Toying with arthropods.

• Main Author: Tan, Ming Zhi.
• Other Authors: School of Art, Design and Media
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Visual arts and music::Design::Product
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/48824
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Through the eyes of a child, an insect crouching on the wall conjures up mixed feelings in them. Disgust, fear, paranoia, intrigue, inquisitiveness, wonder or even playful feelings are stirred. As adults and children grow up, they become immune and indifferent to the design of nature. Insects are often associated as pests, and with that the category of the unknown is attached to them; best viewed in science centres or insect parks secured well behind glass panels and wires. However the intriguing part of insects from a human’s perspective would be the insects’ unpredictability. There is often no indication of when would a grasshopper leap into the air and spread it’s’ wings, and where, or who it would decide to land on. Playing on this fear or intrigue of insects, this project chooses to adopt the movements as well as certain behaviours of several arthropods and merge them with a goal of bringing this unpredictable nature closer to people via design and the elements of fun. KUNCONG2012 is a series of toys that are designed specially to adapt to any smart phone model currently in the market regardless of iOS or Android systems and turn it into a mobile walking, thinking arthropod.