Flavor Play was created in collaboration with Electrolux to inspire creativity in the kitchen by providing visual flavor-matching information. Shop for the freshest food without planning what meal you are going to make. Then at home, pick any number of ingredients that inspire you and place them on your kitchen counter. The system recognizes them and displays flavors that compliment your choices. All of your allergies, dislikes or dietary requirements are considered. Expand different flavor categories to see more choices and get inspired by unexpected matches. As you add new items to your ingredient node from the recommended choices, the flavor pairs are dynamically updated to match all your selections. When you're happy with your choices, get creative knowing that they will combine deliciously. If you're looking for a little extra inspiration, browse through recipes that use your chosen ingredients or get tips from professional chefs on preparing your selections.

Rethinking the cooking experience

The cooking process is generally though of as follows: find a recipe in a cookbook > write a list of ingredients > go to the supermarket and get ingredients > make the meal.
Talking to many different people revealed that the process often looks much more like this: open the fridge > see what's available > make something out of the available ingredients and the ideal creative cooking experience looks much more like this: go to markets and fresh food stores > see what looks the freshest > possibly look for inspiration in a cookbook > create a masterpiece out of the carefully selected ingredients.  At the heart of it all is the aesthetic experience of looking at, touching, smelling and carefully selecting fresh ingredients.

Spark with Aesthetec

Interactive installation at The Calgary science center

During the summer of 2010 I interned at Aesthetec studios in Toronto.  I helped with design and implementation of the exhibits at the Calgary Science Center. The project was finished after I left.  

About Spark from Aesthec's website : Opened to the public in October 2011, TELUS Spark is Canada's first new purpose-built science centre in more than 25 years. An impressive building of 153,000 square feet in size, TELUS Spark features four main exhibit galleries, a Creative Kids museum, and Calgary's first HD Digital Dome Theatre. Along with the new facility is a new approach for a science centre: exhibits at TELUS Spark are designed to ignite curiosity by encouraging the audience to play and explore new activities.

Here is a video of the finished exhibits:

Donor Alcove

With Aesthetec

Aesthetec Studio was commissioned to design and build a very unique donor recognition structure for University of Waterloo's Engineering Department's "Vision 2010" fundraising campaign. Housed in the brand-new, state-of-the-art facility Engineering 5, which is home to Waterloo's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, and Systems Design Engineering, the Donor Alcove is designed to celebrate these disciplines and reflect the architectural design of the building itself.

The semi-circle all-aluminum frame holds 14 columns of clear acrylic name plates. Each column is controlled by robotic servo motors which are attached on both ends. This allows the columns to rotate according to programmed animations. The top rail of the frame is also fitted with 11 sonar sensors for presence detection. As the viewer stands in front of the columns to read the names of the donors, the columns respond by turning towards the viewer. When no one is around, the columns turn and twist in pattern, as if they have a life of their own.

School projects

Data Cube

Interactive Sauna

Messenger Buddha