Feno, the “smart electric toothbrush,” promised to take a two-minute toothbrushing routine and bring it down to 30 or even 20 seconds by swabbing each of my teeth at once. The Feno Smartbrush makes brushing faster, but in exchange it requires you to shove an entire mouthpiece in your piehole twice a day just to cut down on a total of three minutes of brushing time. If there is one thing to take away from this review, it’s that even if tech works, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better than what we already have. The “toothbrush” has been at the side of my bathroom sink for more than three weeks. It has technically saved me time. I would even go as far as to say it may do the job of a regular toothbrush with less time to get there. Still, given the choice, I would rather reach for my non-motorized, dentist-recommended toothbrush—if only because I know it works. After consulting with the companies and non-affiliated dentists, I’m more bemused that the Feno exists at all. This is a device that costs $300 for the “Founder’s Edition” bundle. The company recently said it would increase the price to $400, blaming tariffs for the rising cost. As the time of this publishing, that new price hasn’t yet materialized. The box comes with three canisters of brand-specific Feno Foam toothpaste. After you run out, you’ll need to spend $30 to get an extra three canisters. Feno also recommends replacing the mouthpiece every three months, costing another $30. Feno Smartbrush It may brush all your teeth for quicker cleans, but its too much of an unknown to recommend. Pros Cons My dentist gave me my last manual toothbrush for free. A tube of toothpaste was $5. Despite the price, the company behind the smart toothbrush has one compelling pitch. If people were honest with themselves, most folks do not do the recommended amount of brushing. I fit into that camp for most of my life, until the point I went to my dentist and found I needed to have multiple caps on my molars, requiring I spend a hefty chunk of change for the privilege of having my teeth ground down to nubs. Since then, I’ve become very sensitive to the state of my pearly whites. I try to do the full two minutes of brushing and floss every day, but the Feno is supposed to help by shortening the brushing time and helpfully counting you down with an on-screen timer. My dentist was skeptical about the device’s claims, especially whether it was offering proper back-and-forth brushing technique. The American Dental Association has a Seal of Acceptance tested by the organization for products that are recommended by dentists. Neither Feno’s brush nor special toothpaste are on that list of products with the ADA seal. All I have to go on is Feno’s own claim that it’s doing what it needs to do to clean my teeth and remove plaque. For cleaning, the device makes use of pressure sensors alongside the mouthpiece’s 18,000 bristles, which Feno claims can hit 250 strokes per tooth in 20 seconds. It’s using a sweeping motion along the teeth, which dentists recommend when brushing, but there’s no published science to say the Feno is particularly better than other, similar devices. Feno told me the company has scientific research pertaining to how effective the device is, but it’s pending scientific review and won’t be available until some unknown date. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Feno revels in Silicon Valley startups’ worst habits. Every time you turn it on, the smart toothbrush bombards you with a QR code to download an app for all its controls, rather than including those on-device. The Feno toothbrush can incite the same gag reflex you know if you’ve ever played a contact sport requiring a mouth guard. The device is big enough that you have to open wide to fit the whole thing in at once. Brushing with the Feno is not an entirely passive experience, either. Feno’s founder, Dr. Kenny Brown, told me his company recommends moving the brush side to side while the mouthpiece actuates. On its highest settings, the Feno rattled my jaw and made my entire head shake like a marionette piloted by a mad puppeteer. With those speeds, I could feel the mouthpiece rubbing the inner cheek raw. At normal speeds, the Feno was uncomfortable but still usable without any pain. Feno also advises some gums may bleed if you haven’t been doing proper brushing technique for too long, but I didn’t find the bristles were any more abrasive to my gums than a regular toothbrush. The device running on default settings for 30 seconds seems engineered for most mouths. The company claims its device works with regular toothpaste, but when I plastered some gel to the bristles and stuck it in my mouth, it resulted in a sludgy mess at the bottom of the mouthpiece that took far longer to clean than the typical quick rinse. The foam toothpaste doesn’t leave your mouth full of the typical minty taste of fluoride and baking soda you normally associate with the feel of a clean mouth. As a point in favor of the Feno, that minty-fresh taste in your mouth isn’t actually indicative of clean teeth, according to Dr. Edmond Hewlett, a professor at UCLA’s School of Dentistry and a consumer advisor for the American Dental Association. Brown told me the company plans for updated toothpaste that adds a lingering minty taste in the mouth, as apparently I wasn’t the only one who spoke up on that lack of “clean” feeling. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Knowing my dentist appointments are near for even more fillings, the Feno would not only need to be good, but even better at cleaning my teeth than the typical electric brush. Even if I felt it may be hitting all my teeth, the device didn’t leave me feeling clean, not least because I had no control over it. Even if the Feno full-mouth toothbrush wasn’t uncomfortable, wasn’t expensive, didn’t require an app, and worked well with regular toothpaste, it would still be hard to make any claim it results in better cleaning than your regular $7 toothbrush you buy from any local pharmacist. Using the smart toothbrush, you can’t tell what’s happening to your teeth. You can’t tell if it’s hitting all the nooks and crannies. That’s going to be a concern when everybody’s set of teeth is different. The Feno is supposedly designed so that all its bristles hit all different kinds of teeth at the correct 45-degree angle to the gums, but what really matters is if it adds anything to your brushing routine. “The critical question of any device like this is if it’s better than a toothbrush,” Hewlett told me. “It’s clear that using a toothbrush properly is one of the most effective things a person can do themselves to preserve their teeth.”

House for Lisa and Bert / Alpina ArchitectsSave this picture!Courtesy of Alpina ArchitectsHouses•Ixelles, Belgium Architects: Alpina Architects Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2024 More SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. From Racines, you can look down on Vipiteno from above. Here, architecture blends seamlessly into a striking Alpine landscape; the built environment engages in a measured dialogue with the mountains, respecting centuries-old building traditions rooted in a smart economy of resources and an innate ability to adapt, even through the harshest winters. Within this context stands an old farmhouse, the subject of our intervention, soon to become the home of Lisa and Bert.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Existing Conditions - The project revolves around the renovation of a traditional farmhouse, perched within a landscape where the balance of solid and void, built and natural, defines the very quality of living. This is a typical Alpine farmhouse, characterised by solid stone walls and a double-pitched timber roof. Its internal layout reflects the typological organisation of rural Alpine dwellings: the ground floor is primarily residential, while the attic space has traditionally served as storage and utility space. The floor plan follows a tripartite layout, structured around a central circulation core. One distinctive feature of farmhouses in this valley is the hayloft, which is directly integrated into the main residential volume. Now obsolete in its original function, it offers significant potential for new uses. The challenge of the project is to intervene without disrupting the existing balance—to preserve the essence of the farmhouse, its history, while allowing it to embrace new life.Save this picture!Vision and Functional Programme - Lisa and Bert, a young couple, envision a home that is both deeply rooted in tradition and open to new ways of living. They dream of a space that enhances their connection to the landscape, allowing for seamless transitions between indoors and outdoors—a home that balances intimate spaces with large openings towards the Alpine surroundings. The programme calls for the division of the building into two distinct residential units: a holiday apartment on the lower floor and the main residence spanning the ground floor and attic. A key design choice is the inversion of conventional living arrangements—placing the main living area in the attic to take advantage of the height and natural light, creating open, panoramic spaces.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Design Approach - The project is based on a reinterpretation of the traditional farmhouse typology, maintaining its primary structural elements while reorganising the interior with a fresh spatial logic. The renovation of the existing building is conceived as an act of continuity—a transformation that renews without erasing, reinterpreting form and function through a contemporary lens while preserving the constructive memory of the place. The ground floor houses the bedrooms, conceived as sheltered, intimate spaces, while the attic is dedicated to the living area, unfolding as a fluid, open space closely connected to the surrounding landscape. The intervention on the hayloft creates a new threshold between the home and the outdoors, providing covered parking and a generous entrance area. A light timber staircase leads up to the upper level, where the kitchen and living room merge into a single, light-filled space, crowned by a rhythmic sequence of exposed beams that amplify the spatial perception. Opposing loggias and fully glazed gables frame breathtaking views of the mountain landscape. Strategically placed skylights ensure carefully calibrated zenithal lighting, strengthening the home's connection to the sky. A Leseerker (a reading bow-window) on the first floor serves as a cosy retreat, offering a suspended view over the valley. New balconies, designed with slender steel cable railings, extend along the east and west façades, creating sheltered outdoor spaces that open directly onto the Alpine scenery. A sequence of vertical wooden slats, arranged in a dynamic rhythm, generates a play of solid and void, filtering views while ensuring privacy and protection.Save this picture!Materiality - The project embraces a sustainable and site-sensitive approach, selecting local materials and construction techniques that align with tradition. The existing structure is preserved and reinforced, with plastered walls treated in soft, natural pigments that harmonise with the surrounding landscape. The attic extension is clad in larch, a material that evolves over time, acquiring a silver-grey patina that reflects the continuous dialogue between architecture and nature. The balconies, also in larch, reference the Alpine vernacular. This material selection is not merely aesthetic—it expresses a deliberate intent to create an architecture that becomes part of the landscape, where every detail contributes to a larger narrative of memory, historical layering, and dialogue with the territory.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less About this officeAlpina ArchitectsOffice••• MaterialWoodMaterials and TagsPublished on May 23, 2025Cite: "House for Lisa and Bert / Alpina Architects" 23 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1030372/haus-fur-lisa-und-bert-alpina-architects&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

