Ruoxuan  Xu




E-mail : wtw555552021@163.com
Phone : (+86)13707494870


I’m Ruoxuan Xu, a designer merging interactive media and social inquiry. Through installations and apps, I examine educational anxiety, internet slang, and women’s health under climate stress—transforming research into emotionally resonant experiences.


Education
2021 – 2025

B.A. in Economics, Major in Taxation

Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China

intershipGoogle
Interaction Design PTA Intern 
2025.8 — 2025.10

Maimai 
User Operations Intern
2024.10 — 2024.12 

Essence Securities
Investment Analyst Assistant Intern
2023.6 - 2023.8


Skills
Blender
Canva
PS
Unity
SQL
Python









Last Updated 24.10.31
Portfolio

The portfolio comprises five key projects: 

SLANG analyzes internet meme culture through web design; 

CINEMA EX VORA critiques fragmented digital cinema consumption via tactile jelly interactive installation; 

DEUS EX GENE explores gene editing ethics and species identity through gameplay narrative; 

TICKING OCULUS manifests educational anxiety using eye-tracking projection; 

HERHUB constructs a climate-responsive women's health monitoring system integrating an app with offline smart stations for outdoor female workers.





Project 1. SLANG




Web & UI Design

From YYDS to YOLO, internet slang has evolved through generations, capturing widespread attention in fleeting moments before being submerged in the river of time. 

These buzzwords rise and fall like tides on the internet; people fervently adopt new terms, engaging in online revelry and disputes, all the while fearing being left behind and deemed outdated. Concurrently, the development of language itself has encountered challenges. The rapid iteration of slang leads to the simplification and confusion of semantics, making us increasingly aware of how challenging it is to communicate effectively. 

This project observes the impact of popular slang on people's lives, studying the rise and fall of these terms in a fast-paced era, and satirizes the negative effects of such ephemeral trends on individuals and language. Trends are but a fleeting breath.




Research

 In this section, I examin internet slang's rapid rise and fall, satirizing its negative effects on language depth, communication barriers, and social fragmentation, where buzzwords become fleeting identity symbols in a culture of diminishing attention.







Prototype

This prototype showcases an all-in-one NFT platform that integrates discovery, creation, analysis, and trading. Users can browse NFTs, receive market news, and draw inspiration from community boards. NFT creation supports AI and DIY modes, with a Simple Sale flow for fast listing and a Deep Analysis flow offering data-driven predictions before sale. After previewing, users can edit or publish their NFTs. The platform also features clubs, trend rankings, reports, and transaction data, enabling users to manage assets, track performance, and engage with the NFT community.





Project 2.
CINEMA EX VORA


 Interactive Art Installation



Cinema Ex Vora is an interactive art installation using tactile jelly and film visuals to represent how we "chew" and consume cinema in the digital age. 

By simulating the path from mouth to can, it critiques how screen‑capturing fragments the cinematic experience into consumable pieces. 

The work reflects on the cultural cost of technological convenience and calls for respect toward film’s narrative and sensory integrity.








Research

This project examines cinema screen recording as a digital paradox between cultural value and social media sharing. Screen recording links the physical cinema space with online platforms, driven by performative consumption, FOMO, and identity building, especially among Gen Z users.

While private recording is legally and morally ambiguous, sharing clips online constitutes copyright infringement and disrupts both viewing experiences and film marketing. The study argues that unlike food photography, screen recording accelerates the desacralization of film, reducing a high-cost, labor-intensive art form into fragmented, disposable content. Ultimately, the project calls for reasserting respect for cinema as a collective cultural experience.







Primary Research & Modeling

This stage combines quantitative survey analysis and experimental modeling to inform the design concept Film Jelly. A survey of 50 respondents reveals that screen recording is primarily driven by social sharing, immediacy anxiety, and unconscious habits, with Gen Z as the dominant group. Results show conflicted attitudes toward copyright protection versus cultural dissemination, and a limited awareness of film production labor compared to food preparation.

These insights were translated into metaphor-based physical modeling. Using 3D modeling in Blender and material experiments with transparent jelly, the installation simulates film dissemination as chewing, melting, and redistribution, visualizing how cinematic value is fragmented, consumed, and repackaged in digital culture.





