Sophie de Castro

- Awarded 2nd place prize in The Kravis Lab for Social Impact 2021 "Impact-a-thon: How Can We Use Tech For Social Good?"
- Brainstormed and developed "Praxis" and pitch deck within 24-hours, utilizing presentation and design thinking skills to formulate a crowd-sourced app functioning as a guide map for accessibility features such as elevators or ramps
- Collaborating with The Kravis Lab for Social Impact and Claremont McKenna College to implement the app idea on campus

Developed removable grip patches for soccer cleats to improve shot-shaping ability; Anticipating next steps of crowdfunding, branding, and advertising

The metaverse, which is the next iteration of the internet--an immersive, virtual world--poses a threat to the essential human need for healthy relationship and identity development. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of isolation and virtual socialization led many to prefer physical experiences, despite society’s overall dependency on and connectedness to the internet and technological devices. Framed by Maslow’s hierarchy of human psychological needs, Turkle’s analysis of the… Show more

The metaverse, which is the next iteration of the internet--an immersive, virtual world--poses a threat to the essential human need for healthy relationship and identity development. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of isolation and virtual socialization led many to prefer physical experiences, despite society’s overall dependency on and connectedness to the internet and technological devices. Framed by Maslow’s hierarchy of human psychological needs, Turkle’s analysis of the human relationship to earlier forms of virtual reality, and Foucault’s principles of caring for and knowing the self, this paper argues that the metaverse will be detrimental towards developing participant’s relationship and identity, because of its inability to satisfy needs for substantial relationships, in comparison to physical experiences, and because of its production of a virtual self that inhibits self-actualization. The analysis of the major players in the origins, the present-day, and the future of the metaverse, such as Second Life, The Sims, Fortnite, Meta (formerly Facebook), Microsoft, Unity, and Decentraland, reveals that these companies are not prioritizing and facilitating healthy relationship and identity development in their metaverse strategies. My gallery installation project, My Physical-Digital Self, helps conclude the paper, serving as an artistic expression and manifestation of the ideas explored in this paper. Despite the hype and innovations around the metaverse, this technology is at risk of replicating the harmful effects of virtual engagement on relationship and identity development, which already existed and were especially realized as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Show less

- Ideated an AI assistant app for small businesses and presented pitch deck during an all-day product competition, utilizing Intuit's design thinking methodology to help small businesses understand, implement, and track customer loyalty and improve retention
- Crafted key interview questions for cold calling local small businesses to gather insights and details on experiences with and strategies for customer retention

- Worked 1 week each in the bakery, cafe, kitchen, and ice cream sections of the restaurant
- Produced and presented an eBook compiling experiences and insights on running a food business for high school independent senior project