What We Do
Design Programs
Foundation Course
The Foundation Course is the first program you will experience when becoming a new member, during which you will gain understanding of Samsung Design Membership’s vision and receive training for basic capabilities. This course helps new members clearly perceive their role in the membership and builds a foundation for successful growth and improvement. It also provides an excellent opportunity for members to gain deep insight on their involvement with Samsung Design Membership through diverse methods of self-reflection.
Intensive Course
The Intensive Course is a program available over winter vacation in which members can study design practices and know-hows while carrying out personal projects with design tutors from specific fields. The Intensive Course provides seminars on design practices for each field of study for members to gain deeper understanding on their fields of expertise to further grow as professional designers. Furthermore, members themselves can explore creative values in their pertaining professional fields and develop their own capabilities through personal projects. The following projects showcase the individual work of Samsung Design Membership students, and are not directly associated with Samsung Electronics.
Youngha Roh
Bowl is a built-in sink and dishwasher combined. It’s designed so all the kitchen experiences traditionally done away from the sink can be accomplished using Bowl. It streamlines the workflow of cooking and meal preparation, including prepping ingredients and washing dishes. Since the sink functions as a dishwasher, there’s no need to worry about sink stains or odors. Additionally, you don’t have to move wet dishes around, and there’s always a clean cutting board ready to prepare ingredients easily. Since it’s easy to clean, it can even be used as a kitchen work surface.
Geonhu Son
GOAD : Greatest of all Dogs is a dog supplies brand for the best dogs. In the modern world, we cherish dogs as family members, best friends, and even lifelong companions. We want the best for them as we share our daily lives with them. A lot of consideration went into what they would love most, to give them the greatest present possible. The result is six puppy products inspired by candy, which most dogs crave but can’t eat often due to health reasons.
Dongjun Kim
Mmm! is a music mastering platform utilizing spatial acoustics in XR environments. It presents a new experience which helps users more deeply immerse into music within an XR environment. This service provides a custom listening experience for users to see, feel, and explore sound more intuitively through the medium of space. In the near future, you can expect a richer, more enhanced, and more immersive music listening experience in XR environments created through natural user participation.
Hyunjun Kim
NEO: Palette is a UI component that assists data transfer in an XR (eXtended Reality) environment. Data like texts, images, and files can be intuitively transferred in the form of a palette component. This also allows users to expand on their interactions with data, such as grouping data or being more deeply immersed in their tasks.
Hyerin Park
Pathkey is a next-generation authentication system that leverages Implicit Continuous Authentication Technology and unique user patterns. Pathkey consists of three types of authentication based on user behavioral patterns: PathTouch that is based on mobile touch patterns, PathPress that uses keyboard and mouse patterns in PC usage, and PathWalk that authenticates based on a user’s gait pattern.
Hyungwoo Lee
Bopeep is a symbiotic robot that interacts with us through familiar shapes and forms easily seen in everyday life. It becomes a friendly robot that also plays a practical role, such as a table or storage box. Bopeep’s harmonious design and joyful experiences help users build positive relationships with the robot, which inspires favorable user perception toward robots.
Youngchan Lee
Metatext is a project that provides a new experience of text communication based on the AR/VR environment. From the ‘text’ as the core and basic unit of text-based communication, the ‘speech bubble’ that wraps around the text, and finally to the ‘chat room’ that houses the conversation, Metatext takes these three key parts to propose new experiences to users.
Minhyuk Lim
Clue is a medical service that builds out healthcare related big data and utilizes this data to provide professional healthcare coaching based on personal medical information. To offer services and values that go beyond simply establishing infrastructure, Clue proposes next gen medical services that flexibly connect Electronic Medical Records with Personal Health Records.
Soobin Cho
Rice Husk Village is a sustainable children’s toy made with repurposed rice husks. Every year, countless amounts of rice husks are wasted. Efforts toward repurposing these rice husks have therefore become a key task for environmental preservation. This toy is completely harmless to the human as it is made with natural materials like rice husks, starch, and water, and once done being played with, can decompose back to nature to complete its virtuous cycle of sustainability.