In an excerpt from the e-book, User interface design and implementation, veteran game designer Christo Nobbs examines the interplay between UI and game design.Our e-book, User interface design and implementation, illustrates how UI artists and designers can build better interfaces in Unity. The guide covers workflows for the two UI systems available in Unity, but the primary focus is on Unity UI Toolkit for Unity 2021 LTS and beyond. Christo Nobbs, the game designer who was also a major contributor to The Unity game designer playbook, shares a section that he provided for this latest guide on how UI and game design can create rich immersion to keep your players captivated.Successful games are immersive. Whether it’s a VR simulation or mobile role-playing game (RPG), a great game transports us to a different world.Immersion requires a delicate balance of UI and game design. The UI needs to be functional – but within the confines of the game’s art direction and overall identity. The trick is using the right UI for the right situation.Should you show an onscreen icon when a player picks up an item or defeats an enemy, or is that too distracting? Could a misplaced pop-up take the viewer out of the action? These are the kinds of questions you’ll need to consider as a UI designer and artist in the larger context of your game.One current trend is diegetic UI. Today’s game players inherently recognize traditional extra-diegetic UIs, such as health bars or menu screens, as conventions of the medium. They’re artificial devices plastered on the “fourth wall” to communicate with the user. But diegetic UIs, conversely, embed themselves into the story and narrative. They make parts of the game world function as a user interface.Imagine a game character that pulls out an empty weapon magazine in a scripted Timeline sequence. That animation can replace a head-up display (HUD)-based ammo counter.The Dead Space series is often cited as a prime example of diegetic interface. Here, the player dons a sci-fi survival suit, which motivates the game’s UI. The suit’s holographic display projects in-game statistics and inventory, as well as colored lights on its spine that double as a health indicator. The result is a built-in UI seamlessly integrated into the story.In iRacing by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations, realistic in-car dashboard indicators show damage, which also affects the car’s handling. The player understands there’s something wrong with the vehicle through audio and visual cues, rather than an explicitly flashing vignette or HUD icon.On the flip side, if a game is tooimmersive, the designer can build an “out.” A horror game can give the player a “safe word” with a pause button. This intentionally breaks immersion if scenes become too intense.Experienced designers understand that the UI must fit with the game’s identity. The interface needs to be clean, readable, and appropriate for the situation. With today’s hardware, you can realize advanced UIs that support the story you are trying to tell.At the other end of the spectrum, competitive games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, or CS:GO, Overwatch, and League of Legends depend on UIs that gather information. They use HUDs that must be efficient and assist in gameplay. Diegetic interfaces are less appropriate here. Breaking that fourth wall can actually make for a better game.Since the players have a keen awareness that they are participating in a planned experience, the interface helps them assess the “playing field” – remaining time, team rosters, vitals, minimaps, etc. In some ways, this reflects a sporting event, where the broadcast UI updates its spectators.Whether they’re showing team positions or illuminating players through walls, these UIs have the effect of enhancing strategy and tactics. They can also build suspense for the player and heighten the experience. Thanks to the UI, being a spectator after losing an online match can sometimes be as entertaining as playing.In World of Tanks, the spatial UI elements appear above each player’s tank to relay information about teammates and enemies; things like their name, tier, health, and tank icon. The HUD point bar, navigation elements, and minimap all share a clean and direct visual language.By working with your designer, you can better understand the game’s UI needs. Gameplay is a balance between challenging your players and sharpening their skills. Ideally, this will pass through the Flow channel (see the chart below).Tilt too far to one side and you risk boring your players. To alleviate that, reduce UI elements and increase the challenge level. Then you can force the player to puzzle through the gameplay without too much assistance.Making the game too difficult, on the other hand, can result in anxiety. In this case, adding UIs can lessen gameplay confusion and get your target complexity back on track.Think of UI as a design device meant to steer your game into this Flow channel. An interface shouldn’t waste the viewer’s time. It should clearly communicate its content (e.g., load out, health, etc.), but nothing else. Your designer will likely go through numerous iterations as the product evolves into its shippable form. Let the players – and the gameplay – work out the rest.Tip: UI text You might want to use less text in your interfaces to improve their focus. Small adjustments to icons, fonts, and layout can all impact game pacing. Less text, where appropriate, can also make it easier to localize your game.For more UI text tips, see Joseph Humfrey’s 2018 GDC talk, Designing text UX for effortless reading.Interface designers today have a vast library of game applications to learn from. You can explore them through the Game UI Database. This massive, searchable site allows you to filter by HUD element, type, style, and feature, among other categories. Use it to pore over hundreds of published games and study their in-game menus and screens.Another great resource is Interface in Game. It features video clips of UI elements you can browse. Use this database to search a wide range of titles by platform and genre. Need to polish up some visual effects or UI details? You’re likely to find a reference here.As you examine more game interfaces, you’ll begin to perceive patterns, especially by genre. In a first-person shooter (FPS), for example, we expect to see the health stats at the bottom of the screen. It’s almost an established convention, since so many applications have done it this way.When designing a UI, it’s important to capture the genre’s visual language. If you’re building an RPG, look at how other RPGs handle inventories, skill trees, leveling up, etc. Make something that players are already familiar with, so they can jump right into the gameplay with an understanding of the established style.UI design patterns aren’t random. They’ve evolved over time through a sort of collaborative effort. Designers have already figured out what works, and new designs are simply building on an existing game canon. Learn from these past design decisions. You’ll not only save yourself time, but appease your players as well, who will be expecting certain patterns and visuals in the game.For more information on UI design patterns, read Best practices for designing an effective user interface by Edd Coates, a senior UI artist from Double Eleven.UI Toolkit sample – Dragon Crashers is a demo available to download for free from the Unity Asset Store. This sample demonstrates how you can leverage UI Toolkit for your own applications, and involves a full-featured interface over a slice of the 2D project Dragon Crashers, a mini RPG, using the Unity 2021 LTS UI Toolkit workflow at runtime.You can find more advanced e-books for Unity creators on our How-to hub.

Though many of the old artists’ residences have been gobbled up by new high-rises, pockets of nostalgia persist on the streets of New York’s NoHo neighborhood. Nine years ago, New Operations Workshop founder Gabriel Yuri was fortunate enough to find one when his real estate broker showed him a partially renovated 860-square-foot studio apartment in a 19th-century building that had been, at different times, a furrier, an artist refuge, and a home for women. Even in its haphazard state—with new walls plastered over some of the 1830s brickwork and half-finished hardwood flooring—the Diller Scofidio + Renfro alum could see the potential.Gabriel Yuri sits at a Tom Dixon screw table in the dining area, where custom shelving, a George Nelson pendant, and his grandmother’s Jens Risom chairs play off one another in their round and linear forms. “Most of what I was finding had been renovated to remove the charm,” Yuri remembers of the boring box apartments that had dominated the listings. “I wanted something that had history and character, so it was great that I got to this one while it still had some of that intact.”Many might have been daunted by the workload, but Yuri welcomed the challenge. He spent nearly four years peeling back the renovations—often himself, sometimes with the help of a handyman—restoring the original pine floors in the living room and revealing more of the existing brick, exposed pipework, and steel beams that had been covered up throughout the space. And his lucky streak continued: When new neighbors discarded the original tin ceiling tile during their own renovation, Yuri installed them in his kitchen and entry hallway—a sweet nod to the building’s past that complements the new industrial-style steel kitchen cabinetry. He also found original transom windows, which he used above the bedroom door to allow light to penetrate deeper into the apartment, and crafted a banquette sectional sofa and daybed in the living room to hide structural adjustments from the building’s façade work.A plaster of Paris bust of Yuri’s grandmother sits atop an old I-beam side table in the entry hallway, signaling the apartment’s industrial-chic aesthetic. The Tutsi milk jug was bought at auction. “I wanted to embrace the industrial aesthetic but also elevate it by blending it with a collection of things with balance and harmony,” says Yuri. In the living room, that meant pairing a vintage Hans Wegner lounge chair inherited from his grandmother with a sculptural Hinterlands cocktail table. But while the building itself served as an architectural muse, Yuri found inspiration in yet another beacon from a bygone era: his grandmother, who passed away just before he purchased the loft. “She wasn’t a designer but had the most incredible design sensibility,” he says. He repurposed her collection of midcentury furnishings—including the Jens Risom chairs in the dining room and the Hans Wegner lounge chair in the living room—as well as artwork and artifacts from her home in Queens. In the bedroom, he incorporated her stained glass pocket doors as a room divider and created a wood-and-cement-block bookcase inspired by the ones she often crafted herself. “The whole time I was keeping an eye out for what could fit in,” he says, noting the pops of red that were her (and his) favorite color. “It felt good to keep these things that I had grown up with and give them a new life.”Blended with contemporary additions, like the Tom Dixon table in the dining room and the live-edge platform bed in the bedroom, midcentury lighting that bridges the modern and industrial aesthetics at play, plus pieces picked up on his travels, the eclectic mix imparts layers of soul that give Yuri’s home a cocooning feeling of warmth and personal history.“The biggest response I get is how calm it feels,” he says. “I’m a homebody. I like to read and listen to albums and usually work from home. It’s nice to be surrounded by so many references to the past in such a busy, constantly changing city.”Above the custom Maharam-upholstered banquette sofa, Yuri has arranged an assortment of artwork on a steel shelf, including works by Paul Sepuya, Sarah Oppenheimer, and his mother, as well as a self-made piece that was once on display in the lobby of the Guggenheim. The table lamp is by In Common With, and the wood-and-steel magazine rack is of his own design. A memento from his time working at the iconic Starrett-Lehigh building, the hanging window acts as a divider between the living and dining areas. The transom windows that appear in the newly erected bedroom wall, which was started before Yuri purchased the apartment but redone in a much slimmer configuration, were found on site, and Yuri installed a herringbone floor over the previous owner’s renovations. Steel cabinetry and stained butcher block countertops from IKEA give the kitchen a sleek update. A seagrass CB2 rug, an Alvar Alto stool, and a city-themed drying rack by Seletti, as well as a collection of his grandmother’s vintage Hasami pottery and a conical tea kettle by Aldo Rossi for Alessi, infuse the space with warmth and personality. A custom oak platform bed adds earthy elegance in the bedroom, a space made cozier with custom felted wool drapery, cotton cashmere sheets by RH, and a throw blanket by El Rey for Nordic Knots. A pair of Yuri’s grandmother’s Arthur Umanoff side chairs create a sense of symmetry, as do the antique glass naval sconces and reclaimed pine flooring. Inspired by the simple bookshelves his grandmother made in her Queens, New York, home, Yuri crafted this efficient cinderblock and wood organizational system in the bedroom. Yuri painted the existing clawfoot tub in Farrow & Ball’s Off Black to coordinate with the new RH vanity and slate tile flooring for a moody effect against the existing brick walls.

