Interestingly, this radio has been protected by a ziploc because of its context of use (the bathroom). Sometimes, the context dictates a necessary protection to the owner… who reported me how she ingeniuously had to use it as the room can be highly humid.
Doing some research for my book project about locative media, i was curious about early version of proximity-based interactions. The Lovegety was an interesting primer, especially given that it was a real product. They actually shipped more than 350,000 of them in two and half months after the release in 1998.
For those who do not remember it, the Lovegetty was a japanese wireless-based matchmaking device made of three buttons that users could set according to their activity (talk/karaoke/get2, a sort of wildcard). Yukari Iwatani describes the matchmaking system as follows:
“Once the holder selects a mode, the device searches for Lovegety holders of the opposite sex in a five meter radius. If it locates a holder with the same mode, the “get” light flashes and the device beeps, so the pair can find each other. If there is a holder in the vicinity with a different mode, then the “find” light flashes and a different sound goes off, alerting the user of a near get.“
Why do I blog this? not sure if the thing is still available but it’s interesting to see some primary forms of technology-based matchmaking device (that was followed by the toothing hoax). Of course I am skeptical by the usage as well as the weird matchmaking algorithm, but the device is curious enough to be mentioned.
It seems that mousetraps too can become blogjects:
“[Rentokil] added a small sensor and a wireless module to its traps so that they notify the building staff when a rodent is caught. This is a big improvement on traps that need to be regularly inspected. A large building might contain hundreds of them, and a few are bound to be forgotten.
Since June 2006 thousands of digital mousetraps have been put in big buildings and venues such as London’s new Wembley Stadium. The traps communicate with central hubs that connect to the internet via the mobile network to alert staff if a creature is caught. The system provides a wealth of information. The data it collects and analyses on when and where rodents are caught enable building managers to place traps more effectively and alert them to a new outbreak. “
Why do I blog this? a basic example of a curious machine-to-machine communication involving animals.
Same interface for metro tickets vending machine in GTA 4 (above) and in Paris (below).
Why do I blog this? this is an interesting connection between the digital and the physical: this a digital interface found in the physical environment which found its way in a digital environment. Quite recursive right? What’s ironic though is that it’s not possible to touch the in-game screen.
See also Dan Hill’s perspectives on this issue in 2004. He interestingly compared pictures he did in Santa Monica to photos from GTA’s fictional LA (in an earlier version of GTA). Dan highlighted the detailed sense of location in video games such as this one.
Certainly one of the most intriguing urban project I’ve encountered lately: miel béton (which means “concrete honey” in french): the production of honey on urban roofs in the northern Parisian suburb of Saint Denis. According to new paris bohemian:
“A graphic designer and visual artist by trade, Olivier Darné began his investigation of bees in 2000, when he first placed a single beehive on his house in Saint Denis. Following that experiment with the installation of a dozen hives on the roof of city hall, Olivier was fascinated by the idea of sending bees out into the city as “prospectors” of the urban environment. What, exactly, could bees tell us about our city, about the relationships between wild and urban, between humans and their surroundings, between space and time? What Olivier found was more than gratifying: bees reproduce, in liquid form, the density, changes, and social organization of our city. If you consider that 3000 hectares (or 5000 acres) of city are concentrated into a single pot of honey, the resulting flavors are a gauge of how we urbanites live.
(…)
By consuming honey produced in and from their own city, urbanites connect themselves intimately to their land, even if it happens to be one that’s filled with concrete, high-rise housing blocks, and if they’re lucky, bees.“
Why do I blog this? definitely not related to technology, I found this project amazingly curious as it shows how cities can be curious places for new forms of design. The intersection between nature and the urban environment is surely a relevant topic for design.
James A. Landay and Todd R. Kaufmann in 1993 (“User Interface Issues in Mobile Computing“):
“A theme common to much of the past work on mobile computing devices is the desire to run similar computing environments on the mobile machines and on the user’s office workstation. Although running many of the same applications may be useful and desirable, running the same environment may be both undesirable and, for many mobile devices, impossible.“
Why do I blog this? surely this quote is deja vu here for people who reads this blog, but I wanted to have a reference about this important topic.
Observed this morning, next to the circus in Geneva. Nomads have their vehicles and movable antennas. What’s next?
A superb example of interface that maps the process and the buttons to be employed. Although the affordance is complex (a button used to move parts), the signage is relevant to understand the possibilities.
Beaming alien? Wifi and space invaders around? An intriguing combination. Especially this amazing number of barcodes meant to be used by the facility management company in Paris Gare de Lyon.
The minimal b&w sticker is quite well integrated with the seriousness of the barcodes.
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Comprendre les nouveaux espaces numériques 