Hyerim Kim
Every object has its unique purpose. We should not assume that designers are the only ones who define an object’s purpose. ‹Pillared stuffs› proposes diverse possibilities within a single form through variations in placement, formative elements based on usability, and minute details. ‹Pillared stuffs› is a design that organically matures through the process of users experiencing the joys of understanding and identifying their objects through these possibilities.
Minseoung Woo
‹Signal› is a video capturing and editing service that takes ‘Studying Timelapse’ videos, which is a method used by students to focus on their studies. Signal helps parents understand and communicate with their children through this study method. It motivates students by giving rewards when they take videos and share it, and through these rewards, students can create cards to better communicate with their parents.
Hyunkyung Jung
‹mivv› is an AI investigation service that handles the process of testifying in sexual offense cases. An application with guides is provided to the victim and ‹mivv› serves as an AI investigator that conducts its investigation based on a conversation system design. The testimonial process can be monitored in real-time and be given feedback by the human investigator who oversees the process. Through an objective analysis that focuses on the victim’s perspective, ‹mivv› can prevent secondary victimizations that can potential occur during the investigation process.
Ian Bok
Alog is a recorder and an AI speaker designed to encapsulate memories with sound for the visually impaired who cannot produce memories through photos. As technology advances, we’ve come to utilizing digital devices with diverse functions in our daily lives. However, there aren’t many types of devices that are used regularly by the visually impaired. Alog combines features such as noise cancellation and an AI speaker with the functionality of cassette tapes and recorders to demonstrate the optimal usability for the visually impaired when recording memories.
Jinwon Lee
Bloomy is a smartwatch that allows smooth communication for people with hearing impairment. When the user’s name is called, the watch responds immediately and alerts the user. With the built-in 4-way mic and a micro beam projector, the user can also verify the source of the sound and its direction. The application also simplifies storing and managing past conversations. Conversations will now become precious memories rather than moments that are deliberately avoided.
Junghyun Bang
The ‘Empty Nest Syndrome’ is a symptom of depression in which a housewife perceives herself as an ‘empty eggshell’ after her children leave the house. Discovering one’s true identity is a way of overcoming this symptom, but the process is difficult for someone who always prioritized the family. Sheft provides services to help people facing this impediment become self-reliant. Going beyond the purpose of simple education or sharing hobbies, Sheft will assist you in becoming independent through direct and continuous care.
Kyudae Lee
Lighthouse is a Nose-walk robot guide that is designed to brighten the lives of senior dogs like a lighthouse that illuminates the path in a dark sea. This product gifts new lives to older dogs that suffer from cognitive impairment or depression due to their deteriorated visual and auditory senses through playful activities based on their olfactory senses. Lighthouse helps these dogs perceive paths within a home using scents from nature, assisting elderly dogs to once again live stable, active, and fulfilling lives.
Sukyung Kim
Oliver is a service for drivers with ADHD, a condition that is on the rise in recent years. This service predicts and prevents accidents by analyzing handling and braking patterns that result from emotional responses to different situations when driving. Furthermore, this service takes meticulous care of the overall driving experience by providing Nodding Interactions that improve on the disadvantages of VUI, as well as prevention of secondary accidents such as delayed schedules due to initial accidents.
Seoungyeon Roh
As technology advances, the information gap between the elderly and the younger generation grows wider and deeper. This gap is most apparent in the communication methods between these two generations. Our News proposes a new way for these generations to interact with each other without drastically altering their ways of life. The younger generation can send messages as if they’re writing a social media post, and their grandparents can receive these messages as if they are reading it from a monthly subscribed newspaper.
Saewook Oh
Memorize is a product that bridges the gap between past and present by collecting and clarify-ing fuzzy, fragmented memories from the past. Once you connect it to a smartphone, various data from photographs, conversations, and music are transferred and stored to Memorize for display. Everyday moments that would have been distorted pieces of memory are now vividly portrayed before you when you activate the product.
