Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Recent political and economic changes in Cuba, have led to the possibility of potentially developing various kind of businesses, where strategic design management can be a factor of sustained growth for both these recent businesses, in a broad sense as well as specific design ones. The aim of this paper then is the analysis of diverse necessary basic arguments based on some specialized authors to determine some essential considerations to devise a strategic model business of design in Cuba. Methodologically, it is based on a succinct description of the context and background, to establish the problem through a diagnosis of the current situation and opportunities in Cuba in terms of design business, so it is discussed with some theoretical arguments. Then, some reflections and agendas are deliberated to establish certain essential or primary considerations. Finally, the results of the analysis are exampled to summarize the proposal.

La virtud es un elemento fundamental del bienestar. Investigaciones anteriores han propuesto que el diseño inspirado en las emociones puede ser un poderoso mediador para apoyar la virtuosidad. Sin embargo, las soluciones existentes generalmente se enfocan en acciones aisladas. En este artículo utilizamos el ejemplo del ahorro como un caso de diseño –Billy Cash, una alcancía digital que permite a los usuarios reflexionar durante el proceso de ahorro y extender la apreciación de un objeto comprado– para demostrar cómo el diseño puede facilitar un comportamiento virtuoso que es sostenible y promueve cambio. A través del análisis y evaluación del caso de diseño, proponemos un modelo para diseñar para comportamientos virtuosos. El modelo establece un escenario para las intervenciones de diseño que contemplan acciones virtuosas para ser transformadas en comportamientos virtuosos mediadas por la resignificación de recursos y estímulos detrás de la experiencia.

Obesity affects an important part of Chilean society, particularly women from poorer sectors. However, physical exercise programs and devices to reduce overweight have been ineffective due to cultural factors, which are aggravated due to emotional problems. Sexual performance in this group is a decisive factor in the connivance of couples and is an important reason for divorce. The difficulty of giving and receiving pleasure due to overweight, deepens the problem and maintains the vicious circle of “depression-overeating-sedentary lifestyle-obesity-divorce”. On the other hand, sexual performance improves substantially with the strengthening of the pelvic wall, but the cultural factors of the group must be overcome, which prevent it; among them, archive results in the short term and with little effort, such as winning the lottery or being a successful footballer. In effect, these are some of the most valued ways to achieve success, where, in addition, soccer is a cultural reference and sexual symbol. This project, rooted in ethnography, proposes a change in the design strategy for wellness, through the emulation of a sexual relationship, so that the user receives immediate pleasure and exercises continuously, even as a collective activity.

This article is a theoretical approach to the aspects that arise from considering emotion as a basis in design, that make possible to delineate four theoretical areas; called dynamic attending the nature of the human and culture; that is, emotional involves the understanding of a living body that "moves" and a scenario that will always be "in motion". From this perspective, a cultural proposal is established by the design, evidencing emotion-design relationships within the different stages of the process, the product and evaluation of the objects or artifacts. What causes a linkage of projectual activity with responsible observation towards others and oneself; eliciting a space for reflection and self-reflection when the act of designing and the products of design is a study problem. The referential crossing of the bodies of knowledge of the design based on emotion and theories of emotion form a map that allows us to delimit territories of design in terms of theoretical problems, summarized in the trajectory of design as a discipline, the thought, culture and society. These areas could be configuring a cultural proposal in which the design reflects and acts accordingly to the emotional sphere and its repercussion in society. Giving relevance in culture to its own task, as well as the interaction of people and artifacts of use.

The work was done with the aim of developing an innovative composite material whose main element would be the shell of the walnut nuts, a Chilean agro-industry remnant. The experimental investigation, on which the work was focused, consisted of three phases: on the first one the nutshell was studied and triturated in order to obtain different granulometries. On the second one, it was mixed with different biodegradable binder agents in several proportions. After combining these variables, test tubes were prepared to characterize the material through different trials and tests on the third phase. Finally, the material process life cycle was analyzed with the purpose of identifying eventual inefficiencies during the design stage. The results show that it is a light material, with outstanding thermal insulation characteristics, that can be produced with common tools and molds in the industry. Moreover, the manufacturing process does not require a high level of technology and energy, it generates a minimal quantity of waste, and since it possesses a circular life cycle, it might allow the opportunity to the development of new products.

