Review for the First Assessment

A manifestation of curiosity

As the first piece of assessment for this course, we have been asked to look into a design idea, wether it has come to fruition or is simply a concept. As vague as this task is, we have also been asked to relate this idea to the learning objectives of the course.

Easy, yes… in terms of assessment at least, though selecting a concept was rather difficult. It has to be interesting, it must have potential, possibly have environmentally friendly traits and most importantly have some form of sustainability. This sparked my curiosity… which gave me my idea; curiosity. What would the human race be without this marvellous feeling? Curiosity manifests itself in a number of ways, yet I believe I have found a device that harnesses it beautifully.

The device that creates the centrepiece of this review is known as “The Local Barometer” (hereafter referred to as the LB). This contraption is a brain child of the amazing folk at Equator (http://www.equator.ac.uk) so before I continue, I will say that I am simply exploring their concept. By no means am I adopting this idea as my own.

The LB has been designed to play heavily on the human trait of curiosity yet it explores it in a very ambiguous manner. By harnessing technology around itself, the device pulls together information from the user’s neighbouring communities and displays it on a series of miniature monitors. These monitors have been designed in such a way that they can be used around the home in an unobtrusive manner which allows them to be concealed among everyday objects.

Various concepts for monitor forms (image form http://www.equator.ac.uk/index.php/articles/1015#planetracker)

This is a brilliant example of ambiguous computing, the user can become so used to the device being around them that it can simply be overlooked, yet it remains working in the background.

How the LB works is really quite simple. A wind vane is mounted on the user’s house in order to measure the direction of any incoming breeze. This data is then interpreted by an onboard computer system to supply information to each of the monitor displays in the house. This information may take the form of classified advertisements, news reports or even exerts of published stories gathered from the surrounding areas via the internet. The area chosen is determined by what suburb or community is down wind at the time the data is to be collected. This means that each and every user may experience different results if they live even a slight distance apart. The information displayed on the monitors has all direct data (ie: times, places, contact details) removed from it. This introduces a sense of interest as not enough is known about the content of the text to do anything with it which may, in turn, spark the imagination of the user. The formatting of the text is also changed around slightly, only displaying key words mixed together with elements of poetry. This subtle approach to introducing the user to their surrounding community has the intention of generating not only curiosity, but also a sense of voyeurism.

A display showing the poetry engine ( from http://www.equator.ac.uk/index.php/articles/1015#planetracker)

Now, exploring the LB even further it can be said that sustainability has a lot of potential within the project. Let us first look at the obvious. The project relies on wind direction and existing technology in order to gather and display its information. It acts more as a “physical plug-in” to existing computer systems rather then a stand alone technological device. This means that very little new material is required to make the concept work.

Yes, each display monitor requires a power source as well as its own materials for construction, but this doesn’t have to be harmful to the environment. The physical materials and components used could be of a more biodegradable nature. This concept is already being used by companies such as Apple (www.apple.com) in construction of their new personal computers and laptops. Simply put, this will limit the amount of landfill from discarded components.

A system such as the LB however, can be said to have a low impact due to the fact that the system components, unless genuinely faulty, will probably never need replacing. This is based on the fact that upgrades are not exactly necessary due to the low demand on technology and/or existing system requirements. A simple screen display, minimal power usage, an existing internet connection and wind are all that the LB utilises.

Combine this device with alternate, greener forms of energy generation and you have one very environmentally friendly product.

I must say, that such a concept really got me thinking. Before I attended this studio course, my view on sustainability was somewhat limited to energy and food production. By looking into various projects over the past weeks, the meaning behind sustainable technology has really begun to sink in. The Local Barometer project in particular has allowed me to grasp how sustainability and technology can be mixed in such a way to reach a fun and exciting outcome for consumers.