Color Terrae Taupānga Pūkoro by Simone Ardito

Color Terrae Taupānga Pūkoro by Simone Ardito is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award Hiriwa in Hoahoa Hangarau Pūkoro, Tono me te Pūmanawa Competition Category.

HiriwaPūkoro· 2021

Color Terrae Taupānga Pūkoro

by Simone Ardito

Client: Simone Ardito

A' Design Award Hiriwa Winner in Pūkoro Category

21,963

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #118425

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Color Terrae Taupānga Pūkoro

Ko Color Terrae he taupānga pūkoro mō ngā tohunga whaipara tangata. Ka whakamamatihia e te taupānga te tautuhi, te tātari, te whakarōpū me te whakaahua o ngā wae papatahi e whai ana i te waehere tae Munsell. Ka pānuihia e tētahi āhei kite tae e ahu mai ana i te atamai horihori ngā whakaahua i tangohia e te kaiwhakamahi, ā, ka honoa ia wae papatahi ki tētahi waehere tae motuhake. He rite tētahi wāhanga Rātaka ki te pukapuka tuhi me te pūrere whakaahua mō ngā tuhipoka, ngā tuhipoka reo me ngā pikitia. Ka whakaratohia e te Aratau Keri tētahi atanga kua arotautia mō te whakamahi i waho i ngā rā keri.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Hiriwa

Ko Color Terrae Taupānga Pūkoro te toa o te A' Design Award Hiriwa, he whakaaetanga tino whai mana e hoatu ana ki ngā hoahoa taumata teitei rawa, ātaahua me te whakamīharo. Ko ngā toa Hiriwa he mahi tino kanapa, tino auaha e whakaatu ana i te mātanga, te pūmanawa me te mōhio hōhonu o ā rātou kaihoahoa. E tūmanakohia ana ko Color Terrae Taupānga Pūkoro he mahi whakamīharo, he tauira, he tino ngaio, he auaha hōhonu. Ko tēnei hoahoa i toa i te Hiriwa he hanganga rongonui, whakamīharotia e whai wāhi ana ki te whakawhānui i ngā rohe o te toi, te pūtaiao, te hoahoa me te hangarau. Ko Color Terrae Taupānga Pūkoro he mahi e hae ana te tini, e whakaara ana i ngā hiahia, e kawe mai ana i ngā kare-ā-roto pai, ā, e whakaoho ana i te mīharo.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Color Terrae is an AI-powered app created to optimize archaeologist's workflow by replacing the current inefficient paper-based processes.
AI technology comes into play with a color detection function: it is able to identify colors from photographs taken by the user, and to associate the photographed stratigraphic unit to a specific color code. Furthermore, Color Terrae offers the chance to switch to Dig Mode, an outdoor-optimized version of the app which can be really useful on dig days.
Dimensions & Packaging: When a picture is taken, AI technology analyses it and samples pixel by pixel in order to get the matching color unit related to a Munsell color code.
There are 1000 hex color codes learned by the AI. Since most of them are pretty similar, they are grouped in 100 color units.
Each color unit belongs to a Munsell color. Most hex color codes detected within a color unit will indicate the "winning" unit which is associated with a specific Munsell color.
Tags: Archaeology, Digital Innovation, Use of Technology, User Experience, App Design, Artificial Intelligence
Production Technology: From pencil to pixels to code. The project started from rough sketches on paper sheets, then it moved to digital meeting the following softwares:
Adobe Illustrator (logo and brand identity), Sketch (wireframes, hi-fi mockups and prototype), Xcode with Swift UI (app), Core ML and Python (AI colors detector).
Design Challenge: The most challenging part was to bring to digital the current paper-based process without altering the user experience.
In fact by using this app the archeologist should not change his workflow, but willingly follow the same process used previously on paper, now on digital. Understanding all the human and technical pain points has been crucial in order to come up with an appropriate digital solution.
Research: Results from interviews, researches and user tests established that a mobile app could help the archaeologist in at least three different phases:
1. During the archaeological excavation, recognise the different layers, distinguish between them and note their characteristics.
2. During documentation to assign univocal color codes to the layers to avoid confusion or misunderstandings.
3. During the study phase of the site, which usually takes place several months after the excavation and fieldworks.
Inspiration: The project comes from the desire to bring innovation in areas where digital technology is not much explored, such as archaeology.
Color Terrae indeed allows to digitalize some of the main activities of the archaeologist: identification, analysis, classification and description of stratigraphic units following the Munsell color code.
Project Duration: The project started in the last quarter of 2020 and had its first demo release and test phase in February 2021 in Lugano, Switzerland.
Operation Flow: Once the app is launched, the user can interact with the main area, Diary, launch the Camera, or switch to Dig Mode through settings.
Diary, as the name may suggest, works as a notebook, but also as a photographic archive. Here user can write or record his thoughts during the day at the dig, and save all the pictures he has taken. In order to have a well structured archive, all the files (notes, voice memo and pics) are divided in three sections: recents, lists and all.