Eric Zhou
Jars O.S
How might we limit childrens' screen time in a sustainable and self-regulating manner to reduce parental intervention?
When I think of our world, I see one in which an advancing civilization's technological reliance has become apparent. The human race has become so involved with technology that it is now an arm's length away at all times, in the forms of our phones. Our technological advancements have helped in our search for development of our social and even environmental solutions; however, surprisingly enough our minds do not have unlimited resources. There is a limited capacity for what our minds can consume on a daily basis, and we frequently surpass this limit, resulting in digital addiction. We often consume far beyond what is for our own good. Therefore, from personal and societal observations I have decided that my thesis will focus on combating this digital addiction in order to obtain a more sustainable mindset for future generations.
Insight
The world as we know it has changed: we could not have imagined that our technology has become so embedded in our environment that it is consistently at our fingertips. We are so accustomed to this data rich world that we forget to check out of it sometimes. With the onset of visual and audio interaction and soon to be augmented interactions, we are facing total technological integration. With all the good that comes with technology, I have also come to the realization that our integration with technology has harmed our human skills and brought rise to other mental and social issues. This is most prominent with the more recent generation born into this high tech world.
Idea
Jars O.S lets children of tomorrow integrate into our fast paced online world with a sustainable mindset, by letting them have clear direction pertaining to their technology use. This system allows them to have more authority over their own time with their digital devices, and fosters communication and negotiation on interaction time with technology between parent and child, to avoid unpleasant conflicts when it comes to ideal time and use of technologies.
Impact
Jars O.S hopes to one day change the way we integrate ourselves with technology. As technology advances are constant and forever more interactive, Jars aims to create a portal or framework for how to interact with technology in a sustainable and rewarding way. It hopes to eventually spark a change of making technology just a tool and no longer a lifestyle in and of itself.
Biography
Eric and his family immigrated to Canada when he was 3 years old. He is the first generation to attend university, so there were many cultural and lifestyle challenges to overcome. At a young age Eric was always curious and fairly stubborn; he would always be curious of the world around him and was stubborn when he had his mind set on something. This sometimes led down to some particularly bad decisions [i.e pulling a fire alarm when told not to (age 5)]. Of course, now after some maturing, he thinks twice before conducting such experiments.Now age 21 in the year 2021, Eric thinks critically about his surroundings and questions how one might impact this world for the better through design. The process of discovering, analyzing, and creating solutions to a problem is always super exciting for Eric. He is in constant search for opportunities to improve himself and his craft as a designer.