저작권자 © Korea IT Times 무단전재 및 재배포 금지
Human-centered, technology-centered perspective employed
The article essay was contributed by Kim, Moon Hwan, LL.D., president of Kookmin University.
At a time when design was about appearance, the performance and capability of machinery and tools were all important. However, in the Ubiquitous era, the degree to which a product or a thing most accurately reflects "humanness" will become the cardinal feature. We call this age the "U-World".
Then, what is the Ubiquitous Information Technology (UIT) design An industrial society of the future demands experts who understand integrated, interdisciplinary study, not experts who are limited to a single field. This is because the future will need designers who can consider an object's functional traits and work on this to devise a successful marketing campaign rather than a designer who is well versed in design from an aesthetic discernment standpoint.
The current age of digital convergence is one in which everyone will be connected by Ubiquitous technology. The U-World paradigm refers to a substantial relational change between people and computers. For instance, now that computers and chips can recognize the intentions of a human being and perform its functions autonomously in a u-World, the U-World paradigm has to fuse all things in a human-centered perspective.
In that regard, the necessity of UIT design as well as the role of UIT designer are critical. In terms of supply, U-World will be led by companies that are evenly equipped with three kinds capacity: (1) 'Information Technology for the Ubiquitous embodiment', (2) 'Design that applies technology to things with a humanistic angle', and (3) 'Management that grafts technology and design effectively.
Furthermore, research regarding UIT design has to advance toward the direction in which technology, design and management are fused in an interdisciplinary fashion. Therefore, it is judged to be the demand of the times to produce a top-level college to nurture human resource design capability by establishing a UIT design college fusion-model based on this industry's human resource demand in preparation for a time when the era of the U-World will be upon us. Kookmin University is preparing for such a U-World. Furthermore, Kookmin University is planning to develop a UIT education system, which fuses design, engineering and management in order to allow companies that possess design, IT and management capability to combine them organically, in order to be able to spearhead the drive toward the U-World.
In that respect, the UIT design specialization project that Kookmin University will drive forward, merits attention since it will provide the momentum to boost future domestic design competitiveness to international levels and to lead interdisciplinary design education as well as research by grafting the discipline of design onto engineering and management.
This project further can contribute to the educational, industrial, and cultural development of local communities and is expected to serve as an engine of international specialization by developing a unique Korean brand of design, and nurturing local designers to the position of international recognition.