Jinwoo Park
PASY is a personal reading pacemaker that helps reading become a more enjoyable activity for those who are accustomed to obtaining knowledge through card news or short videos. Users can comprehend the contents of a book through snack cards that contain passages from the book or through comment threads between readers. You can also save snippets you like when reading the book as snack contents to share your sensibilities with others. Reading is now no longer a personal hobby but a channel through which you can communicate with others.
Jiseon Oh
Heart Caster is a service that manages friendly calls based on emotional sentiments predicted with the number of calls made. The service analyzes call histories with your parents to predict their emotional states and display it visually in the form of a weather report. You can register and use this service for people whom you wish to call regularly. Heart Caster is a service that helps the emotional weather of your loved ones to always stay ‘sunny.’
MEP Course
The MEP(Membership Emergence Project) course is a program held over the summer through which members can gain new insights based on their unique design values by partaking in team-based activities that span the entire scope of planning, designing, to development in various fields including product, visual, and experiential design. Members choose project topics through sessions on humanities like philosophy and writing, and follow up with actual field experts, workshops, and research procedures to explore issues with social value. Finally at the design solution phase, members work with professors in the fields of design and current design industry experts to fine tune their projects to present at the final annual exhibition. The following projects showcase the individual work of Samsung Design Membership students, and are not directly associated with Samsung Electronics.
Sanghee Park, Jeongyeon Kil, Minji Kwon, Seungmin Ha, Dayeong Hwang
Meet proposes a new eating culture, making meat production possible at home through cultured meat technology without slaughter. This meat culture doesn’t just replicate existing farmed meat—it creates meat with the user’s desired texture, flavor, and nutrition, considering both the flavor and the natural cycle of life. Meet presents the future of food culture that will unfold on our dining tables.
Ahyun Seon, Kisub Moon, Yungwon Kang, Junwoo Lim, Jimin Park
“New Field, New Play.” Urban offers a novel experience where the city becomes the field. It presents a fresh take, bringing sports to the city streets where dancing, singing, and vlogging are now embraced. With Urban, you can play golf any time, any place, no need to travel to a driving range or a distant, out-of-town golf course. Urban is a concept with the potential to expand the role of sports in our future society.
Dongsun Shin, Geonhoo Son, Hyunjae Cho, Jiwon An, Juhyeon Jeon
Veil is a personalized security service that protects the digital footprints we continuously create. As we use numerous devices in our daily lives, our browsing, viewing history, social media information, photos, and other private information we don’t want to share get saved along the way. Veil assesses the current situation using context aware technology, and flexibly hides personal information that could be indiscriminately exposed as we move between devices. Veil goes beyond being a passive, reactive data protection method, to be a flexible system that adapts to the user and gives us the freedom to control the boundaries of our data.
Jiin Yoo, Seungbum Ko, Soyeon Kim, Youngha Rho, Soeun Lee
Sync introduces an innovative way for Gen Z to weight train how and where they want to. With portable weight training equipment and a dedicated service designed to help maintain a regular routine, users can enjoy their workout in the comfort of their home or even outdoors. It provides a flexible and optimized exercise experience, accessible in a variety of spaces. Delve into a new training paradigm with Sync.
Hyeongjun Kim, Hyeonki Kim, Yoojin Lee, Yehyeon Yoon, Suryun Hyeon
Until now, we’ve been flooded with information and content recommended by social platforms without much resistance. The 'unknown algorithm' traditionally provides information and content without allowing our involvement in the process or outcome, rendering us passive consumers. VW (View) is an algorithm hub for active content discovery. Users can manage and control the content recommendation algorithm, unavailable on social platforms, just like nurturing a garden in the shape of a pillar. An environment where you can easily distinguish and digest vast amounts of information—this is the new exploratory experience VW (View) envisions.
Seoyoung Lee, Geonhoo Son, Mirim Kim, Chaeryang Ahn, Sanghee Park, Yujin Jeong, Kisub Moon
The 2023 MEP exhibition 'Super Social' redefined togetherness beyond just being together, proposing a broader idea of ‘Social.’ Just like the dynamic lives of individuals in our ever-changing world, arrows stretched out across diverse trajectories, beyond the boundaries of signposts, illustrating a new landscape of togetherness. Nine symbol identities combined with the signposts expressed the originality of each distinct project. The exhibition weaved a narrative journey, from Super Together, to Super Rules, and Super Things, inviting visitors to look beyond fixed images into the rich variety of life.