BY2K Membero Americo The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 5,044 Québec, Canada Ask the Developer Vol. 18: Mario Kart World — Part 1 - News - Nintendo Official Site This article has been translated from the original Japanese content. This interview was conducted before the game was released. In this 18th volume of Ask the Developer, an interview series in which developers convey in their own words Nintendo's th… www.nintendo.com - World's development started in late 2017 after ARMS was complete. - Started as a Switch 1 game before being moved to Switch 2 in 2020 after work on the Booster Course Pass for 8 Deluxe started to not compromise on the game's ambitions. - Would have been called Mario Kart 9 if the game was simply a follow-up to 8 Deluxe with new tracks. - Soundtrack uses more live instruments this time around. - The soundtracks includes 200 tracks, "all brand-new arrangements". - One day cycle is 24 minutes of in-game time. - Rail and Wall Riding was added to make driving between tracks less boring. - 100 tracks in the game if you count all the variable path between tracks. - Karts can be customized with stickers you find in Free Roam.   Last edited: Today at 9:57 AM Neoxon Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst Member Oct 25, 2017 93,490 Houston, TX I guess the MK9 part was before Tour became a finalized thing. Still, makes sense that such an ambitious game took so long. Also, EPD 9 specified Late 2017 for the start of development (after ARMS's DLC was finished). EDIT: Or not, Tour was released in 2018.  Last edited: Today at 9:57 AM mrmickfran The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 33,200 Gongaga The soundtracks includes 200 tracks, "all brand-new arrangements". Click to expand... Click to shrink... Music to my ears (literally)  Finiri6143 Member Mar 16, 2022 3,251 Neoxon said: I guess the MK9 part was before Tour became a finalized thing. Still, makes sense that such an ambitious game took so long. Click to expand... Click to shrink... You think it would have been call MK10 in the current climate otherwise if they stuck to the traditional game formula? I don't think so.   Bear Member Oct 25, 2017 12,305 Would not have guessed that this has been in the oven longer than GTA6 lol.   Kevers The Fallen Oct 29, 2017 15,882 Syracuse, NY 8 Years in Dev? Goddamn.   Shoichi Member Jan 10, 2018 12,476 Hopefully they allow players to change what music is selected in the jukebox, guessing it's just an automatic selection So, what did you do with the music for modes like Free Roam, where the route isn't fixed? For other modes like Free Roam, we prepared lots of music in addition to course themes and made it so the game would automatically select the right track depending on the situation. During development, we called this the "jukebox." For this, we created lots of arrangements of music composed for past Asahi:Super Mario™ and Mario Kart games. You're not only rearranging the music but also revamping the mechanism for how the music is selected and played, right? You said you created a lot of musical tracks, but how many pieces did you end up with? Altogether, over 200 for the "jukebox." These are all brand-new arrangements, and we also did live recordings. We prepared pieces from quite a wide variety of musical genres. I believe those who are well-versed in video game music, as well as those who aren't, will enjoy listening to them. Asahi: Click to expand... Click to shrink...   Bucca Banned Oct 25, 2017 5,529 Started in 2017? Christ alive they've been simmering this for a while   ned_ballad One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 50,558 Rochester, New York lol one dev just drew a cow in a truck as a silly thing and they ended up loving it so much they added the cow as a character   NINTENDOTHEGOAT Member Mar 3, 2025 7 Can't wait easily my most anticipated game this year along with Donkey kong bananza.   Neoxon Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst Member Oct 25, 2017 93,490 Houston, TX Bucca said: Started in 2017? Christ alive they've been simmering this for a while Click to expand... Click to shrink... They seem to have gotten straight to work after Dr. Coyle released for ARMS.   cw_sasuke Member Oct 27, 2017 29,988 Damn, they been cooking for a while.   DNAbro Member Oct 25, 2017 30,050 Here are the full quotes So, the various courses are interconnected. Could you tell us how development for this game got started?: We were thinking about what to do for the next YabukiMario Kart game even during the development of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and we began prototyping in March 2017. It was at the end of that year when we officially started work on it as a project. I felt that in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, we were able to perfect the formula that we'd been following in the series up to that point, where players race on individual courses. That's why, this time, we wanted the gameplay to involve players driving around a large world, and we began creating a world map like this. When did you decide to move development of this game to Nintendo Switch 2? Yabuki-san first brought it up around 2020. Back then, we already had an idea of the next system's expected specs, but it wasn't until a bit later that we actually received working development units. Until then, we just had to proceed with development based on provisional estimates. Sato: This game has been in development for over 8 years which is insane. If people are wondering why we didn't get an original Mario Kart for Switch 1, we now know they tried.  ResidentDoom Member Sep 13, 2024 147 8 years seems excessive tbh It better deliver  finally Member Jul 22, 2019 1,537 $10 for each year in development   Finiri6143 Member Mar 16, 2022 3,251 ResidentDoom said: 8 years seems excessive tbh It better deliver Click to expand... Click to shrink... The chances of it not delivering is extremely low to be honest.   Mr. Lemming Member Oct 25, 2017 643 ned_ballad said: lol one dev just drew a cow in a truck as a silly thing and they ended up loving it so much they added the cow as a character Click to expand... Click to shrink... "Ishikawa: Cow is actually a pivotal character in the Mario Kart series. "  mavericktopgun Member Oct 27, 2017 5,447 Can't wait to play this damn game!!!!   Aleh Member Oct 27, 2017 20,093 Thank FUCK they didn't do another MK on Switch.   RailWays One Winged Slayer Avenger Oct 25, 2017 18,327 BY2K said: - Soundtrack uses more live instruments this time around. - The soundtracks includes 200 tracks, "all brand-new arrangements". Click to expand... Click to shrink... I know this OST is about to be peak   Lotus One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 124,059 2017? Goddamn   Jaded Alyx Editor-in-chief at SpecialCancel.com Verified Oct 25, 2017 40,219 The Duskbloods also started dev for the Switch   JoJo'sDentCo Unshakable Resolve Member Oct 25, 2017 9,277 ResidentDoom said: 8 years seems excessive tbh It better deliver Click to expand... Click to shrink... lol it will   Stairouais One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 3,047 France mrmickfran said: Music to my ears (literally) Click to expand... Click to shrink... Can't wait to have 15 of them on Nintendo music app  Zonic Member Oct 25, 2017 37,022 TWO HUNDRED SONGS?! If this is on par with the quality of MK8/D's soundtrack, this is gonna be OST of the year easily.  Truno Member Jan 16, 2020 5,735 ResidentDoom said: 8 years seems excessive tbh It better deliver Click to expand... Click to shrink... 8 years is not a good thing. It points to development issues  Zebesian-X Member Dec 3, 2018 25,336 8 years of development, $80. That's how that works right? Super excited, it's crazy how long they had us on MK8  Bucca Banned Oct 25, 2017 5,529 Mr. Lemming said: "Ishikawa: Cow is actually a pivotal character in the Mario Kart series. " Click to expand... Click to shrink... They've been there when we needed them the most. Chilling in Moo Moo Meadows.   Hollywood Duo Member Oct 25, 2017 55,009 Well considering 8 was a Wii U game they've been holding this back for fucking ever   luminosity "This guy are sick" Member Oct 30, 2017 1,673 No wonder they want to recoup the money.   Finiri6143 Member Mar 16, 2022 3,251 Truno said: 8 years is not a good thing. It points to development issues Click to expand... Click to shrink... No it doesn't.   Jahranimo Community Resettler Member Oct 25, 2017 10,267 I can believe it, that world looks incredibly expansive and different from anything the MK Team has done before.   BaconHat One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 6,577 ned_ballad said: lol one dev just drew a cow in a truck as a silly thing and they ended up loving it so much they added the cow as a character Click to expand... Click to shrink... Well, that's a new profile pic right here!   NotLiquid One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 37,874 ResidentDoom said: 8 years seems excessive tbh It better deliver Click to expand... Click to shrink... Nintendo is pretty noted for having very long project incubation and ideation phases. Another recent example of that was Mario Wonder where they said they worked with a no deadlines approach. Obviously the EPD group worked on other stuff during that time like as well like Tour and the Booster Course expansions so it's unlikely it was an all-hands-on-deck type development schedule when they say they started in 2017.  ZeoVGM Member Oct 25, 2017 84,753 Providence, RI Neoxon said: I guess the MK9 part was before Tour became a finalized thing. Still, makes sense that such an ambitious game took so long. Click to expand... Click to shrink... lol no, it would have been called MK9 because it is MK9. Tour was announced in January 2018. This quote should actually put an end to that silly MK9 debate.  Geg Member Oct 25, 2017 6,606 ned_ballad said: lol one dev just drew a cow in a truck as a silly thing and they ended up loving it so much they added the cow as a character Click to expand... Click to shrink... Not only that, it's what also gave them the idea to add all the other weird creatures as drivers. Truly a pivotal moment in development lol   Neoxon Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst Member Oct 25, 2017 93,490 Houston, TX ZeoVGM said: lol no, it would have been called MK9 because it is MK9. Tour was announced in January 2018. This quote should actually put an end to that silly MK9 debate. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Then yeah, that answers it.   Lee Morris Member Oct 28, 2017 3,894 I doubt they have been seriously developing on it for the last few years. I imagine the bulk of the team have moved onto the next game. I was only thinking about the music this morning. 200 tracks means it shouldn't feel too repetitive. Can't wait  Lukar Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth Member Oct 27, 2017 28,242 BY2K said: - Soundtrack uses more live instruments this time around. - The soundtracks includes 200 tracks, "all brand-new arrangements". Click to expand... Click to shrink... Nintendo Music App please come in clutch in two weeks 🙏   --R Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer Member Oct 25, 2017 15,562 Truno said: 8 years is not a good thing. It points to development issues Click to expand... Click to shrink... It doesn't. They were prototyping in 2017 and tried to make the game work on the first Switch, but it didn't so they moved to the successor.   