Georgi V. Georgiev

University of Oulu · Center for Ubiquitous Computing

The analysis of conversations during design activity can facilitate deeper insights into design thinking and its relation to creativity. A semantic analysis approach was employed to explore the semantic content of communication and information exchange between students and instructors. The goal was to examine design conversations in terms of abstra...

Prototyping physical artifacts is a fundamental activity for both product development in industrial and engineering design domains and the development of digital fabrication skills. Prototyping is also essential for human-centric problem-solving in design education. Digital fabrication assists in rapid prototype development through computer-aided d...

Human creativity generates novel ideas to solve real-world problems. This thereby grants us the power to transform the surrounding world and extend our human attributes beyond what is currently possible. Creative ideas are not just new and unexpected, but are also successful in providing solutions that are useful, efficient and valuable. Thus, crea...

Design education utilising digital fabrication is characterised by a dynamic project-based learning environment in which ideas are embodied in prototypes. This environment affects the way design and fabrication activities are taught, including sustainability considerations in the process and the outcomes. With the objectives of refining the sustain...

Virtual reality (VR) offers excellent prospects for rehabilitation. The central concept of VR rehabilitation systems is to provide immersion and motivation to patients in the VR environment while they perform rehabilitation exercises in the physical world. However, existing VR-based rehabilitation solutions rely on conventional interaction devices,...

As culture affects creativity, researchers have analyzed the influence of culture on design creativity. However, their studies only concluded its positive or negative effects on creativity. Providing solutions after identifying problems is important , such as mitigating the adverse impact or magnifying the positive impact. Targeting the solutions,...

Extensive research has focused on the relationship between culture and creativity. However, related studies typically adopt national cultural values, set countries as independent variables to explore the relationship between culture and individuals’ creativity, or have inconsistent conclusions. Therefore, this study attempted to explore this relati...

The narrative essence of human nature is that humans are storytellers, and this ability helps to constitute our identities. Challenges that disrupt this innate ability are adverse events that affect the human perception of the world and undermine the meaning one finds in reality. Such events might range from short-term stressors to long-term testin...

Education in digital fabrication design is characterized by a dynamic project-based learning environment, where ideas are materialized into prototypes. This environment affects the way design activities are conducted, the content that is learned, and the types of outcomes. However, existing research into digital fabrication curricula focuses on the...

Fabrication laboratories (FabLabs) and makerspaces are used to transform ideas into tangible products. Used in a design–learning context, they can enhance cognitive and creative skills. Creativity is the pivotal ability to produce innovative outcomes in makerspaces, and several studies have attempted to understand the role of makerspaces and creati...

Extant research indicates that Chinese higher education has overlooked creativity. However, based on indirect clues, we infer that the degree of emphasis on creativity and related courses in Chinese higher education has changed. Therefore, we conducted a survey using a questionnaire to compare the creativity-related courses and adopted creativity m...

This study explores virtual reality (VR) as an emerging tool integrated into brainstorming activities to enhance creativity, and systematically reviews existing studies to provide an advanced literature review on this subject. Moreover, we propose a framework for enhancing creativity in virtual brainstorming (VB) based on the 4Ps (person, process,...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21650349.2022.2021480

For many outside of the scientific community, big data and the forms it takes, such as statistical lists, spreadsheets and graphs, often seem abstract and unintelligible. This book investigates how digital fabrication and traditional making approaches are being used to present data in newly engaging and interesting ways. The first part of the book...

Documentation is a common practice that constitutes an integral part of the design process in design education; for example, setting out the details of the fabrication process while designing a prototype in a digital fabrication laboratory (Fab Lab). In this article, we introduce a documenting application called Protobooth Oulu, with different feat...

Numerous higher education institutions offer courses aimed at enhancing learners’ creativity, especially in design studies. However, the differences in the adoption of creativity methods in teaching from educators' and students' perspectives are still underexplored. In this study, we used a custom-designed online survey questionnaire to understand...

This study aimed to capture the prototyping process in the context of design education using automated means. We used a course on creative design to deploy and test a system comprising blog-based documentation and a prototype capturing photo booth. Over the time span of several weeks, we gathered data relative to students’ weekly exercises and prot...

The extent to which designers can understand users often determines the quality of design outcomes. A deep understanding of users allows the designers to focus on the right problem and make optimal design decisions, which encouraged designers to empathize with users. However, the current imagination-based empathizing strategy appears to be too susc...

Prototyping is an essential activity in the early stages of product development. This activity can provide insight into the learning process that takes place during the implementation of an idea. It can also help to improve the design of a product. This information and the process are useful in design education as they can be used to enhance studen...