Hyerim Kim, Erin Jung, Jiwon Oh, Gloria Jung
FLiK Studio is a space for Gen Z to have fun and be productive. We are living in an age where people do what they love for a living. What does it mean to have fun for Gen Z? This is a generation who create content with their everyday lives, actively communicate with people, and also generate revenue in the process. FLiK Studio provides a new environment in which Gen Z wholly enjoy their unique culture of fun.
Daeun Kim, Sewon Park, Kyungmin Kim, Taegwang Ahn
Great content enriches our lifestyles. Just how we’d leave a soothing ASMR video on to concentrate while working, or tuning into energetic beats to make our home training workouts more enjoyable. POV is a projector that helps users focus on the unique moments in their lifestyles by providing diverse content that fits the mood and situation. Project content that suits your unique needs in the comfort of your home to experience a new way to enjoy content. POV helps us customize the way we consume content and opens new possibilities for the future of content engagement.
Chanho Ju, Susanna Kim, Wonjae Lee, Giryeong Park, Jiin Yoo
HARVEST# is an energy harvesting product and service that lets you become a personal energy provider to produce, consume, and trade energy. HARVEST# defines the user as a ‘harvester,’ enabling them to proactively tackle energy issues as an individual. Although the energy collected by individuals won’t be able to replace the energy needed for the entire world, it can be enough to power a laptop to playback an entire movie. HARVEST# starts with these small steps of energy contribution that embodies the aspirations to preserve and foster a healthier planet.
Dongwook Yang, Jaeyeon Jeong, Myeonghee Kim, YoungKyeong Jeong
COCUN is a brand that offers app services and sleep-aid appliances for healthier leisure time before bed. Arrange phone usage plans with the app before sleeping, then physically distance the phone by docking it to a COCUN station beside the bed. Afterwards, spend leisure time while controlling control the contents of the phone mirrored on the ceiling by a beam projector and naturally fall asleep at a proper time.
Jinwon Lee, Sojeong Shim, Subin Cho
INTIME proposes a new concept of time for Generation Z. Doesn’t the music end as soon as you are ready to leave the house? Playlists fill up time for Generation Z. Search, select, and listen to playlists suitable for various situations such as cleaning, concentrating, or exercising. INTIME makes daily repetitive tasks more enjoyable in a clever way. When time and algorithm are set in a specific location through AR, a playlist that fits the user’s routine comes through the speaker. It can be in the shower, on the desk, or at the dressing table!
Subin Choi, Minseong Woo, Hyerim Kim, YuKyeong Jeong
Vivify (Object) ‘Ideas with Light, Blooms in Dimensions.’ is an exhibition of stories that illuminate the ideas conceived by the members of Samsung Design Membership. In Vivify (Object), the members not only discover the aspects of an object, but also explore what value it stores. Their thoughts retain the light that shined upon them during this exploration. The illuminated minds are projected onto an object, which expands into 3 dimensions and blooms into a new one. We hope the ideas encapsulated in the Vivify (Object) exhibition become an influence for anyone who sees Samsung Design Membership.
Dahye Kim, Leejun Chang, Jiyoung Choi, Boyoon Hur, Junpyo Hong
‹X: Undiscovered› is an exhibition that reveals the identity of ‘X’, a concealed, futuristic world of humanity. Today, we are on the verge of the next world of ‘X’, which abruptly emerged under the term ‘new normal’. This world, which hasn’t fully revealed its true nature, simultaneously presents fear and anticipation. Through this exhibition, we meticulously defined the order of the new world ‘X’ and proposed a compatible future design. We hope this discovery will be the solution to alleviate the fears of tomorrow.