RPG_Fanatic Member Oct 25, 2017 4,805 ned_ballad said: lol one dev just drew a cow in a truck as a silly thing and they ended up loving it so much they added the cow as a character Click to expand... Click to shrink... Now I want this picture to be plastered on a random billboard in Mario kart World.   Lightsong Member Nov 11, 2022 9,416 Truno said: 8 years is not a good thing. It points to development issues Click to expand... Click to shrink... The issue was the Switch being too weak, lol. They pushed it to Switch 2. It's in the article. No need for concern trolling.   RandomlyRandom67 Member Jul 7, 2023 2,660 $80 price tag makes sense now!   PucePikmin Member Apr 26, 2018 5,355 Truno said: 8 years is not a good thing. It points to development issues Click to expand... Click to shrink... Don't know about that. They had to re-focus and re-scope the game for Switch 2 midway through, which would have added more work. Then, once it was clear MKW was going to be the big Switch 2 launch game, its release got pushed back as the release of Switch 2 also got pushed back. They probably could have released some version of their original vision on the Switch 1 in a lot less than 8 years.  AuthenticM Son Altesse Sérénissime The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 35,157 Hopefully they have since learned that the next Mario Kart should be a launch title for the next system.   poptire Avatar Wrecking Crew The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 15,505 I am so happy you can customize the karts with stickers I don't know why   Neoxon Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst Member Oct 25, 2017 93,490 Houston, TX Truno said: 8 years is not a good thing. It points to development issues Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah, & they very clearly stated what it was: The Switch 1's hardware limitations   cw_sasuke Member Oct 27, 2017 29,988 Open World Mario Kart on Switch 1 would probably have had a hard time looking as good and perform as well as MK8D, so they just developed it for Switch 2. It makes sense. Truno said: 8 years is not a good thing. It points to development issues Click to expand... Click to shrink... Or no/less crunch while being more experimental and having much more content Day 1 than past titles.   Shoichi Member Jan 10, 2018 12,476 Truno said: 8 years is not a good thing. It points to development issues Click to expand... Click to shrink... They pushed development to the Switch 2, so it then became a result of when the systems release date was going to be instead   Lotus One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 124,059 Geg said: Not only that, it's what also gave them the idea to add all the other weird creatures as drivers. Truly a pivotal moment in development lol Click to expand... Click to shrink... I love that the Cow wasn't just a meme everyone glomped on, but that even the devs singled it out 

Influencer Haliey Welch, who rose to fame as the "Hawk Tuah" girl from a viral TikTok video last year, became the epicenter of a major controversy after launching a dubious cryptocurrency meme coin called $HAWK in December.The token hit the roof in mere hours, reaching a market cap of almost half a billion dollars, before plummeting back down and leaving investors hanging out to dry. The events cemented it as yet another classic pump-and-dump, a recurring fixture in the largely unregulated crypto world.In the months since, and following an investigation by the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Welch has attempted to repair her reputation, with some seriously mixed results.Now, in a new episode of her podcast "Talk Tuah," the influencer told the story of what had happened, claiming she had absolutely no idea of what was going on at the time, despite her name and brand being plastered all over the meme coin."I couldn’t tell you how crypto worked the day that coin launched," she said. "I had no idea. I don’t know. So that screwed me."Innocent bystander or not, the incident certainly highlights the dangers of investing in dubious meme coins — and how easy it is to get lured in by the promise of a get-rich-quick scheme, something even the president of the United States himself has demonstrated.In her latest podcast episode, Welch recalled how the FBI knocked on her grandmother's door, demanding to search her phone."They went through my phone, so they cleared me," she said. "I was good to go."She also surrendered her phone to the SEC for "two or three days," allowing them to "clone" it.Welch claimed she "wasn't named on the lawsuit," which was filed by investors in New York against the meme coin's creators, mere weeks following its launch.At the time, she wrote in a since-deleted statement that "I take this situation extremely seriously and want to address my fans, the investors who have been affected, and the broader community."For her part, Welch claimed in her podcast this week that she only "got paid a marketing fee" and never made a "dime from the coin itself."Apart from dodging a bullet by not getting roped into a lawsuit, Welch appeared apologetic."It makes me feel really bad that they trusted me, and I led them to something that I did not have enough knowledge about," she said. "I did not have enough knowledge about crypto to be getting involved with it. And I knew that, but I got talked into it, and I trusted the wrong people."The money she took for promoting the money has since gone to "PR crisis, a new lawyer, stuff like that," Welch said. "So I’ve really come out with nothing. All that trouble for nothing."While the class action lawsuit filed against $HAWK's creators is still ongoing, Welch's experience highlights the importance of reading the small print.In many ways, even a simple Google search for meme coins and the likelihood of things going south could've sufficed. "Rug pulls," as they've become known, have become dime a dozen, with fraudsters absconding with millions of dollars worth of crypto after selling investors on a lie."I don’t have anything to hide," Welch said in the footage. "I wish we knew then what we know now. It would've saved us a lot of trouble.""But it was a big mess," she admitted.Share This Article

Banánka House / Pauliny Hovorka ArchitektiSave this picture!© Matej HakárHouses•Banka, Slovakia Architects: Pauliny Hovorka Architekti Area Area of this architecture project Area:  416 m² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2024 Photographs Photographs:Matej Hakár Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers:  Geberit, JUNG, OTIIMA, Schöck, Vibia, Duravit, Agape, Ceadesign, Eden Design, Glas Italia, Kingspan Isoste, LED eco, Napoleon, Regency, USSPA, WaremaMore SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. The Banánka family house responds to its natural surroundings through a raw and honest use of natural materials, a restrained horizontal form, and the clarity of minimalist design. Living here is defined by a seamless connection between the interior and the outdoors, primarily achieved through large glazed walls that stretch along significant portions of the house. This connection can be fully opened by sliding the glass façade between the central living hall, the terrace, and the garden area with a pond—something that's not just a design gesture, but frequently used throughout the extended summer season. This allows the melancholic atmosphere of the rock garden, flowing stream, pond, and tall surrounding trees to flow right into the interior.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The property is located on the outskirts of the village of Banka, in a peaceful, intimate setting at the end of a lush valley. The name "Banánka" refers to a female resident of Banka (with "Banánec" as the male equivalent). The area's relaxed, natural atmosphere stems from its established garden character and the loose, organic pattern of surrounding homes and cottages. The house is accessed via a narrow asphalt road that transitions into a forest path leading further into the valleys of the Považský Inovec mountains. A stream runs along the edge of the property, adjacent to a dense deciduous forest that borders the site both from the access road and from the rear, creating a natural privacy screen and a green backdrop. The valley is relatively narrow along the longer sides of the plot, with the forest rising steeply into the hills beyond. On the shorter sides, neighboring houses are present but obscured from view by thick garden vegetation. The former garden plot offers a rare advantage—deep privacy amidst mature trees and well-established greenery. The brief was to design a single-storey home with a carport, fully connected to the garden. The atmosphere was to be centered on relaxation and contemplation, with a clear separation between the private areas for parents and children. The house also had to be positioned to maximize sunlight in living spaces and preserve every existing tree. The material palette emphasizes natural elements—concrete, stone, wood, and glass—prioritizing durability, longevity, and timelessness. The result is a tranquil retreat immersed in greenery, which embodies the vision behind Banánka.Save this picture!Save this picture!The design solution takes the form of a Y-shaped floor plan, with three wings extending outward at 120-degree angles, carefully positioned to avoid existing trees and divide the plot into smaller garden segments. Each room enjoys its own unique view into a private corner of the garden. The structure is solid and expressive, with brushed board-formed monolithic concrete ceilings, concrete interior walls, and prefabricated parapet panels. The material concept is enhanced by crushed stone encased in galvanized mesh gabions, which flow from the exterior into the interior. These are complemented by wooden cladding, floors, and decking. Windows feature ultra-slim frames and can be fully retracted into wall pockets to maximize the visual and spatial connection with the outdoors. Hidden doors are integrated into cladding and plastered surfaces. The interior, largely free of decorative objects, is defined by custom-built furniture, beds, and a modular sofa that can be reconfigured as needed.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The internal layout follows the three-winged shape of the house, all organized around a central living hall. This setup provides privacy for the main bedroom suite with a wellness area, separated from the children's and guest rooms. The smallest, north-facing wing houses the entrance, storage, and utility rooms, with an extended roof forming both a carport and a covered entryway. The southeast wing contains three smaller bedrooms, a shared bathroom, and a multipurpose room used as a study and meditation space. The southwest wing is dedicated to the master suite, featuring a bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe, a spacious bathroom, a WC, and a sauna. The wellness area connects to a smaller terrace with a hot tub and a cooling plunge pool adjacent to the stream.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!At the heart of the home lies the central living hall, combining kitchen, dining, and living areas and serving as a hub connecting both residential wings. One side houses the kitchen, the other the living room, with the dining area in the center. A glass-enclosed wine room, cooled and designed for presentation, forms part of the living area. A fireplace with a massive stone heat-retaining wall anchors the space. Large sliding glass walls allow the hall to fully open onto the covered terrace, merging inside and outside into one. The terrace includes a summer kitchen with a grill and an outdoor dining area oriented toward the garden, pond, and forest beyond.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less About this office MaterialsGlassConcreteMaterials and TagsPublished on May 20, 2025Cite: "Banánka House / Pauliny Hovorka Architekti" 20 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1030304/bananka-house-pauliny-hovorka-architekti&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