How to enhance creativity, especially by applying new technologies to creativity methods, is a question posed continuously by researchers. One reason for this is that creativity is an important part of people's daily lives and an essential component of society. Therefore, many methods to enhance creativity have been created, especially brainstormin...

Virtual Reality (VR) is progressively adopted at different stages of design and product development. Consequently, evolving interaction requirements in engineering design and development for VR are essential for technology adoption. One of these requirements is real-time positional tracking. This paper aims to present an experimental design of a ne...

Human creativity generates novel ideas to solve real-world problems. This thereby grants us the power to transform the surrounding world and extend our human attributes beyond what is currently possible. Creative ideas are not just new and unexpected, but are also successful in providing solutions that are useful, efficient and valuable. Thus, crea...

Our access to computer-generated worlds changes the way we feel, how we think, and how we solve problems. In this review, we explore the utility of different types of virtual reality, immersive or non-immersive, for providing controllable, safe environments that enable individual training, neurorehabilitation, or even replacement of lost functions....

This study proposed a fundamental technique for evaluating the preferences of interior space users by capturing their verbally expressed preferences and then determining word associations. To accomplish this, the Pajek visualization software for large network analysis was employed in conjunction with the USF Word Association dictionary to visualize...

Virtual reality (VR) technology has introduced a range of equipment, contexts, and stimuli with possible applications in the context of design creativity. In response, recent studies have investigated VR as a tool that can be applied to enhance creativity. As a part of such research, this paper reviews existing studies and provides a state-of-the-a...

The paper explores the ideation and design of a Virtual Reality (VR) proof-of-concept controller for rehabilitation of users with limited physical mobility (upper-limb disability). An existing tracker solution is used to map input (actions and movements) in VR. The main challenge was integrating some of the default functionalities existing in curre...

In this study, we formulate a framework to evaluate open-ended projects related to digital fabrication. The framework consists of two dimensions, i.e. human intellect and technology. Human intellect is judged by three sub-dimensions – creativity, computational thinking, and skills. In order to study the technology dimension, the four sub-dimensions...

The analysis of conversations maintained during the design activity can help to gain a better insight into design thinking and its relation to creativity. A semantic analysis approach was employed to inspect the content of communications and information exchange between students and instructors. The goal was to explore design conversations in terms...

Adopting immersive Virtual Reality (VR) technology in the early stages of design appeals to designers, as research has shown that immersing people in a virtual environment can efficiently elicit empathy and facilitate deeper understanding of out-group members. However, after exploring and synthesis literature across the fields of design, psychology...

To objectively and quantitatively study transcribed protocols of design conversations, we apply a semantic analysis approach based on dynamic semantic networks of nouns. We examined the applicability of the approach focused on a dynamic evaluation of the design problem solving process in engineering design educational settings. Using a case of real...

Design fixation refers to the designers’ inability to avoid becoming stuck with preexisting ideas in order to generate new ones. With the recent fast advancements and developments, XR has emerged as a powerful promising technology that can shed new light on this issue. Consequently, this paper aims at: (1) investigating the underlying mechanisms of...

The paper presents the application of non-specialized lexical database and semantic metrics on transcripts of co-design protocols. Three different and previously analyzed design protocols of co-creative sessions in the field of packaging design, carried out with different supporting tools, are used as test-bench to highlight the potential of this a...

Advances in virtual reality present opportunities to relive experiences in an immersive medium that can change the way we perceive our life stories, potentially shaping our realities for the better. This paper studies the role of virtual reality as a tool for the creation of stories with the concept of the self as a narrator and the life of the sel...

Virtual Reality is used in various ways for creating a storytelling experience. It gives us the opportunity to imagine one’s life events as a story, and in settings that are intended to aid the self, such as treatment of trauma, anxiety, phobia, etc. This paper discusses the ways that challenging experiences change the way people perceive their lif...

To objectively and quantitatively study transcribed protocols of design problem solving conversations, we propose a semantic analysis approach based on dynamic semantic networks of nouns constructed with WordNet 3.1 lexical database. We examined the applicability of the semantic approach focused on a dynamic evaluation of the design problem solving...

Analysing verbal data produced during the design activity is helpful to gain a better understanding of design creativity. To understand exchange of information in terms of creative outcomes, a semantic analysis approach was used to measure the semantic content of communications between students and teachers. The goal was to use this tool to analyse...

The early (pre-requirement) stages of product development can provide relevant insights into the creative design process. At these stages, the communication of ideas during the prototyping process can serve as a rich source for information. In this paper, we attempt to document physical prototypes generated during the design process. We describe th...

In this study, we discuss a structure for developing the skills and competencies required by the learning framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for future education. Given the broad range of skills and the numerous competencies required to meet the demands of future society, the proposed wider and higher-lev...

