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The two person kiosk:
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The device is about the size of an Internet access point seen in many towns across the country. There are two interactive sections, and the device only works if both are being used in collaboration. A sonar emitter on top will determine how many people are in the immediate area. If only one person is present the device will work as normal, but if two or more are in the area the device will prompt any users they need to find a partner from the group. I then thought if the idea is to encourage people to work together, why have two screens, which led to the refining of the idea into a widescreen version shown next. 
At this point I tried to include other senses, by including a smell generator and a pair of speakers. But it felt like they had been (as they were) just tacked on as an afterthought. Now that you unit had to accommodate two sets of controls for one screen I felt it was too big, more like something found in the science museum than a high street. At this point I moved on, designing an artifact for a sense, rather than sticking sense stimulators on an existing artifact.
The Music Sharer:
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This artifact could be quite small, I'm not sure why i have drawn it as a standalone kiosk, probably still stuck in that mindset from the two person kiosk. Regardless of its size the device encourages people to plug in their music player through the headphone jack. The music is then transmitted via a very low power fm transmitter. The unit flashes LEDs to indicate it it in use. People can then tune in to the frequency to listen to the music the person is broadcasting. The idea is similar to one i read about earlier called 'ipod jacking': My artifact opens this idea up to everybody with a portable media device. However it opens a lot of other things up as well. Ipod Jacking works partially because the users are on something of a level playing field, they both have ipods and it seems unlikely one is going to steal the others. A terminal designed for the sole purpose of jacking in would be the place muggers keep an eye on to see who's got something worth stealing. The idea goes entirely against the ‘Let’s Keep Crime Down’ campaign launched by the home office earlier this month:2  While I do like the idea, and the fact that people can easily ignore the FM band (unlike speakers) I don't think it's going to get people talking. 1 Leander Kahney , 2005 “The Cult of iPod” Retrieved 6th November 2005 http://playlistmag.com/features/2005/11/02/cult/index.php 2 “Acquisitive Crime Campaign Resources”, 2005 Retrieved 9th November 2005 http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/letskeepcrimedown/
Discussion starter:
Back to the top A simple device which poses a question and encourages those viewing the display to share their opinions with those around them. 
Speakerphone:
Back to the top  Whilst this device would certainly encourage people to get off their phones when in public spaces there would be little incentive for them to then talk to those around them. Aside from the legality of the system it would be more likely to cause irritation than face to face communication, unless individuals used it is a common annoyance to complain about.
Talk More Get More:
Back to the top  Once people had deciphered the phrase the hope is that they would take the message personally and talk more to people, maybe even about the sculptures. While I quite like this idea it is sadly easy to disregard. Sculptures cannot change quickly like TV adverts, and once lynx finish their campaign some of the idea would be lost. Also, the lynx adverts target men and the slogan does the same, I want to target both sexes with my artifact. Lastly, I would not consider this multimedia, and would not like to add bits on just to make it that.
Interactive notice board:
Back to the top  A simple idea, but again, does not encourage direct face to face communication at all, infact it may even discourage it. The messages themselves would be left and walked away from, losing the association between person and message. At this point in the brain storming session I felt like I was losing focus on my problem, which explains the one word message in the top left of the next sketch.
Pressure installation:
Back to the top  Users enter the room, which starts off pitch black, from any number of doors. Once inside the pressure sensors trigger that patch of the floor to light up dimly. As they move around the room the lit floor follows them. This way users can see each others location. As users get closer to each other the rooms ambient light gradually gets brighter. Once the users are standing side by side the room is at it's maximum white light brightness. If the users start to talk to each other the microphones detect this, and send the ambient lights cycling through the colours of the rainbow. I really like this idea, the room would be a good way of conveying my message. Groups of more than two would all have to form a group in order to get the lights to cycle through the rainbow. However, while this idea would be good at conveying my message, its not going to have that much of an impact. People would have to chose to visit the instillation, and unless several of these kind of rooms were created around the country the reach would not be as dramatic as I'd like. Also, how well would shy people react to a room reacting when they spoke, it may even put them off speaking. Having decided that this idea was a good one, but the reach limited, I reviewed what the people I am trying to target had in common, and once again define the problems I faced.
Analysis and reviewing the problems:
Back to the top  Common factors of people in the real world: -Clothes/shoes -Watch? -Phone -Usually going somewhere? -Often Distracted by Books, newspapers, music players, thoughts, phones My artifact needs to use/break their current distraction and encourage them to interact with the people in the world around them, perhaps by using bigger more interesting distractions. I then went through each of the peoples current distractions, and decided which senses could be used to get their attention. Highly likely to get a reaction ++ Might get a reaction + Unlikely to get a reaction - Highly unlikely to get a reaction/difficult to target -- If a person is reading then they are already using sight: Sound stimulus ++ Touch+ Smell- Taste -- If a person is listening to music or using their phone then they are already using their hearing: Sight ++ Touch+ Smell+ Taste -- People respond to their mobiles even when they are busy. Tracking/Storing phone numbers is a bit big brother like. Bluetooth! People scan for devices around them and talk to people anonymously. Avoids embarrassment of going over and facing rejection. Still need common ground/visual sign people are willing to talk to them – Needs User profiles on the phone listing interests. The next and final idea was a application which people can talk to each other with, using the bluetooth in their mobile or pda, a feature which is rapidly becoming standard in phones for sending data (usually to a hands free kit).
Bluetooth Messaging application:
Back to the top  As stated in my premise, mobiles are part of the problem, so it is fitting that they should be used in the solution. Having decided that bluetooth messaging was the idea which could reach the widest range of people, I will go on to research Bluetooth, it's capabilities and limitations, and decide if it really is all i hope it is. |
