Soomi Park
Staff details
Soomi is a London-based designer and researcher. Her research crosses the boundaries between design, fiction and cognitive psychology. Through the lens of her research background, her work discusses the complex relationship between emerging technologies and human desires. Her practice encompasses a wide range of mediums, including speculative objects, film, photography, performance, interactive installations and wearables.
Her work has been featured in global media outlets including The New York Times, Vogue Paris, Frame Magazine, The Guardian, Wired UK, and etc. She was a Designer in Residence at the Design Museum in London in 2017. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD (thesis titled “Should Robots Blush?”) using speculative design to research the relationship between cognitive psychology and robotics at the Queen Mary University of London funded by EPSRC. She holds her MA in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art in London.
Academic qualifications
- MA in Design Interactions from Royal College of Art 2013
- MA in Digital Media Design from Hongik University (IDAS) 2007
- BA in Multimedia and Animation/ Visual Communication from Sookmyung Women's University 2005
Teaching and Supervision
BA Design Year 1 Lead
BA Design Year 1 Studio Project module convener
BA Design Year 3 Studio Project mentor
Publications and research outputs
Conference or Workshop Item
Park, Soomi; Healey, Patrick G. T. and Kaniadakis, Antonios. 2021. 'Should Robots Blush?'. In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’21). Yokohama, Japan 8 - 13 May 2021.
Project
Park, Soomi. 2018. Should Robots Blush?: Embarrassed Robots.
Park, Soomi. 2005. LED Eyelash.
Show/Exhibition
Park, Soomi and Wells, Owen. 2020. Between Dreamy and Dreary: Fiction in Design. In: "Between Dreamy and Dreary: Fiction in Design", Celine Park Gallery, Korea, Republic of, 21 Aug – 21 Nov 2020.
Park, Soomi. 2019. The Republic of Privacy. In: "The Paradox Of Privacy", Accenture The Dock, Dublin, Ireland, 8 July - 9 September 2019.
Park, Soomi. 2019. Embarrassed Robots. In: "Future Cross Boundaries", Taiwan Design Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Province of China, 22 January - 14 April 2019.
Further profile content
Featured publications
Media engagements
2018:
Rose-Tinted Glasses
An article in Frame Magazine #122 May/June 2018
2018:
In London, Designers Play With the Future
An interview with New York Times about the Designers in Residence of the Design Museum
2015:
ATM dog: Forgotten your pin? Please join the queue for the dachshund
An interview with The Guardian about the Republic of Privacy project
2016:
Soomi Park eyelash extensions: as seen in Vogue Paris
An article in Vogue Paris magazine
Conferences and talks
2021:
Should Robots Blush?
A paper presentation at the 2021 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Yokohama, Japan(virtual))
2018:
Creating a Design Framework: Creative & Critical Key Stages
Invited Talk at the Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London
2016:
Art & Commitment
Invited Talk at the Master-Seminar series hosted by Lukas Pairon at the School of Arts (JASK Conservatorium), Ghent, Belgium
2015:
Transitive Wearables
Invited Talk of Open Lecture series at the Copenhagen Institute Interaction Design, Denmark
2014:
Transitive Wearables toward Poetic Aesthetics
Keynote Presentation at the Symposium on Fashion Technology(SOFT), Royal Academy of Art, The Hauge, The Netherlands
Grants and awards
2017:
Centre for Public Engagement Small Grant Award
Grant awarded for Embarrassed Robots project from Queen Mary University of London
2017:
Designers in Residence of the Design Museum
Embarrassed Robots project
2016:
Global Design Leader of Korea Institute of Design Promotion(KIDP), South Korea
Transitive Wearable study
Recent Exhibitions
Aug-Nov. 2020 [Between Dreamy and Dreary: Fiction in Design], Solo Exhibition With Owen Wells, Celine Park Gallery, Eyelove Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Jul-Aug. 2019 [THE PARADOX OF PRIVACY], Accenture, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Jan-Apr. 2019 [Future Cross Boundaries], Taiwan Design Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Sep. 2018 [Digital Design Weekend], London Design Festival, Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum, London, United Kingdom
Aug-Sep. 2018 [Future Beyond Imagination], Taiwan Design Expo 2018, Taichung Cultural and Creative Industries Park, Taichung, Taiwan
Dec. 2017–Apr. 2018 [Support], Designers in Residence Showcase, Design Museum, London, United Kingdom
Aug. 2015 [SECRET: NOTHING TO SEE HERE], Science Gallery Dublin, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Mar. 2015 [Hypervital], Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne, Cite du Design, Saint Etienne, France
Mar. 2015 [Technophilia and the Corrupt Body], Menier Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Nov.2014 [Design Korea], KINTEX, Ilsan, South Korea
Jun.2013 [Queen Elizabeth Prize of Engineering], Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
