Graduation Project Schedule
| Period | Content |
|---|---|
| June | Exploring artwork ideas, surveying related works/research examples, considering expression methods (why, how, by when) |
| Late July | Final seminar session -> Rehearsal for the mid-term presentation |
| Early August | Mid-term presentation (presentation format, 5 min talk + 5 min Q&A) |
| Around October | Graduation exhibition orientation |
| Early December | Finalizing booth specifications, submitting catalog data (concept, equipment used, photos) |
| Late January | Review session |
| Mid-February | Graduation exhibition |
Planning Your Research/Production for the Mid-Term Presentation
At the mid-term presentation at the end of the first semester, you will present your research and production plans for your graduation project in a presentation format. The following four items form the basic flow of your presentation materials.
1. Overview
First, briefly convey "What am I trying to create?"
To give the audience an overview of the entire presentation, briefly explain the overall picture of your work at the beginning. Ideally, you should be able to convey it in one sentence to a few lines, such as "I will create a work that provides XX experience using YY." Even if the details are not yet finalized, it is important to put your current vision into words.
2. Why Are You Doing This? (Motivation & Background)
Convince the audience "Why am I working on this theme?"
Your motivation can begin with personal interest or experience. For example:
- "I was moved by this experience -> I want to reproduce/expand it in a different form"
- "I noticed a problem in this everyday situation -> I want to externalize it as an artwork"
- "This sensory phenomenon is interesting -> I want to see what kind of experience it creates when applied to an artwork"
Adding social or academic context (e.g., issues identified in prior research) increases the persuasiveness of your research.
3. Comparison with Past Examples
Organize and present "Are there similar works or research in the past? How is my work different?"
Completely original ideas almost never exist. Rather, by researching and presenting past examples, you convey the positioning of your work to the audience. Points of comparison include:
- Differences in technology or media used
- Differences in the way of experiencing or interaction
- Differences in the targeted senses or affective information
- Differences in concept or message
The case studies from Research & Think come into play here.
4. Specific Research/Production Plan
Show your outlook for "How will I create it?" and "How will I proceed in the second semester?"
- Required materials & equipment --- Sensors, actuators, PC, speakers, etc., that you currently envision
- Production workflow --- A rough process such as prototype -> verification -> main production -> evaluation
- Second-semester milestones --- e.g., "Prototype completed by October," "Evaluation experiment in November," "Catalog data submission in December"
- Evaluation method outlook --- Which methods (SD method, UEQ-S, interviews, etc.) you will use to evaluate the work
TIP
It is perfectly fine if your plan is still rough at the time of the mid-term presentation. What matters is being able to communicate to others "what I want to do and how I plan to proceed." Use the presentation to receive feedback from faculty and seminar members, and apply it to your production in the second semester.
Using an AI Assistant for Research Theme Brainstorming
Developing research themes and examining artwork concepts can easily hit a dead end when thinking alone. To help with this, we have prepared a custom skill called research-brainstorm for an AI assistant.
By installing this skill, Claude.ai (Anthropic's AI assistant) functions as a brainstorming partner for research themes. You can do things like:
- Diverge and converge ideas (interactively expand or narrow down from "I'm thinking about this kind of theme...")
- Deepen themes ("Why is that interesting?" "What other approaches exist?")
- Support for surveying prior research and related examples
- Making research plans concrete (organizing research questions, examining experimental design)
Installation
Download the skill file from the link below
Open Claude.ai on desktop (browser or desktop app), go to "Skills" in the left sidebar, and add the skill file via the "+" icon to install (cannot be installed from the smartphone app)
After installation, activate the skill by saying things like "I want to brainstorm research themes" or "Help me think of a theme" to Claude.ai