Student Work Examples: Life Tiles

Life Tiles are a set of small LCD panels housed in a brushed aluminum frame. The tiles uniquely represent an element of life - water, wind, soil, and vegetation. Each tile is part of a larger ecosystem, and the proximity of tiles to one-another affects the way this ecosystem works. Placing the water tile closer to the flower tile may produce more flowers; these flowers will slowly begin to find their way into the soil tile, and may blow across the wind tile when a heavy breeze rolls by.

The Tiles tap into a deep rooted desire for humans to be with nature, to displace us from the struggles of everyday life. Creating a lucid environment that reacts with itself makes the perception of that much more believable. The sets provide the user with a feeling of peace, they know that the environment they have created is sustaining itself and reacting with the home that it lives in. At the core of the product are the unique experiences gained each time the tiles are used, never repeating the same interaction twice is what makes the relationship that forms so involving. They are designed to be cherished and if they are not cared for, they will fade and die.

Click here to view a process book documenting the development of Life Tiles (6 meg .pdf)

Shown: Life Tiles, developed by Aaron Moulton