Over winter break I had the opportunity to catch up with old friends and it just so happens that majority of them are second generation kids like me. I'm in the process of setting up more formal interviews to get a better ideas as to who, what, where, when, why, and how families keep in touch with family members overseas. I'm hoping the interview process will spark conversations that will be enjoyable for all members of the family to share and discuss.
Mind Mapping
The Family Tree
One solution that I've been throwing around is this idea of an actual family tree. Most Cambodians in rural areas know how to grow things, it's a basic life skill. What if a digital tree could represent and archive a family's interactions? The more engagement a family has the more the tree grows.
Family members can relax under the tree and share stories. The tree will automatically record the story and a leaf will be produced once its been told. What if this tree could produce digital acorns that act as user profile? Each family member has their own acorn or an acorn that's associated to them. What if these acorns were the more mobile version of the tree that also has recording abilities? You could take an acorn out an about to show family members other aspects of your life. Additionally, if family members in a different country has a question the acorn would maybe glow and drop out of the tree for you to hear the question. Of course it will automatically translate the question so everyone can understand it.
With this idea what I still need to consider an equivalent version of the tree for family members in the first world or in cities where trees aren't really a practical thing. Maybe it's as simple as creating an online space, but I'm interested in creating a separate object like the tree that represents it's own type of moment and time.
good. nice writing, i like your "what if…" approach. make sure you get those images posted by the deadline (which is end of class) in the future.
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