Interactive System

This section details the Arduino–Processing interaction workflow behind the installation. An ultrasonic sensor detects whether jelly is placed in the simulated mouth; when the distance is below 13 cm, Arduino sends a “PLAY” trigger via serial communication. Processing receives this signal to activate chewing animations, pseudo-advertising visuals, and the live webcam feed, merging physical action with digital response. The construction process includes jelly fabrication, circuit debugging, installation assembly, and real-time camera testing, ensuring a seamless interactive experience.







Final Outcome





Project 3. 
DEUS EX GENE

 Game Design



This project aims to explore the theme of the artificial world constructed by humans. Through game narrative, we will immerse players in the experience of how humanity's reckless manipulation of the world ultimately backfires on itself.





Research

Deus ex Gene explores how genetic engineering positions humans as creators reshaping life itself. Drawing on transgenic crops and animals, it shows how technologies that save species—such as virus-resistant papaya, modified bananas, and medical transgenic animals—also reduce genetic diversity and increase systemic vulnerability.

Framed as a sci-fi game narrative, the project uses the Ship of Theseus metaphor to critique so-called animal “de-extinction,” arguing that gene-edited hybrids are not true resurrections but engineered substitutes. Through examples like Colossal Biosciences’ dodo project, it exposes a cycle of destruction, rescue, and renewed dependence on genetic intervention, driven by both commercial ambition and ecological justification.






Game Plot

Scene 1 — The Scam of Salvation
The protagonist awakens in a lab filled with propaganda celebrating the “Revival Project.” While performing routine dodo de-extinction work, hidden messages and clues reveal that environmental protection is a technological spectacle, masking ongoing ecological destruction.

Scene 2 — The Cycle of Rebirth
Hunted by monsters that turn out to be their own clones, the protagonist realizes they are a repeatedly replaced replicant. This endless loop reflects the Ship of Theseus paradox, where constant replacement erodes authentic existence, mirroring gene-edited “resurrected” species.

Scene 3 — The End of Humanity
Earth is a ruin. The Revival Project was a failed experiment by alien fugitives, offering false salvation. Both creators and clones were trapped in performative redemption, endlessly repeating collapse instead of real change.





Interactive Logic

This game is structured as a three-scene, code-driven interaction system. Scene 1 focuses on environmental exploration and puzzle scripting, where players gather numeric data through object interaction and logic-based input. Scene 2 introduces real-time control mechanics and enemy AI, combining movement keys, timing, and progress-bar conditions to simulate procedural pressure. Scene 3 centers on data verification and branching outcomes, where coded passwords trigger different states. Rather than linear storytelling, the experience emphasizes interaction loops, conditional logic, and system repetition, using gameplay mechanics to express confinement, choice, and uncertainty.







Final Outcome





Project 4. 
TICKING OCULUS

TouchDesigner Interactive Projection

This interactive projection installation uses the eye as its central narrative thread. The project utilizes MediaPipe for eye-tracking interaction and TouchDesigner to generate responsive projection visuals. When viewers sit at the desk, they can clearly see the on-screen imagery transform with each blink.

The installation is designed to evoke a sense of unease and tension, mirroring the psychological state of students under the pervasive influence of meritocracy—a constant state of anxiety and fear, coupled with a deep disorientation about the very purpose of their relentless struggle. When participants close their eyes seeking a moment of respite, the ceaseless, echoing tick of a clock reminds them of time's passage. This induced panic ultimately forces them to open their eyes once more.









Research

Utilitarian education in East Asia frames learning as a tool for efficiency, careers, and measurable outcomes. Within rigid credential hierarchies (e.g., C9, 985, 211), knowledge becomes exam technique, creativity is sidelined, and students’ lives are over-planned and tightly controlled, leading to freedom loss and reform resistance.

The system intensifies exam-centered competition from an early age, reinforced by cram schools and elite degree monopolies. Parents, students, and teachers describe a vicious cycle of anxiety, exhaustion, and powerlessness, where private tutorin and compliance become unwritten rules.