How can we practice creativity and conversation to enhance futures literacy and co-creation efforts?Still from my design research project, Maybe We’re Creative. Partial quote from artist, educator and interview participant, Jason Lujan.Last year, I completed my major research project for my Master’s of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation, titled "Maybe We’re Creative: What I Learned about Co-Creation in Design by Dancing with My Dad." The project was a short documentary and a corresponding research report. Last month, several themes from my work were explored during a workshop with Riel Miller, the former Head of Futures Literacy at UNESCO in Paris, France. I’m still finding the right words to sum up the depth of theory and the ongoing experiences that guide my research, but I decided this was a good moment to publicly expand on and share some of the process that went into my project last year and the outcomes.Ultimately, Maybe We’re Creative brought me closer to my belief that being creative is not just an act for artists or those with a knack for a craft; it’s a practice that allows us to perceive and hold complexity in relationships and the world around us. Creativity is a deeply human practice that can take many shapes and connect us with genuine feelings inside of us that we might otherwise overlook. In systems design, we are constantly trying to make sense, organize, and somewhat solve, but creativity, in practice with others, reorients the designer and generates possibilities of getting to know complexity in a different way, in seemingly simple, innocent yet deeply intentional and meaningful ways. Creativity offers a way out of old patterns and a way back into possibility.Still from my design research project, Maybe We’re Creative.The power of changing imaginationsIn a 2016 On Being interview, Remembering Nikki Giovanni — ‘We Go Forward With a Sanity and a Love’, host Krista Tippett said that Giovanni’s imagination has always changed as she ages. Giovanni responded,“Everyone’s does, the only difference is I’m not afraid to talk about it”Giovanni’s words reminded me of what I heard again and again in my interviews for Maybe We’re Creative. Participants shared that imagination isn’t a fixed trait but something personal that we can nurture and be curious about over time, given the environment to do so.I chose to focus my research project on creativity because it’s a practice that accepts I change; in fact, it relies on it. Every time I write or dance, I deepen my relationship and awareness with where I’m at that moment, knowing how I arrive at the page or studio will be different in some way, shape, or form from the day before. Because I can better expect and welcome change in myself, I can better expect change in others. Thus, when I dance and write, I build my capacity to engage with change and differences in the world. I can better move through internal conflicts and external uncertainty, not by solving anything, but by accepting change as a constant truth. To an outsider, it might seem like a cop out, framing my design approach not to solve but to better live amongst change, but in practice, I’ve learned that the simplest statements, i.e. change is truth, are some of the hardest to design with effectively. The temptation to convert change into a variable I can control, instead of a constant state I can’t, never dies. My project reinforced this learning, and further reinforced that some of the most important experiences in our lives, relationships with ourselves and others, are prime examples of complexity that we can only hope to exist within more fully; they’re not to be solved.The current challenge of changing imaginationsAccepting change holds a deep tension with the limits built into public spaces and policy. Humans love to control, place structure on, or push back against the reality of change. Specifically, in various public gatherings, I’m sensing a waning disconnect between people and, notably, our ability to imagine a future other than ones already played out. It seems that no information about our collective history, no exposure to harm or progress, changes our ability to make different decisions that would bring about new current states and futures. This reckoning is sometimes making for many collective, melancholic moments as of late. Many academics have noted this disconnect throughout the last century. Toni Morrison (2019), in The War on Error, wrote,“Oddly enough it is in the West — where advance, progress and change have been signatory features — where confidence in an enduring future is at its slightest.”Despite our communal resources in the West, specifically Toronto, where I am based, I’m sensing this lack of confidence as most palpable.Sentiments such as Giovanni’s instill hope in me that much imagination, innovation, and life exist in all of us, but might be settled or hidden beneath our surface. In Maybe We’re Creative, I chose to expand on all forms of creativity, and dance, specifically between my dad and me, as a practice to potentially bring us back to the present, as a starting point, and expose some of that buried life.Still from Maybe We’re Creative.Building a relationship with the unknownFour years ago, my dad came to me acknowledging for the first time in our relationship that things could have been different if he had acted differently. He had recently returned home from what would be his last military deployment, was released from the military as he was now undeployable due to various reasons, mental health included, and from what I could see, he was taking a long look at the reflection of his past self.Reflecting on our relationship and the impact of his choices exposed a humility in my dad that I had never seen before. He freed himself from the singular narrative he had been glued to previously. This old narrative only had room for his experience, which prevented my experience from being seen and prevented me from participating in our relationship in a way that felt true to me. It was interesting; in that moment, my dad simply, and not-so-simply, acknowledged that things could have been different, the trajectory for our relationship as I had known it, almost immediately, changed.Last year, when I began my research journey in my last year of school, he asked if we could learn a dance together as a way of reconnecting and in an attempt to make up for time he was absent from my life. This moment marks something I now understand as essential to building alternative futures: not only do we have to recognize a shared history, but if we can genuinely recognize that the past could have been different, the future, somewhat suddenly, can be too.Until then, I had been clinging to the idea that our relationship would be somewhat tainted forever because my dad always said that the past “was what it was.” This approach, from us both, locked us in place. But when he, sitting on my couch during a visit I initially thought would be a quick hi and bye, said that if he knew then what he understood of the repercussions of his actions now, he would have done it all differently, something shifted.Co-creating futures through storyThis reframing of the past was an important moment for me. I had to confront that my dad’s new perspective on our past meant I no longer knew what our future held. This was terrifying at times. What we imagined, or failed to imagine, would shape what was possible for us. I was scared of my dad falling back into his old narrative, I was scared of being hurt or abandoned again, I was scared of how my changing relationship with my dad would change my relationships with the rest of my family, and the list goes on. Part of what motivated me to move through these fears is the underlying, I think natural, truth that no matter the rupture in our relationships, there are always pieces of what's left over in our bodies that we hope we might one day repair.I always wanted a relationship with my dad, but I wasn’t willing to sacrifice myself to have one. Now that he was proposing a genuine relationship, one I could show up in, I had to confront my fears and ask myself: Am I ready for this relationship? I’d love to say it was easy to step into a joyful new chapter with my dad. In reality, I had to let go of a version of myself I had been training for a long time, who believed love to be a struggle, one-sided, or that people you love will leave. Those thoughts were painful for me to hold onto, but they also kept me safe in a repeating pattern that I could predict.I saw this experience as my dad offering me an opportunity to grow and deepen my understanding of him and myself. My commitment to honouring growth in relationship and in the unknown outweighed all of the fear I was experiencing. I also had been doing a lot of work on myself, and something told me that not only did this feel different, but I was different. I didn’t want to act out of fear or old narratives; I was open to something new.Why include my personal life in my professional life?None of the challenges my dad and I experienced were exclusive to our relationship alone. People navigate interpersonal conflicts in every facet of their lives, whether or not they want to address them as such. Our survival instincts don’t discriminate between our relationships. These modes show up with work colleagues with whom we don’t get along, our boss who doesn’t listen to us, the reaction we have to the passive-aggressive stranger at the grocery store, our inability to have conversations with those who disagree with us without it erupting into an argument, and the list goes on. We write off these relationships, claiming to know that they “just won’t work” or we “just don’t vibe.” We fill in the blanks of the stories that haven’t yet happened because “we know what’s going to happen.” Sometimes, we’re right, but what about the times we’re wrong? What if things could go differently? When do our predictions or assumptions not protect but actually prevent change?Zooming in on the process of co-creating futures through storyMy dad and I’s relationship was ripe with opposition, politically, professionally, and personally. I could