The Lost Duck

2023

This experimental project rediscovers childhood wonder through the journey of a duck bot.

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Inspired by J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the story of "The Lost Duck" draws on Holden Caulfield's curiosity about the ducks in Central Park, symbolizing his yearning to preserve innocence. In a surreal exploration of memory and belonging, the duck bot finds its way to Central Park, where it encounters a yellow rubber duck—an abstract representation of childhood wonder and simplicity.

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The duck bot is embedded with an Arduino and servo motors, and wirelessly connected to mobile device through bluetooth.

Video

Physical Comp

Fabrication

No items found.

The Lost Duck

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Images

Context
Rest in Metaverse
In Memory of All the Deceased

In the year 2046, a time with more advanced technologies, a capitalist-controlled Metaverse becomes the primary workplace. What is hidden inside the sugar-coated metaverse workplace is the labor exploitation that no one can escape from. People have to work day and night like hamsters on a perpetual wheel to sustain themselves.

As work takes over life, social relationships of people are built more based on virtual identities, and their real-world identities gradually diminish. As a result, death is no longer the end of biological life, but rather the moment when a person's real-world identity is entirely replaced by their virtual identities.

Rest in Metaverse

This 2 min 1 sec short video introduces the project setting in a non-linear narrative. The animation was modeled and rendered in Blender, and the final video was edited in Final Cut Pro.

In Memory of All the Deceased

Through scanning the digital screen that randomly displays a portrait of the deceased from by 100 AI-generated human faces with their mobile device, viewers will be able to enter a memorial hall in augmented reality. This AR experience was built in Unity.

Short
Tech Overview
The Duck – Bluetooth-Controlled Robot

Short

This 1 min 44 sec short video expands in a non-linear narrative.

Tech Overview

Microcontroller: ESP32 (WiFi + Bluetooth)
Motion: 2 DC motors controlled via Adafruit Motor Shield V2
Control Logic: Forward, backward, left, right, and stop
Connectivity: Bluetooth for wireless control via mobile device
Power: Rechargeable battery pack
Chassis: Custom 3D-printed duck-shaped shell

The Duck – Bluetooth-Controlled Robot

Context and the problem
Research (related work + landscape analysis + user studies)
The solution
Prototype
Visual design

Today, people are saving more information than ever. Devices offer way more storage than before, and cloud services make it easy to save everything. But the more saved, the more need to manage. Despite having tons of productivity tools around us — from calendars to to-do lists to voice memos — many people still report feeling overwhelmed. This is because many of those tools still require decision-making on things like labeling, structuring, and prioritizing, which actually drains energy and leads to cognitive fatigue.

Research

002 Landscape Analysis

The landscape analysis focused on widely used tools, such as Apple Notes, Google Calendar, and third-party apps, such as Todoist, Sunsama, and Structured. While each app offers useful features, they also present limitations that Cactus aims to improve on.

Apple Notes

Simple and built-in — but lacks structure

Works basically as a digital version of a traditional paper notebook. Easy for information to become scattered and difficult to retrieve.

Google Calendar

Great for scheduling, not for general info

Requires manual adaptation for unstructured tasks

Todoist

Smart capture, priority levels — but has overwhelming UI

The mobile app feels overly simplified, while the desktop version can feel overly complex. The calendar view, though informative, can lead to visual overload due to the high density of interface elements.

Sunsama & Structured

Ritual-based and timeline-based interfaces — but require too much manual input

And too many unnecessary decisions, such as selecting color for each task. While color selection offers personalization, it often feels more aesthetic than practical, providing limited functional benefit and leading to more visual clutter.

003 User Studies

To better understand user needs, informal user interviews were conducted with family members and friends.

Too much manual input

Current tools interfaces are too complex

Hard to find things, don’t remember label

Most open to AI but want control and clarity

Input preferences: voice, text, or visual

004 User Personas

Based on the findings from competitor analysis and user studies, four primary user personas were developed to reflect these identified pain points people experience with current tools

The Forgetful One

Needs help remembering life’s little moments

The Structured Seeker

Wants structure, but no time for it

The Busy Multitasker

Always on the move — needs fast, hands-free support.

The Indecisive Prioritizer

Struggles to know where to start

Prototype

Solution

"The Cactus Solution"

Talktive

The app allows storing and retrieving anytime anywhere through conversations

Smart

The app automatically categorizes, prioritizes, and organizes tasks behind the scenes, reducing theneed for manual input.

Chill

The visual design is intentionally calm and minimal, avoiding overwhelm and keeping the interface quiet and focused.

Visual Design

001 Color Palette

The color palette is soft and neutral, inspired by cactus in natural environments. Functional colors are used just to highlight the tasks based on its level.

002 Typography

iOS Native Apple system font / San Francisco

003 Logo

The Cactus logo was designed to reflect both the personality and the function of the app.

The Frutiger typeface (Adrian Frutiger, 1975)

Sketch

Final

004 Icons

All the icons are 24px height and width and 2px stroke weight with theme variants in "Light” and “Dark” and state variants in “Selected” and “Default.”