With the start of my second Master semester, the focus of my Design & Research topic will shift from a theoretical literature and web research focus to a more hands-on iterative prototyping phase. After coming to the conclusion last semester that the true strength of calm technology lies in converters that materialise the digital and visualise the analog. I decided to start there because as digitalisation progresses, the creation of such converters becomes increasingly important. If we do not use them to force the digital into our reality, the risk of getting drawn into and lost in digitality will increase. With products like the Apple Vision Pro, the pull towards digitality is getting stronger and stronger, so I think it is time for products/converters that create a pull in the opposite direction. To REALITY.
Ideation
To start prototyping, the first step was to come up with an idea. I decided to use mind maps to collect all the directions, associations and inputs that had stuck with me from the research phase. I started with a general mind map on the topic of calm technology and then branched into two more around ideas that emerged from the first mind map.
The first branch of the general mind map was the idea of a universal visualiser that could convert digital information into analogue signals such as light, sound and position. Without the use of a traditional display.
The second branch is based on an open source project from a few years ago called Little Signals from Google, which I found during my research last semester. The concept is to translate digital information into natural patterns like movement, shadows, sound, etc. with a series of objects in an experimental but calming way.
After evaluating the possible approaches that emerged from these mind maps. I decided to use the starting point of Google’s Little Signals project, more specifically the Tap object from the series. Firstly, because it would not have been possible to pursue the universal visualiser in a meaningful and sensible way in the space of one semester and with my current skills & abilities. And secondly, the concept of Little Signals is still in a very experimental state, but promises a lot of unfulfilled potential. Because it does not yet have any concrete applications in the real world. And it is precisely this potential that I want to explore through prototyping and find out if it lives up to its promise. The Tap object was chosen from the series because it combines the most communication possibilities in one object and therefore promises to be the most versatile of them all.
Roadmap
// Exploring the Open Source Project
// Paper Mock-Ups
// Planning and assessing Project scope
// Initial Prototyping
// Testing
// Refined Prototyping
// Testing
// đ
// Final Prototyping
// Exploring possible applications
// Experimenting with different applications