have clung to the idea that I knew this journey would end the same way all my previous experiences with him had. However, we had one vital ingredient that propelled our relationship forward that had never been present before: we were both open to being vulnerable together and letting that vulnerability and honesty guide our direction into an unknown place. We had a mutual desire to be seen by the other, and in turn, whether we knew it or not at the time, we were open to seeing ourselves in a new way, too. We both let go of control to the extent we needed to, and this dance project gave us a blueprint for moving forward.The beginner mindsetDance allowed us to confront our differences and vulnerabilities through movement, a kind we were not specialized in (though I had experience in other forms of dance, House was new to me), making us both beginners. House Dance was also my dad’s idea. He had been repeatedly listening to some songs during his morning workouts, the time he admittedly ruminated about the past, and felt a connection with a couple of house tracks. He wanted to explore a response, a feeling that came up in him. We were both willing to be seen making mistakes and exposing our amateur selves.The willingness to try something new in an unknown area translates into relationships just the same. This is another vital ingredient to foster new future possibilities. When we are exposed as beginners to something, we have no choice but to surrender to only the possibility of progress with active practice. You don’t know if you’ll be “good” at something when you first start. We have to let go of the fear of being perceived a certain way, a way we can control. For better or worse, when we feel confident and comfortable in our environment, we tend to live self-fulfilling prophecies and relive what we already know. Feeling unsure, insecure, and fearful is all human. What’s beautiful about this process in a relationship is when we witness someone else in those vulnerable feelings that mirror our own. We have the opportunity to say “me too” and courageously move through fear and transform it into something else. We create possible futures in these moments versus remaining stuck in the same place.A dance reflection from myself, included in my final report of Maybe We’re Creative.Trust and futures literacyThis brings me to the futures literacy workshop with Miller from last month. About 20 of us (mostly design students or practitioners) were separated into smaller groups and asked to discuss the future of trust in 2100, the probable future and our desired future. We were then asked to consider a scenario in which, by 2100, every time a person lied, their nose would grow longer, and everyone would have telepathy. How does trust function if everyone is exposed in one way or another? How does truth function? We built sculptures in our groups to represent what we considered, and presented them to the room. Miller encouraged a beginner mindset here, as none of us could know what 2100 will be like. We were equally, collectively, looking into the unknown.Miller noted that when we collectively discuss and contemplate designing the future, we’re confronting a process intertwined with something deep: people’s hopes and fears. Our assumptions are brought to the surface in these collective exercises, our survival mechanisms, and, if we’re willing, our imaginations. Building capacity for futures literacy can be emotionally charged for those open to being moved by it. This realization reshaped how I saw my work, not just as a designer, but as someone making space for others to feel, imagine, and respond in real time.What is the imaginary, and why is it useful?We discussed ‘futures literacy’ as a practice of the imaginary in relation to the world around us. Miller noted that the imaginary does not exist. I don’t imagine a 5% increase in wealth over the next x number of years when I imagine a future. What exists are our images of the future and what those images allow, or do not allow, us to perceive in the present. I found this identification useful as I began to see and understand my relationship with the imaginary not as a fantasy, but as a perceptual frame, a way to hold what hasn’t yet materialized but is shaping our actions in the present. When my dad and I expanded our perception and imagination of what was possible between us by reframing our past, our relationship, in the present, changed, which meant our relationship in the future could inevitably be different, too, if we kept imagining or believing it could.When I envision the future, I generally feel hopeful that what we do matters, and this hope expands when I’m in the presence of others. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned and scared about the many people I know who are unhappy and struggling in their day-to-day lives. I feel concerned about the lack of trust people have in themselves to navigate difficult times. I’m seeing people shut down and push others away, being unkind, isolating, and saying “it’s fine” when truthfully, it isn't.These feelings, hopes and fears are not inherent to me, and futures literacy, specifically this workshop, helped me uncover where my mind pulls from when they reach the surface. Through the collective and in contrast to group members, I uncovered how I’ve been managing fear or anticipation, specifically regarding uncertainty and complexity. I’ve come to understand that futures literacy, like creativity, begins not with certainty but with the courage to enter unfamiliar terrain together. It isn’t as simple as “being courageous”, of course. Getting to that place of courage isn’t easy, especially in a capitalist society based on a collective acceptance of scarcity.Still from Maybe We’re Creative. Partial quote from interview participant, Chris Wilson.Ancestry and designIn the interviews I conducted for my research, trauma came up multiple times, as well as the tension between wanting to be creative but living in a structure that doesn’t support creation, but rather consumption. This is another space where I found Miller’s framing of the imaginary particularly useful. When we feel limited, like we can’t make anything new, or that what we make isn’t valued, we tend to surrender or outsource our imagination and creation to others. In our society, creation is increasingly outsourced to those with power, wealth, or at the top of the hierarchy. Creation and imagination in the hands of only a few limit collective future possibilities.When my dad came to me in earnest, I felt the hierarchy between us dissolve. Again, I find it important to note that nothing had to change about the past events we lived through physically, and my dad didn’t know how things could have been different, but just that they could have been. He imagined previously unimagined possibilities, which were not easy. This came with regret, sadness, and shame he never fully confronted, but, instead of being in his own, isolated narrative, the narrative we both knew quite well, it opened a complex, relational reality.A dance reflection from my Dad, included in my final report of Maybe We’re CreativeI never wanted my dad to be perfect, but I sometimes wished he would change, be different. By shifting his perceptual framing of the past and courageously wondering, “what if”, he may not have changed the past or himself, but he confronted the past and the spectrum of experiences that existed there, not only his own. As a result of this reframing, what I, in turn, valued in our relationship changed. I wasn’t fixated on my dad changing as a person, but refocused on how our relationship functioned and how it could change moving forward, thus healing and shaping each of us as individuals. I could accept and love my dad in a new way because he, just like me, was exposing himself as an imperfect, changing human being trying his best in a world that, despite us wanting it to, doesn’t have any instructions.Complexity is a state, not a variableI don’t think, as designers, we fully grasp how complex things are, and I don’t say this to suggest we can or should. But perhaps accepting complexity as a state, that we can’t funnel into something simpler, is our true starting point, befriending humility and a desire to build capacity for complexity, not simplicity. For example, if health is being able to experience the spectrum of emotions, not just one emotion, maybe a desirable future could be designed with the capacity to welcome the same. I read the other day that the opposite of depression is not joy or happiness, which one might assume, but the opposite of depression is expression. I want a future that is not focused on chasing singular emotions or goals but one where we all feel capable of moving through our expressions, even when those expressions are at odds with others, perhaps especially then. A designer-as-human can be with complexity instead of a human-centred design, simplifying or solving complexity.I think what we’re witnessing and experiencing in society is the downfall of simplifying for speed or “productivity,” and what I keep asking myself about this process, in the simplest way, is, what are we racing towards? I wonder how varied our answers would be. I’m also wondering how much of our imagination we are losing by continuously speeding up.I wanted a relationship so badly with my dad so many times before this experience, but each time he came to me, I knew in my heart that nothing had changed. I knew this because when I shared my experiences with him, he couldn’t incorporate them into his version of our story. If I had tried a relationship in those moments, we would have forced his narrative on something far more complex. If I had rushed it, we would have replayed the same future we were already playing. I’ve heard this pattern referred to as remembering the future just as we remember the past. When we act in a way that is so intertwined with what we already know, we aren’t creating something new; we are reinforcing something old.Miller shared that complexity is a state, not a variable. This phrase keeps echoing throughout my thinking, not as a metaphor, but as a reframing of how we live, relate, and design. It resonated particularly strongly as I reflected on my experience with my dad, my interviews on creativity, and the corresponding conceptual model I began last year, trying to map out what the complexity of lived experiences looks like in groups.Seeing possibility in the complexity of the pastAs the problems we’re facing, locally and globally, arguably, continue to worsen, I wonder if we might consider pausing to adjust how our previous approaches to problems might not be creating new results and instead reinforcing the problems themselves. If we pause to ask ourselves where these approaches are rooted, we might unravel a new way of seeing and approaching problems altogether. We might not even see previous problems as problems; perhaps they were just evidence of complexity, and perhaps the problem has more to do with our capacity to be present in them. Miller added that when we uncover that the universe can continually surprise us, for better or worse, complexity might become something we welcome.I’ve been exploring the space of creation and complexity through