Prayag Ichangimath

I am a passionate advocate for social development and sustainable community building, dedicated to creating positive change in marginalized communities worldwide. With almost a decade of experience implementing developmental programs in rural areas of India, Africa, and Latin America, I specialize in designing curricula for children, empowering women-led agencies, and promoting livelihood opportunities rooted in local traditions.

OurOS addresses the challenges faced by developmental organizations in ensuring the sustainability of their interventions in rural communities. Specifically, the research focuses on the issue of limited access to essential technology among women from rural communities. The proposed solution is the development of OurOS as a design justice tool that involves all stakeholders like community members and development professionals in co-designing innovative solutions to the wicked problem of sustaining community support. The tool is framed as a tabletop game that is played to facilitate discussions among stakeholders to co-create a plan of action for building a sustainable community. By involving all community members in the design process, OurOS empowers them to participate actively in creating interventions that are tailored to meet their specific needs. This research highlights the importance of a community-centered approach to developmental interventions and emphasizes the need for community members to be involved in every step of the design process.

For the world premiere of R.U.R A Torrent of Light, I worked with OCAD university‘s Social Body Lab in collaboration with Tapestry Opera to create a series of wearable devices that were embedded into the costumes of performers and worn by musicians. The opera was created for the 100th anniversary of the original play Rossum’s Universal Robots by Karel Capek. The goal of these devices was to provide new forms of visual and audio information within the narrative of the opera. Two main types of devices were created: Primus, an LED badge and collar, and Radius, a set of wearable speakers. Each of the devices utilized a networked microcontroller that received either color data or sound cues throughout the performance. The animated lighting sequences were created as video animations that were sampled within Isadora and sent to the wearables as OSC messages. Each device used a unique IP address which allowed different animations to be streamed to multiple characters simultaneously. The Radius devices had a series of sound files stored locally on an SD card that were triggered using OSC messages. In both cases, the custom firmware written for the devices allowed the sound, light, and projection designers to use their standard software interfaces to control this new type of output. The enclosures for each of the devices were created as custom 3d prints using a combination of FDM and resin printing using a Form3.

Awards
2022 Dora Mavor Moore Awards
Outstanding Production
Outstanding Achievement in Design
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble
Outstanding New Opera
Outstanding Musical Direction
Outstanding Direction

Wearable Technology Design
Kate Hartman
Nick Puckett 
Adam Tindale

Wearables Design Team
Prayag Ichangimath
Sam Kingston

Composer
Nicole Lizee

Libretto
Nicolas Billon

Director
Michael Mori

Music Design
Gregory Oh

Lighting Design
Michelle Ramsay

Set Design
Cameron Anderson

Costume Design
Joanna Yu

Projection Design
Cameron Davis

Sound Design
Debashis Sinha

Photography
Elana Emer
Dahlia Katz

A Barefoot Science Laboratory develops scientific temper and provides hands-on activities and experiments to children living in remote regions. These mobile science lessons are designed to engage students in a non-formal manner, presenting workshops that are interactive and relatable. The aim is to foster critical thinking skills and inspire a love for learning among the students.

These programs aim to bridge the gap between rural and urban residents, who often have limited access to learning opportunities. The implementation of STEAM strategies allows for the narrowing of this divide.

The Barefoot Science Laboratories target underprivileged communities and provide hands-on activity learning using locally sourced and sustainable materials. Teachers in these communities act as ambassadors for conscious living, learning, and innovation.

Investing in underprivileged children by providing them with better learning resources enhances their cognitive growth and motivates them to pursue careers in fields such as science and sustainability.

Faceless Chess reimagines the traditional game of chess, introducing a captivating blend of uncertainty, strategy, and introspection. By removing the visual hierarchies that players rely on, the game challenges them to trust their memories, instincts, and adaptability. The blank slate appearance of the pieces disrupts conventional power dynamics and forces players to think outside the box, experiment with new strategies, and uncover hidden possibilities.

One of the key innovations in Faceless Chess is the ability to alter the starting order of the game. This injects an element of unpredictability and creativity, allowing players to strategically position their pieces for maximum advantage. The absence of visual cues requires players to carefully analyze the game state, anticipate their opponents’ moves, and make strategic decisions based on their own intuition and understanding of the game’s dynamics. It becomes a battle of wits and adaptation, where players must rely on their own judgment rather than relying solely on established patterns.

To enhance the element of secrecy and concealment in Faceless Chess, haptic gauntlets were introduced as a key digital intervention. These gauntlets utilized haptic feedback, providing players with non-visual interactions to maintain secrecy while ensuring smooth gameplay. In the scaled-up, life-size version of the game, where players physically interacted with the pieces, the haptic gauntlets became essential.

A transmedia project that decolonizes the history of chili peppers by exploring their connectivity and breaking stereotypes. It combines animated videos, songs, AR experiences, a recipe blog, and a website to weave narratives.

The project aims to decontextualize and decolonize chili peppers, using them as a medium to challenge stereotypes and explore cultural exchange. The project culminated in an exhibition where audiences could participate in the AR experience and enjoy the recipes on the website.

The Chamber of Chillies is a museum without walls, aiming to situate chili pepper knowledge beyond colonial imperialism. It embraces the concept of hybridity to foster cultural exchange without hierarchy. The project’s components include character development, storyboarding, animation, an AR experience, and a website with recipe archives. The website acts as an archival space, bringing together various transmedia elements. The Chamber of Chillies promotes inclusivity, decolonizes knowledge histories, and challenges stereotypes through transmedia storytelling.