It is a biologically supported and clinically validated fact that affect plays an important role in the interaction between humans and technology, and that it occurs despite the fact that these interactions are not designed to establish any kind of affection, since it is a characteristic of the human condition. There is a tacit relationship between affect and interaction, which is evident with the development and improvement of computer systems and the evolution of the complexity of human life systems, which has led to the concept of socioemotional interactions. This work seeks to present sufficient evidence to reach conclusions about the relationship between interaction, affect and society, addressing a multidisciplinary perspective that facilitates the relationship between the human and the technological in terms of an effective and affective communication that builds relations of long and short term.

Experiments were carried out with different semitransparent and colorless luminophores, so that passive energy facades of urban buildings capture effective energy through their glass. Inorganic dyes are used with rare earth elements such as Eu3 + and Nd3 + / Yb3 + lanthanide pair, to move solar spectrum towards nir wavelength range, which is the near infrared (nir) spectral region from the end of the highest visible lengths (around 780 nm) up to 3000 nm (13000 cm-1 to 3300 cm-1 ), combined with nanostructured silica particles to increase the luminescent quantum yields and brightness. User acceptance study based on emotions, considers the acceptance degree regarding presence of color in glass. Experimental results demonstrate optical power efficiency, higher with inorganic dyes (2.2%) than lanthanides (1.3%) for samples of crystals with Luminescent Solar Concentrators (csls) of 3.5 x 3.5 cm2 tinted and fully transparent, with optical transmittance ≈ 90%. Question about the presence of color in glass and its relationship with energy efficiency is solved.

Proyecto EntreNiebla: Development of a composite material with wicker residue, financed by the cnca and Fondart 2017, folio 413281; is a research project based on experimentation of composite materials created on the basis of organic waste, which aims to produce a material based on the willow fiber in disuse, using low complexity technology. To achieve this, a. an information survey carried out to quantify how much wicker residue the Chimbarongo artisans generated. This would allow determining the productive capacity of the material; and b. the process of composition and conformation of the composite material was evaluated, to establish a procedural method for its conformation and a technical sheet of its main characteristics. Based on this results, possible applications were explored around the creation of secondary packaging for products manufactured by the Cooperativa de Berries from Chimbarongo. In order to: give the waste an useful life, avoid its incineration, and reduce the environmental impact that generates in the community; while also creating added value in local products, from a package that reuses raw material that is being discarded.

The rise of the use of electric and electronic equipment (eee), has resulted in the increase of the quantities of electronic waste (e-waste) generated worldwide. These solid residues are the fastest waste stream worldwide, increasing 3 to 4% annually. It has been estimated that in 2018, 49.8 Mt will be produced globally, however, only 20% would be formally processed. There are several factors that directly influence on the e-waste generation, such as the programmed obsolescence, technology advances, and the need of newer, faster and updated equipment. This article reports problems related to the e-waste generation worldwide, and improvement alternatives to minimize the environmental impact associated to the e-waste disposal. Among the problems, amounts of e-waste generated globally and regionally are presented, and the inherent complexity related to the eee composition, and consequent limitations in the e-waste management. The alternatives to address these issues are based on the concept of circular economy, that considers not only the final product, but also the design, process and impacts related to the manufacture. Those alternatives include the green product design and changes on the manufacture of eee, and sustainable recycling processes once the eee reach their end-of-life, including the materials substitution during the manufacturing process by using environmentally friendly substances.

Here are shown some important research advances about the design process of a new building construction element, this is a wallboard flat panel manufacturated with a nucleus made of gypsum, agave fibers and water, mixed with different portions of eps beads (Expanded polystyrene plastic). Natural fibers used here were obtained from a mexican plant called agave, the most important raw material in the tequila industry. Fibers and plastic particles are both recovered materials from the industrial waste flow and contribute to improve the wallboard’s mechanical properties. Wallboards samples made of different mixtures were tested in labs and important research output is reported here. This project has been sponsored by the mexican government and carried out by the Tecnological Innovation for design, a research group from the University of Guadalajara, México. This paper focuses in output and data from the late research stages.