building a tool called Lived Experience Cartography. This dialogic framework maps stories, emotions, and relationships to help groups make meaning together. It doesn’t seek immediate convergence or simplicity. Instead, it asks: What becomes possible when we deepen our awareness of ourselves and others and linger in complexity together?The current state of co-design: static story sharingCo-design is often celebrated for its ability to include many voices. But we know from experience that inclusion alone isn’t enough. The complexity of individual designers multiplies when co-designing, and this reality of difference demands more than the idea of inclusion or a check-box approach in our work. It calls for a deliberate practice. As I previously mentioned, when my dad came to me before, I could feel there still wasn’t room for him to incorporate my story into his lived reality. If I took him up on his previous offers, I was afraid I would be living his reality, not a shared reality. I also didn’t want to force my reality onto him or erase his experiences. I wanted us both to acknowledge that we co-existed, that our actions and expressions were interconnected, and that we had impacted each other’s experiences. In his previous state, his offers meant my voice might have been present in our relationship, but not included.Static and dynamic story sharingIdeas remain static when group work focuses on ideas stacking up without interaction and engagement (see above re: story sharing). Bartels et al. (2019) compare this to a kaleidoscope with many colours, but the cylinder doesn’t turn. Technically, the pieces are there, but the magic of seeing interwoven colours change as they move together never happens. Complexity is the magic. Engagement with complexity is the magic. When more people are present, more information might be present, but if it can’t be meaningfully engaged with, it will not mean change or new possibilities.We can feel the contrasts between static and dynamic group work in society today. Baharak Yousefi in the essay, “On the Disparity Between What We Say And What We Do In Libraries,” described this beautifully (albeit, tragically) when she wrote about the growing disconnect between professional value statements and what is being done or not done in our public institutions. She cites academic Keller Easterling’s spatial analysis of object and active forms to aid the differentiation. To be able to examine both our words and actions/character is derived from taking stock of the interconnections and totality of our activities, both the influential buildings, strategic plans, and value statements (object forms) and undeclared movements, rules, and activities (active forms) that create our societal infrastructure.On the surface, many people are involved in changing laws, value statements, and policies for the public good; however, as we know, just because society appears to apply those changes in writing, it does not mean that our underlying beliefs also change throughout that process. This is sadly understood when a law changes back, and we revert to old patterns, or when a new value statement is plastered on every document in an institution, but it results in few meaningful cultural shifts. Despite this disconnect, we still highly believe in and value the object form. This back-and-forth begs a question: Does the appearance of new information stacking on top of old information effectively disguise and eradicate the fact that there is more work to be done beneath the surface? Are some of us genuinely satisfied with appearing one way and acting another? Or perhaps more worrisome, do some not even recognize the disconnect? Our increasing ability to dissociate ourselves personally and professionally, individually and collectively, is, as Yousefi describes, disconcerting.With Lived Experience Cartography and creativity, I want to explore how we can build a capacity to merge stories and lived experiences, to better articulate an interconnection in groups while preserving individuals’ sense of self. Could we develop our listening skills to be present with others’ experiences while still being connected to our own? Or further, could we allow our relationship to our own experiences to change through engagement with another, and vice versa? If this is a mutual understanding, meaningful co-design becomes more possible, as well as closing the gap between what we say and do, combining our object and active forms.A curriculum of conversation and listeningA way forward, I believe, lies in embedding active conversational engagement at the heart of design processes. In my current work, I use conversation-activated reflection as a powerful mode of learning, unlearning and engagement.Similarly, Alia Weston and Miguel Imas describe a “dialogical imagination” in Communities of Art-Spaces, Imaginations and Resistances, as a kind of exploration where people construct meaning together in an in-between space, a conversation. Easterling also notes that talking is a tool for decentering power and creating alternative narratives. In my work, creativity acts as another form of dialogue. It's practice is about deep, meaningful sharing, getting as close as possible to complexity and remaining open to an unknown path forward.Still from Maybe We’re Creative. Partial quote from interview participant, Cami Boyko.This need for dialogue and a curriculum of conversation extends beyond design and into every area of society. Rising polarity and binaries in the media are shaping our opinions and social circles, making conversation and maintaining deep social interactions feel more difficult now than ever before. One participant in my thesis research, Cami Boyko, an elementary school teacher, captured this beautifully:“You really have to look at this idea of extremism, and talk to kids about how it’s their role to take a step towards the centre, at least far enough to hear what’s going on. I think I’m convincing myself that we need this sort of curriculum of conversation and listening. Because it’s been interesting how that [extremism] shut down some things in the classroom where it should be about being able to talk.”To echo Cami’s insight, design schools and workplaces alike have an opportunity to become sites of openness, play, and collective sensemaking. The cost of ignoring the complexity of thoughts and opinions and our lived experiences is not just creative disconnection; it’s social fragmentation and power imbalances. As Audre Lorde wrote,“Unacknowledged difference robs all of us of each other’s energy and creative insight, and creates a false hierarchy.”Not only are we increasing the distance between one another when we resist interacting with differences, but we unknowingly reinforce a hierarchical system. This, perhaps subconscious, moral superiority further disconnects our relationships, making it harder to step towards the centre.Conversation as a tool to move beyond survivalObviously, dialogue as a tool for learning is not new. Throughout history, the act of asking sincere, open-ended questions has been viewed as liberatory and, as such, dangerous to some leadership. In May 2024, researcher Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman shared that the United Nations had recently reached out to her and her husband, Dr. John Gottman, desperate, begging for a simple way for their organization to discuss and navigate problems. She reminded us of the power of dialogue and its historical roots, citing the 300 BC philosopher, Socrates, who introduced dialogue to the youth to encourage critical thinking. Authorities saw the power it wielded when people were thinking for themselves, and they threatened to condemn him to death if he didn’t stop teaching.Emily Wood, a Toronto organizer and poet, and another participant in my thesis research, reflected on how our culture resists creativity, in conversation or otherwise:“I just don’t think that we live in a culture currently that wants people to even be creative… It’s challenging for people to be around unconventional thinkers… that’s uncomfortable and challenging to the status quo. If you are creative and you’re trying to see things differently and you imagine a way something could be versus like what it currently is, then that’s kind of bad to more powerful entities.”Remembering that elites have suppressed the power of dialogue since 300 BC helps explain why today’s monopolies sell every new tool, technological or otherwise, as somewhat of a substitute for conversation. Today, in AI and the age of the internet, algorithms create a world where our surroundings are affirmed and validated. Contrary to the plurality of human differences outside, the world we make online can coincide with the singular world in our head. This isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about control. When conversation is inconvenient or unpredictable, it threatens centralized systems of power that prefer scripted interactions and outcomes. Algorithms in the hands of big tech encourage our longing for comfort, convenience and control. The more we battle the complexities of life outside algorithms, the more we’re tempted to rely on and trust institutions that promise to simplify and solve the complexity.Why do we resist difference?Algorithms and corporations only emphasize a pre-existing trait of the human psyche. The Gottmans describe a biological tendency toward a ‘symbiotic consciousness’, the deep, often unconscious desire to feel seen and understood by others in the exact way we see ourselves. Confronted with difference, we grow anxious, defensive, and frequently default to survival instincts. They describe this as a tragic dimension to human consciousness: we struggle to fully accept the reality that others may experience the world in radically different ways. Ancestral trauma and the absence of healing only deepen this resistance.This would be fine and dandy if connection were something we did, but undoubtedly, connection makes us who we are. Without interrupting this symbiotic reflex or doomscrolling, we miss the gifts that connection offers: wonder, growth and the ability to embrace and create life rather than passively react through it with isolation and control mechanisms. This internal conflict or tension often emerges in group settings or relationships where we long for connection but resist what makes it real, turning to comfort in the face of discomfort and disconnection on the brink of unconditional love. In many professional settings, moments ripe for deeper conversation are dismissed. We rush past uncertainty, clinging to agendas, outcomes, and the often invisible guest, fear.Still from Maybe We’re Creative. Partial quote from inverview participant, Dr. Bhandari.Designing for differences is designing capacity for discomfortTo design for true inclusion, we must understand how to manage conflict, not erase it. Examples lie in co-op housing initiatives or public senior housing. Individuals might not get along or align politically in either structure. Still, everyone’s basic needs are met, allowing them to disagree and co-exist as one individual does not wield power over another. Everyone has their own space in the collective structure. These systems remind us that it isn’t the absence of