Yifan Zhang

About

Yifan Zhang is an experimental interactive designer driven by a deep curiosity about human behaviour and consciousness. Passionate about merging experimental exploration with interactive design, she creates opportunities for participants to discover their own answers rather than conveying predefined concepts.

Yifan’s extensive interdisciplinary design practice has honed her rigorous, logical design strategies and heightened sensitivity to aesthetics. Her approach is characterized by a strong empathy for users, ensuring that each design project finds its most suitable realization. She firmly believes that diverse topics require distinct techniques, materials, and approaches to communicate effectively and make a profound societal impact. She is dedicated to using her designs to foster positive and lasting change in society.

Her Master’s Project Memory Gallery  is a psychotherapy tool designed to aid in the processing of traumatic memories through memory reconstruction and management. Grounded in the core principles of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy, Memory Gallery leverages the significant connections between visual recall, emotional regulation, and cognitive reconstruction.

Improper processing by the brain can cause memories trapped with their original images, thoughts, and feelings, leading to an isolated traumatic memory network that can trigger severe distress when recalled. Memory Gallery combines the immersive capabilities of VR with the creative power of GenAI to build a collaborative space, where the therapist can guide the patient to reprocess these trapped memories by specifically targeting the vivid images in minds.

• By capturing key elements from the patient’s descriptions, the GenAI provides real-time visual feedback while offering a unique perspective devoid of human emotions and biases.
• The digital VR environment acts as a gateway to a four-dimensional space, allowing patients to explore, analyze, and manage their past experiences comprehensively.
• As treatment progresses, the Memory Gallery evolves, and the entire memory neutralization process is recorded.

This approach empowers both patients and therapists to gain better control over the target memory, facilitating a deeper and more effective healing process.