeah, it's actually real water. We used a water basin and the user puts the marker there… people don't believe it, they always think we used some kind of shaders and 3D graphics. Basically there's a camera underneath the basin and it tracks the movement of the markers and the data is projected that way too - on the actual water. That's how the illusion works - you create the pollution by yourself. You really see the water, you can touch the water and you create the information in the water.

So it's all about engaging the user to interact?

Right. And the user even has the power to choose whatever country is used… it's really just a prototype. There could be a lot more countries and a lot more functions. We didn't focus on the point of having thousands of functions. We just wanted to show the basic principle behind it. And all the feedback we got so far has been positive like "Oh, I really get the relation now" and "I really see how it's related to me". In some way, of course, it was a bit like we wanted to do something totally new, something no one has done before. As a designer you always have the urge to create something ground-breaking.

How long did it take to make the whole project?

It was about half a year, one semester. We started in October 2009 and finished the whole thing in February 2010. We had quite strict calendar given by our school - it had to be one semester since this was our bachelor thesis. Building the installation was done fairly quickly. It took only few weeks to execute so most of the time went into research and planning.

Did the original idea change a lot during making this project?

The actual plan changed quite a lot. We spent a lot of time thinking about different ideas and how could they be done in a exhibition. That's why we created 15 concepts first and then chose the three we would execute and include in the final installation. After that it was very straight-forward, though.

Have you thought about trying to earn some money with this project?

No, not at all. Basically our idea was to make some ground-breaking thing and that was it. Trying to market the project was never our focus.

So, why Europrix?

Basically we were a bit frustrated about the grades our teachers gave us and we decided to apply to every competition that was free. And of course Europrix is quite well-known too. We wanted to get the fame!

Are you working on some new project at the moment?

Unfortunately not. I'm currently studying Media & Interaction Design here in Graz. I just moved here a month ago so everything is moving pretty slowly at this point. We have a plan to attend a video festival that his held in Graz too. Me and my project partner don't want to do a video really, so we're trying to push it into different direction and make a video installation. Videos or animations are not my cup of tea, I'm a lot more fascinated by installations.

So how are you liking Graz so far?

I've lived here four months for my erasmus semester last year and that's why I'm back. It's a lovely city. There's so many students here and the whole atmosphere is really great. The university is quite a cool place because they are not too strict - you can still create your own individual projects how you want to. The school also invites lectures from all around the world very often. Actually when I spent those four months here I spoke more English than German. The whole feel of this place is definitely very international and global. I'm really glad that our teachers are so good in networking.

I haven't decided where I want to go on my erasmus period next year, but it seems that Graz is definitely an option then.

If you're going to come here next year you'll for sure meet me again because I'm an erasmus coordinator at the moment. That's also one of the reasons I came back here, because when I spent my erasmus semester here with other 150 erasmus students, the whole atmosphere was so international. Like I said I spoke more English here than German. And of course the party scene is unbelievable!

That's good to know! Thanks for the interview and good luck on saturday!