Multisensory Data Experience through Wagashi: Designer Talk and Workshop (organized by IDSA NYC + IDEO)

How might we create tangible experiences around data by engaging senses beyond the visual?
Data visualization is a powerful tool for making sense of complex information, but it often relies solely on the visual to communicate insights. Combining classic Japanese confectionary Wagashi with data analysis, multidisciplinary designer Tiange Wang shares her experimental approach of creating and sharing data stories through additional sensory elements like taste, smell, texture and physical interaction with the confectionary.

Wagashi are traditional Japanese confections deeply rooted in the idea of capturing the transience of seasons and reflecting the beauty of nature. Considered a microcosm of time and space, it is a perfect medium to embody the otherwise intangible information about the world. By embracing a sensory upgrade from data visualization to data physicalization, Data Wagashi turns data into an experience that is sharable among people and accessible to those with different sensory capabilities.

In this event, we will dive into Tiange’s process of concepting, designing and prototyping wagashi sets that physicalize emotions, climate and fragrance data, and engage in a hands-on design-thinking and generative workshop that helps you sketch out your own data wagashi set to make and share.

Come to hear the talk, enjoy the conversations, taste the sweets and push the boundary of communicating data stories.

Speaker Bio
Tiange Wang is a multidisciplinary software designer at IDEO, where she creates human- centered and data-driven experiences through UI/UX, frontend development, XR prototyping, spatial design and data visualization. She has worked across various industries in North America and Japan, and crafted user-friendly and culturally-sensitive experiences for clients from worldwide trading conglomerate to large biotechnology company to small home care brand.
Prior to IDEO, she was a design consultant to Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies in creating products that provide a seamless and accessible digital transformation experience for the world-renowned research institution, and collaborated with Harvard Innovation Labs in designing a venture around digital wellbeing.
As a creative technologist and former architect, Tiange designs for experiences that bridge the digital and physical worlds, including novel phygital interfaces, smart homes, educational games, unmanned retail, and spatial storytelling with extended realities and generative AI.

This virtual event is produced in collaboration with the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), IDSA’s NYC Chapter and IDEO.

Learn more at https://datawagashi-at-nycdesign.eventbrite.com.