Carla Diana
Carla Diana is a designer, author and educator who explores the impact of future technologies through hands-on experiments in product design and tangible interaction. She has designed a range of products from robots to connected home appliances, and her robot designs have appeared on the covers of Popular Science, Technology Review and the New York Times Sunday Review. Carla is currently Assistant Professor in Product and Industrial Design at Parsons the New School. She previously taught at several prestigious universities where she created some of the country’s first courses on designing smart objects. She is a Fellow at the innovation design firm Smart Design and an ongoing collaborator with the Socially Intelligent Machines Lab at the University of Texas, Austin, where advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are manifest in expressive robots.
She writes and lectures frequently on the social impact of robotics and emerging technology and created the world’s first children’s book on 3D printing, LEO the Maker Prince. Her seminal essay, “Talking, Walking Objects”, is a good representation of her view of our robotic future.
Carla holds a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the Cooper Union and an M.F.A. in 3D Design from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Talk: Robotics in Our Everyday Lives: A Product Designer's Perspective
Our everyday objects are about to get a boost from science fiction as robotics, artificial intelligence and camera vision become a part of home, work, medicine, sports and pretty much every other aspect of life. Things that were once silent and static can now sing, glow, buzz and be tracked online. Some are constantly listening for sounds, sights and touches to translate into meaningful inputs. Others have the ability to learn, refining their behaviours over time. They can be connected to one another as well as the Internet and will behave as robotic entities that accompany us through all aspects of everyday life.
In this talk, product designer and design futurist Carla Diana will explore the emergence of smart objects in the home, highlighting designers’ opportunities to pioneer new territory in rich interaction, while emphasising the importance of creating products that are meaningful and responsible. She will share case studies from the front lines of design and creative technology, showcasing how art, science and business are merging to enable new product experiences.