Maker educations and distributed educations are increasing in quantity and quality. This gives a possibility for academia to tap into interesting sources of knowledge outside the physical parameters of the institution, as well as outside formal education and traditional learning methods. However, academic recognition of such learning can be challen...

The aim of this study is to investigate the drivers of physical realization of meaningful objects, in particular, how these drivers can contribute to prototyping of products. An intensive digital fabrication workshop, a part of a summer school, is used as a case study. We discuss the results of the workshop in terms of the background of the partici...

Maker and DIY communities are constantly sharing tutorials, projects documentation, as well as design sketches and model files. Producing documentation of good quality has its challenges, one of them being the amount of time needed to generate it. In this paper, we present a software tool that assists makers and hobbyists in creating reports and tu...

We discuss the design and initial evaluation of Gravity of Thought Waterfall, which is designed to be a surprising and creative prototype. Users can control the visual "gravity" effect of the waterfall with an EEG headset. The potentially surprising interactions with the prototype are evaluated through a set of questionnaires and a survey. Results...

We describe the design and manufacturing process of an automation prototype for a workshop machine. We decided to augment and automate a Through Hole Plate machine in use, instead of buying a new one. To that end, we have built off-the-shelf modules that can be easily attached to the machine. The modules either augment the machine with new function...

Energy efficient personal transportation requires fuel-efficient and route aware driving. Driving coaching systems can provide to drivers all the information and guidance that is needed to learn these skills. However, persuading drivers to change their driving behaviour is a challenging task. The authors identify functional, design, safety, and per...

Digital fabrication is an educational and activity paradigm in which multidisciplinary knowledge, hands-on skills, and teamwork among the makers are essential for success. One of the most significant outcomes of digital fabrication is the product built using particular processes. It has been clearly demonstrated that this paradigm promotes creativi...

In this research, we studied the human dimensions of experience and knowledge, confidence, motivation, and fun with regard to four technological dimensions referring to a FabLab environment: 2D and 3D design, tools and machines, prototyping with electronics, and programming. An intensive, two-week training period for high school students in digital...

Digital fabrication laboratories (FabLabs) influence how we think, ideate, do, make, and create. To enable the full capacity of materialization of the most creative ideas in the FabLab, a fundamental understanding of the processes in the FabLab is required. To accomplish this, we propose a framework for dynamically and ubiquitously capturing human-...

In this research, we studied the human dimensions of experience and knowledge, confidence, motivation, and fun with regard to four technological dimensions referring to a FabLab environment: 2D and 3D design, tools and machines, prototyping with electronics, and programming. An intensive, two-week training period for high school students in digital...

Digital fabrication laboratories (FabLabs) influence how we think, ideate, do, make, and create. To enable the full capacity of materialization of the most creative ideas in the FabLab, a fundamental understanding of the processes in the FabLab is required. To accomplish this, we propose a framework for dynamically and ubiquitously capturing human-...

This study focuses on how products are viewed by their users. In order to capture users’ viewpoints, we focused on how the virtual 3D model of a product was examined (rotated/translated/moved by the user). We attempt to understand these viewing mechanisms by focusing on the dynamics of shifting viewpoints and verbal features during the generation o...

Here we propose an interactive system to augment creative design thinking using networks of concepts in a virtual reality environment. We discuss how to augment the human capacity to be creative through dynamic suggestions providing new and original ideas, based on specific semantic network characteristics. We outline directions to explore the stru...

Here we propose an interactive system to augment creative design thinking using networks of concepts in a virtual reality environment. We discuss how to augment the human capacity to be creative through dynamic suggestions providing new and original ideas, based on specific semantic network characteristics. We outline directions to explore the stru...

In order to support the design of products with innovative desired functions (creating the desired functions), this study aims to develop a methodology to create new scenes in which a new product may be used by synthesizing the existing scenes. The development of this methodology focused on thematic relations, which are the relationships between tw...

This study focuses on how products are viewed by their users. In order to capture users' viewpoints, we focused on how the virtual 3D model of a product was examined (rotated/translated/moved by the user). We attempt to understand these viewing mechanisms by focusing on the dynamics of shifting viewpoints and verbal features during the generation o...

This study outlines initial steps to define a new framework to measure relatedness, originality and creativity of student projects in FabLab environment. A default project topic provided to students in a 3D fabrication and prototyping class served as a basis to investigate originality on the functional component level. The added components with the...

Poster

This chapter focuses on design research that analyzes users’ tactual experience with product interfaces, especially, the analysis of users’ impressions of such experiences. In practice, a systematic approach is required to evaluate users’ interactions with product interfaces. Therefore, the research objective is to propose a systematic method and t...