We had the good fortune of connecting with Tiange Wang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiange, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Variety and creative edges. Our project range is very diverse in terms of the technology and media we use – a strategic choice we deliberately embrace. This means we allow ourselves to use whatever tools and formats called for to push the edges of creative problem solving, which often yields stronger and more effective and contextual results.

Stay provocative. Currently, we have a particular interest in experiences that leverage emerging technology, such as GenerativeAI and spatial computing. As technologies that are still emerging, there is ample opportunity and numerous unknowns regarding the potential ways we can interact with these technologies and with each other through them. This prospect excites us and always gets our minds working.

To date, these factors have enabled us to successfully blend experimental experiences and market-ready ideas to create tangible futures around emerging technology, climate and sustainability, health and wellbeing, and everyday life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
VLab is a multidisciplinary design lab I started with my collaborator, Boston-based design technologist Iyang Huang. We specialize in experience design innovation, digital & physical product design, speculative design, multimedia art direction, and emerging technology. Since our inception, we have been invited to talks, museums, won numerous awards, and formed meaningful partnerships. We blend experimental experiences and market-ready ideas to create tangible futures around emerging technology, climate and sustainability, health and wellbeing, and everyday life.

V.Lab is where Vending, Variety, and Vision converge. Originating from our inaugural project, ‘SpaceV: A Space Vending System for Future Wellbeing in the City’, we’ve evolved to champion the ethos of self-service and hybridity. Today, we vend diverse ideas, curate immersive and multimodal experiences, and bring visionary projects to life at V.Lab.

Some of our recent work include DataWagashi, a design-tech project using DataWagashi as a new medium aiming to make climate data tangible, accessible and fun by blending taste, smell, touch, texture, and physical interaction into the vocabulary of data communication. Purple Origin, an installation that explores the origin and evolution of the color purple, from its luxurious and rare beginnings with Tyrian purple made from sea snails to its modern, accessible forms, encouraging reflection on progress, preservation, and the relationship between luxury, sustainability, and environmental responsibility. Treelendar, a calendar that enhances awareness of paper’s origins from trees by showing daily seasonal tree colors transformed through a year’s photos of a tree using computer vision. Unfold mirror, a bathroom cabinet mirror that uses a multi-nodal pivot hinge to allow for simultaneous access to the mirror and cabinet contents, improving convenience and usability in small spaces.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My top trip genres include outdoor adventures (sensory delight) and interactive museums (intellectual delight). I’d point them to camping sites, Airtream camps, natural hot springs, fishing charters and hidden scenic vistal spots in the area. I would also hand them a list of museums that feature interactive exhibits, creative technology installations, and multimedia indie art. An itinerary that includes a mix of both modes of exploration would be the most fun.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to my creative partner Iyang Huang, for his contributions, support and endless curiosity in shaping the past, present and future of our collaboration and practice together.

Website: https://www.vee-lab.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiange-wang/

Other: https://www.tiangewang.io/

Image Credits
Photographer for event photos: Huiwen Shi

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