Yunhui Kim, Yoora Goh, Jusang Jang, Jaeyun Jung
Kaffet is a location-based online street performance service that reinterprets ‘busking’ (street performance) for the new normal era. Passersby gathering together to relish music is now a rare sight, but the idea of ‘coincidental music,’ which is the essence of busking, can be altered in new ways. Kaffet allows users to coincidentally encounter busking performances within their own spaces or at specific locations.
Hyunkyung Jung, Junghyun Bang, Dahee Son, Huisu Jo
Adapth breaks free from ad hoc work-from-home situations and creates a new work environment suitable for the new normal era. Strict work environments are gradually becoming unnecessary as more and more companies are implementing work-from-home policies in today’s new normal lifestyle. Adapth is utilized as a desk while working from home, and the Adapth pad offers an extended work experience. Adapth provides a comfortable work environment while naturally harmonizing with surrounding spaces, and will be the new method of adapting to the home office environment.
Sojin Kim, Seoungyeon Roh, Sewook Oh, Hojung Lee, Minhyuk Jo
“The discovery of oddity is the discovery of possibility.” Ordinary-Oddinary, a juxtaposition of two words that sound similar but have different meanings, is an exhibition that conveys the potential hidden in the oddities of everyday life. We are often so used to ordinary standards, which sometimes prevents us from noticing different perspectives. This exhibition features oddities discovered by seven different teams within Samsung Design Membership and seeks to propose new possibilities through these findings. We hope this exhibition inspires continued contemplations on the oddities of our lives, leading to embracing and reflecting on these discoveries.
Kihyun Kim, Eunji Ko, Dahee Son, Yunhui Kim, Yoomin Sun
Sanute is a combination of a closet and drying rack that alleviates the burden of having to pick up clothes from the drying rack to store them. Users can wear clothes straight from the drying rack as they would from the closet. When you hang your clothes on Sanute, it automatically ventilates and dehumidifies your clothes, and the internal antibacterial freshener keeps your clothes hygienic and fragrant. Sanute goes beyond of simply being a new kind of drying rack from which you can directly wear your clothes to proposing a new way of life for single-person households.
Jinju Choo, Minseong Woo, Kyudae Lee, Jiyoung Choi, Yeseul Kim, Nalim Joung
Voya! is a local exploration service for people who like to travel as if they are exploring. As traveling has become a staple of our daily lives, more and more people are pursuing novel and unique travel experiences. Voya! helps travelers discover special local information in coincidental and exciting ways, even if it is an impromptu trip. It also lets travelers focus wholly on their travels through the gimbal camera that conveniently provides functions like taking photos, searching, and navigating that are distractions while travel.
Hyungjoon Koo, Hyejin Kim, Jiyoon Min, Doyeon Sung
Joyin is a service that assists communication between residents in massive shared housing com-plexes, which are projected to become the standard residential lifestyle of the future. This service equips the front door, which is essentially a barrier between personal space and the outside, with a projector that provides information about the preferences and personalities of the resident. Through Joyin, you can also gain information regarding culture exchanges and gatherings. Joyin transforms the front door from a barrier to a method of communication.
Jaewan Choi, Soyoung Lee, Wonjae Lee, Hanna Yoo
Pingpong is a pet IoT service that helps communication between people and their pets. The smart clip sensor tracks the behavior, activity, and heartrates of pets to perceive five emotional states of Comfort, Joy, Stress, Fear, and Loneliness. These states are displayed in individually col-ored lighting through the smart clip and leash. Pingpong then suggests appropriate responses to these emotional states through a mobile app, further assisting pet owners to have meaningful communication with their pets.
Jooan Lee, Hyebin Lee, Daeun Yoo, Hyunkyu Chung
Dearbell is a smart beam lighting apparatus that helps the entrance of a home become a place of communication. Dearbell, inspired by the concept of a bell that tolls to bring good news, recognizes family members through a sensor to display family messages and information with a projector. You can also send messages through an app to convey heartfelt feelings for your be-loved family.
Samsung Project
Samsung Project is a work experience program through which members can get first-hand experience in the field. With the help of countless experts active in their respective fields, members can develop insight in various areas of work from product planning, development, to marketing, and improve their abilities as professional designers by gaining actual work capabilities and developing expertise.