Historically shaped by Prussian discipline, Confucian exam traditions, and Soviet instrumentalism, this model sustains a fatigued society. Drawing on Arendt, Marx, Sandel, and Foucault, schools function as disciplinary panopticons, alienating learning, legitimizing inequality, and converting human potential into burnout labor.







Blinking Anxiety System

This interactive projection installation visualizes educational exhaustion and temporal anxiety through eye-based interaction. Using eye tracking, the system links blinking to shifting visual and auditory states, making anxiety inseparable from bodily perception.

When eyes are open, flocks of birds and a massive ticking clock represent perpetual preparation and loss of present value, inspired by the Hummingbird Society metaphor. Each blink intensifies the “social clock”, turning visuals red, adding tracking lines, and amplifying pressure from comparison and age-based norms.

When eyes are closed, rest triggers heightened sound and acceleration, expressing guilt-ridden leisure where anxiety persists even in stillness. Built in TouchDesigner with MediaPipe, the installation transforms blinking into a feedback loop of urgency, numbness, and control loss.




Final Outcome



Project 5. HERHUB

App Design/
User Experience Design

 The trend of global warming is intensifying year by year. Under the influence of urban microclimates, factors such as the urban heat island effect and air pollution exacerbate exposure to high temperatures and harmful substances, directly impacting women's reproductive health. This includes disrupting menstrual cycles, increasing the risk of pregnancy complications, and aggravating menopausal discomfort. 

Women, due to their physiological characteristics and societal roles, are often at higher risk of exposure. Their needs must be incorporated into urban planning and public health protection perspectives.




Research

Pregnancy outcomes worsened: A 2023-2024 multinational meta-analysis confirms a robust association between high-temperature exposure and preterm birth, low birth weight, and perinatal mortality. 

Policy gap: UNFPA review of climate plans in 119 countries → Most do not include reproductive/maternal health safeguards. 

Institutional warnings: WHO, IPCC, UN Women clearly highlight women's particular vulnerability to climate health risks. 

Labor and social dimensions: ILO and World Bank report → Urban high temperatures → Decrease in women's labor safety and productivity → Long-term health and livelihoods affected.






Insights

In microclimates, grassroots women engaged in outdoor or physically demanding labour commonly face challenges. Most women endure prolonged sun exposure, severe cold, and high-intensity work, which exacerbates menstrual discomfort and triggers physical ailments. Compounded by wage deductions for absences and difficulties in taking leave, the majority endure these hardships in silence. Simultaneously, workplaces lack private spaces, rest facilities, and sanitary product provisions, making changing and usage inconvenient, while often encountering misunderstanding. The absence of female-friendly facilities further compounds occupational and health risks.




Climate Health Network

This section proposes a climate-responsive women’s health monitoring system for female outdoor workers facing heat stress and limited medical access. It integrates offline smart monitoring stations with an online app platform, combining portable health tests (BP, pulse, hormone screening) and real-time microclimate data to deliver personalized alerts and protection guidance.

The service design includes three-layer public installations (rest, supplies, private screening), data visualization dashboards, and climate-triggered reminders. User data generates personal health trends and a regional Women-Friendly Index, feeding into government and NGO oversight to drive policy and welfare improvements.

Beyond healthcare, the system functions as social advocacy infrastructure, addressing accessibility, privacy, and menstrual needs while creating a data loop from individual care to public health action.





Story Board

Before work, the worker checks the app for weather warnings, health data, and supply reminders. On-site, prolonged exposure causes fatigue and risk, so she uses women-friendly rest stations for health checks, shelter, and privacy. Data syncs to the app, enabling alerts, mutual support, and long-term policy improvement through aggregated insights.


Stakeholder Ecosystem

Female outdoor workers use monitoring pods and the app to generate real-time health data. Technology suppliers and healthcare institutions support analysis, while government and NGOs fund, regulate, and advocate. Employers, media, and citizens sustain facilities and awareness, forming a coordinated data-driven support loop.

LO-FI & Sketch
Users access the app via sign-in and home weather alerts, then receive navigation to the nearest pod. At large or small installations, identity verification enables basic health tests (BP, heart rate, temperature, BMI, oxygen). Data syncs automatically to the app and government backend, supporting appointments, rest services, and city-wide monitoring.







Final Outcome