Chiang Wen Soon

Peranakan Language Tiles is an interactive experience that aims to educate users on Baba Malay terms describing different kuehs in Peranakan culture.

This is done through the physical pairing of mini Peranakan Tiles, each featuring syllables printed on their surfaces. When correctly paired, the tiles form a complete Baba Malay term that triggers the interface to create a 3D model representation of the kueh, allowing users to explore it through gestural inputs.

The experience uses a touch-visual-audio interface that introduce novel forms of hands-on interaction, allowing users to interact with tangible objects through hand gestures to create on-screen visual transformations.

Conventionally, exploring the textures and patterns of Peranakan tiles is limited to visual and tactile observation, but what if we can explore the integration of sounds?

This interactive interface enriches the learning process by introducing an auditory dimension, mapping specific audio beats to distinct elements of the tile's design. Each element of the tile's design represents different Peranakan instruments such as the rebana drum, guitar and the gambang. As users place the different tile components into the frame, collaging their own tile design, they are also layering the different beats together, creating a customised musical composition.

Ultimately, this multimodal approach enables participants to recall not only the look and feel of the textures, but also their corresponding sounds, enhancing the overall tactile learning experience.

After a photograph is taken, the film holds an invisible image, known as the latent image.

To make the image visible, the film is placed into the developer bath containing a chemical solution that darkens the parts of the film exposed to light. Specifically, the chemicals in the bath change the light-struck silver compounds into pure black silver, forming the image. Controlling how long the film remains in the bath is very important, as it determines the darkness and the level of detail in the final image.

This interactive experience aims to provide a hands-on opportunity for participants to develop film without the need to enter a dark room or interact with chemical solutions. Users select one of three film papers with a text description of the image it contains and place it into a developer tray. A colour sensor reads the film and triggers TouchDesigner visuals and audio, allowing the image and its soundscape to gradually develop.