conflict that enables safety, but the security of all participants’ basic needs.As Lorde reminds us,“there is no separate survival.”We cannot begin to live differently, beyond theory, without being in relationship with the individuals and communities around us. The Gottmans say that we are born into relationships, are wounded in relationships, and heal in relationships. None of this happens in isolation. It’s in relationships, in creating safety and in regulating our fears and anxiety, where possibility dissolves the limiting narratives of the past and allows us the freedom to create something new with each other. Again, this is an active practice of working together.Lived Experience Cartography in practiceLived Experience Cartography is not a linear tool or checklist, but a conversation starter that helps designers and communities explore how their memories, identities, perceptions, translations, etc. inform their ideas, needs, and fears, how they remember and frame their lived experiences and, in turn, what they can remember or create in the future. This Cartography can be explored individually as self-exploration work or in collectives. In groups, the outside categories of lived experiences stack on top of each other to emphasize our need to preserve individual experiences and our sense of self. These individual parts merge in the centre area of collective expression.Conceptual model: Lived Experience CartographyThe idea is not to solve but to explore and acknowledge the existence of differences. This sounds simpler than it is, but it is not the number of outside experiences or the fact that experiences are constantly changing that pose the main challenge for group work. It is in the denial of the existence of parts that disconnects groups. Designers need to acknowledge their full selves and others if they want to collaborate in productive, holistic ways and design systems that express the same.UX designer and researcher, Florence Okoye, asks a powerful question:“How can one envision the needs of the other when one doesn’t even realize the other exists?”The model encourages a shift from extraction to exploration, from gathering data to building shared meaning. It slows down the process so a group’s social, dynamic, embodied presence can emerge. If designers recognize that each person in a co-design effort comes with various lived experiences that are in relationship with how they express themselves, groups might be able to start co-creation projects from a more open place of understanding. It won’t form a perfect equation, but mapping experience and expression systems enable designers to make the invisible more visible, and this process alone is worthwhile. Nikki Giovanni nodded towards this when she said everyone’s imagination changes as they grow. Those changes remain unknown when we don’t engage in ongoing awareness of those changes, and in turn, share them.Giovanni had a deep knowing of the importance of sharing her changing imagination with us. Through sharing, poems, speeches, or otherwise, she facilitates experiences that invite individuals to share parts of themselves they have not acknowledged for whatever reason, fear or otherwise. Modelling vulnerability with the invitation to join in is a courageous, powerful way of showing the rest of the world that being human is okay. Most importantly, Giovanni exemplified that there is no other way for us to be.Embracing our imperfect humannessInvesting in ways of conversing and developing our capacity for dialogue in practice is one way to remind us of the generative potential that fumbling through the unknown with another can bring about. Starting the conversational process, knowing it might be imperfect and expecting it to be, softens the expectations and pressure we place on ourselves. When navigating conversations, we might start to feel uncomfortable (*uncomfortable, not unsafe*), but it isn’t a sign we’re going in the wrong direction; it can be a sign we’re getting at something real.As researcher Legacy Russell so powerfully describes in Glitch Feminism, when we feel discomfort in a society that works very hard to disguise the disturbances it houses, it’s a sign of us returning to ourselves. Discomfort is our body attempting to correct the underlying error: our inherited, not chosen, default programming. Through curiosity, we begin to see more. Through listening, we begin to know more. Through conversation, we can grow and change in ways we might not yet know exist.Some conversation offeringsBelow are possible considerations for each outer experience of Lived Experience Cartography, in the form of questions. There are no strict definitions of each category, so not every question might make exact “sense” to the reader.If the sentiment doesn’t make sense in the part identified, explore why, and ask where the question makes more sense. Compare and converse with others.Lived Experience Cartography category breakdownDesigners can break down these questions by asking themselves about the different facets of their lives and the parts of their experiences explored above. Lived experiences are powerful knowledge. Through reflective work, Professor Natalie Loveless (2019) writes,“we seriously attend to and recognize the constitutive power of the stories through which we come to understand the world.”When designers become more aware of their lived experiences and all of the parts of themselves, we can start to map how parts change over time, in different contexts, and in relationship to others. Further, through developing this self-knowledge, designers can explore what is limiting them or what they want to adjust when working alongside others with different experiences.The purpose of this Cartography is not to have an answer to every question or share every question’s answers. It was built by my acknowledgement of the reality that there is so much that we don’t know about the people and places that we design with and for, and there is much we don’t know about ourselves as designers. It emphasizes some glitches and discomfort necessary to explore if we want the future to be different from our past. It emphasizes the abundance of newness and unanswered questions that are right below the surface of most of us.Quote from Interview Participant, Chris Wilson. Included in my final report of Maybe We’re CreativeLearning to listen to create a new futureI now know that my previous choice to disengage with my dad wasn’t just about him. It was about all the things I had absorbed and survived and how those things had narrowed what felt imaginable to me. To my knowledge, no amount of positive thinking or design thinking could change my dad, so I stopped thinking about change. I effectively controlled my future by setting a boundary. I still believe this boundary was necessary for a time, but equally necessary was my willingness to acknowledge when holding onto control was no longer protecting me but rather preventing change and growth. I stopped focusing on a singular outcome of my dad changing, instead building a relationship around noticing, naming, and existing in real-time space together. Our future shifted from being about a solution to strengthening, building, and feeling through a relationship. This relationship is ongoing and ever-changing.This whole experience caused me to ask, what if we saw failure, slowness, and discomfort not as risks to avoid, but as signals that we are in the presence of a departure from what we already know? What if these are signs of life, or, as Russell notes, a positive departure?Dr. Bhandari, Chair of Surgery at McMaster University, and another participant in my thesis research, described the energy of conversation like this:“Talking, like we’re doing now, energizes you, it does…That has to happen every day. And we don’t do that. I think … we don’t allow ourselves to [talk] because we feel that’s not a productive use of our time. And that is really where I think the shift has to happen.”In this moment of fragmentation, what we design will inevitably reflect how well we relate. What do your relationships say about our designs? And what do our designs say about our relationships? Are we engaged in processes creating new relationships and futures, or are we remembering and re-living old patterns in real time?Conversation, imagination and complexity are not entities outside ourselves that need to be managed; they are survival tools for collective transformation. Once we recognize them as such, we can see the possibilities of how we might use them differently.This, I’ve come to understand, is the heart of co-creation and futures literacy: not predicting what comes next but learning to stay present with what is, truly present, so that the path ahead disappears, and something new can then emerge.Designing in and for a world we don’t yet know was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Persona! Atlus teases something Persona 5-related with a cryptic social media post, though what it actually is remains a mystery The most likely outcome is a Western release of Persona 5: The Phantom X, which would certainly be nice! News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on May 13, 2025 Atlus has teased something Persona 5-related on social media, which as you've probably assumed has sent the fans' hearts aflutter. While it's not explicitly stated what this is teasing (that being the standard tease protocol), there's a solid chance it's a hint towards a Western port of Persona 5: The Phantom X The post itself, a simple image with the words "retake your desire" plastered across it beneath a top hat and distinct pair of shades, appears to keep things vague enough. But those with their finger on the Persona pulse may recognise those glasses as being very similar to the glasses worn by the protagonist of PSX. This, for many, is all the confirmation needed. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Though this is more evidence to support that theory. In the Sega 2024 financial report, the company expressed a desire to expand its IP on mobile platforms as well as its presence in the Games as a Service (GaaS) space. PSX, a free-to-play mobile game, fits this description perfectly, and an expansion to the West would certainly do wonders in expanding the SEGA's mobile output to more users. Oh, and there's a big Persona 5: The Phantom X livestream taking place on the 15th (which you can watch here) that will likely reveal its version 1.0 release date, so when you step back and look at all the clues, it's fairly clear what this announcement will be. Unless it's somehow Persona 5 Arena, in which case I'll scream. For those who aren't aware, Persona 5: The Phantom X is a spinoff game created by Perfect World, released back in April 2024 in early access for players in China, South Korea, and Hong Kong. There's been no word of a Western release since last year, but given the popularity of Persona 5 over here, it makes sense to bring that game over. It's also worth noting that the game has been recieved positively! It managed to bring various Persona staples over to the mobile platform, including dungeon delving and social mechanics. If this is Persona 5: The Phantom X, would you give it a try once it releases in the West? Let us know below!