I wanted to see the light that I couldn't forget for 12 years again. Meditation Night at DEW─After Nananana Festival 2023

Will the light from 12 years ago come back?

Hello. My name is Ryoji Takahashi and I am DEW's project leader.
I am working towards commercializing a sparkler-like lighting called DEW.
The photo above was taken 12 years ago.

Although he created it 12 years ago, he was constantly told that it would be difficult to commercialize it, and although he tried to create it through crowdfunding and crowdsourcing, the results did not go well, and he ended up receiving complaints, asking, "Are you putting your life in the line of design?" Due to the combination of returns and refunds, I ended up in a big deficit.

https://kibidango.com/1617

I feel bad that I'm still thinking about a work from 12 years ago, but I don't think mathematicians would give up just because they can't solve it for a year or two. . .

Let's tackle the seemingly unsolvable proof problem of commercialization!

I continue with that feeling lol

Is it possible to overcome this situation by moving into 100BANCH? I applied with this in mind. My mentor, Mr. Ogawa, CTO of Panasonic, selected my project, and while I was working on 100BANCH, it caught the attention of the people at Panasonic, and they decided to create a value verification model for me. When I explained it to the engineers for the first time, I didn't have a working prototype, so I couldn't convey the appeal of it verbally. I can only convey the image. I think that was a terrible way to ask.

Therefore, I think that to the engineers, I was seen as someone who pretended to be an artist and wanted to create an object that they didn't really understand.

The reason why I want to make something like that is because for me personally, the way DEW impressed everyone 12 years ago was burned into my retina. I received many awards, and the president of an interior shop in Chicago came to see me in Tokyo three times. . .

However, that was 12 years ago. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm clinging to something that isn't worth realizing, or if I'm trying to create light that is truly valuable. . . . If I die without checking, I'm afraid I'll become an earthbound spirit. . .

How can I convey the emotion I felt at that time?
When I thought about this, I happened to find a video of myself on YouTube that I had taken with my cell phone.

When I showed them the video, engineer Kubo-san and everyone at MI Headquarters brought back the light from 12 years ago, trying to recreate the light from back then.
I'm really thankful to you!

Acrylic mockup at a meeting at Panasonic before the Nana Nana Festival

Is there any value in lighting that does not illuminate things?

In order to think about this question, at this Nananana Festival 2023, we held an event called ``Meditation Night with DEW'' as a joint project with 100BANCH, where benches were placed in front of DEW and people were able to view it.

Photo: 100BANCH

Although DEW is described as lighting like a sparkler, it is not a product that illuminates things with a very small amount of light. I personally think it's valuable, but I wanted to objectively hear what people who tried it for the first time thought.

In order to give the feeling of using it at home, I asked the students to look at the DEW in a room with the lights on, rather than in a completely dark room. We created multiple patterns of light and paint colors to understand what people find valuable in this mysterious object, whether it's art, home appliances, or interior design.

Pattern ①LED/Blue Base/Silver

Pattern ②LED/white base/pink gold

Pattern ③LED/yellow base/rust

Photo: Zentaro Imai

The essence of DEW's value is the ring of light

I focused on observing what the people who came to the booth saw that moved them. Personally, there are times when what I say and what I do are different, and I believe that my true feelings are reflected in my actions.

So, if you do your best to pay attention to the words that come out of your mouth naturally without asking me, to the movement of your gaze, to whether your eyes are shining, etc., many people will notice the ring of light created by the drops. I found out that

I am impressed by the way the ring of light becomes smaller and smaller as the drops fall. I could feel that the order of importance was: ring of light > speed of falling drops > color of light > color of the base. Therefore, in the mass production design, we decided to focus on making the ring of light look beautiful. I don't know what to do with the number of switches, I want to add this function and this function! I was thinking about a lot of things, but now that I've decided on the things I want to focus on, I think I'll be able to eliminate unnecessary features.

Photo: 100BANCH Panasonic President Kusumi also saw it!

Even though it's useless, I want it! Many people said

This will sell! A lot of people said that to me, which was very encouraging. We received a variety of opinions, including that it would be good for hotel interiors and cosmetic window displays. I feel that BtoB should be a major focus in the future.

However, I thought it was strange to hear opinions such as "It will sell!" and "I want it!"
Business books say that many products are desirable because they solve inconveniences and dissatisfaction. . . Why? that's what I thought. Even if we are delivering for BtoB, I thought it would be a good idea to clarify the points that will ultimately be of value, and to my surprise, there was one person who was looking at it all the time.

DEW for digital detox

I had expected to some extent that people involved in art and design would like it, but I was surprised to see that it was also liked by programmers such as fellow 100BANCH member Kotaro-kun .

Torataro sat in front of the DEW every night during the exhibition period and looked at it for 10 to 20 minutes. When I listened to him talk about it, he said, ``This is the first time I thought something like this would be great,'' and I asked him why he wanted to watch it. When I asked about it, I was able to get the following opinions: ``I'm here to clear my head, it's like taking a bath, it's like a digital detox.I wonder if people who smoke have the same feeling?'' He said that watching the light fall, like watching a bonfire, forces you to turn your attention away from your smartphone or computer and clears your mind.

I can't express it in words, but it feels like the misgivings in my heart and body that accumulate every day turn into drops of light and fall.

In an age where many people live their lives through computers and smartphones, perhaps we need time to feel the rhythm of nature.

I want to enjoy a human society surrounded by technology. But sometimes I want to feel the rhythm of nature.
As a PORTABLE NATURE, DEW may be able to make that selfish desire come true.

Mass production design with emphasis on the ring of light

In the future, we will move from the design for value verification to the phase of mass production design while taking care of the ring of light, and we will produce samples again.