Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, offers practitioners significant mental health benefits, yet daily practice is often limited by a lack of guidance and resources. Derek explored how augmented reality could help beginners practice ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, on their own. His team built an app for the Apple Vision Pro that provided digital guidance while keeping the focus on arranging real flowers and learning from traditional instructors.
My research could not have taken shape at UCSB because understanding ikebana required far more than technical rules. At Tohoku University, working directly with experienced practitioners and mentors immersed our team in the cultural traditions behind the art. Being on-site allowed us to interview instructors, observe real practice, and design around genuine experiences rather than distant assumptions. Practicing ikebana myself helped me grasp balance, negative space, and harmony with natural materials in ways written guides never could. What surprised me most was how user feedback reshaped the project. I initially approached the work as a software developer focused on making the technology function, but user studies revealed where digital features helped and where they disrupted traditional practice. Research abroad showed me that impactful technology cannot simply be technically impressive; it must respect the people, culture, and context it supports.
Derek Kirschbaum