Documentation supporting Living

1. LIVINGTOM
December 19, 2010
Electronic product for lonely people
Physical Interactions
By Alvaro Soto
LivingTom is imagined for complex emotions where digital technologies are no longer practical or
helpful,the project explores the role of technology in everyday objects imagined for complex situations
where generalizing the public is no longer a matter of fact.
exploring the role of the product designer in the 21st century, the importance of emotions and technology
in the design of everyday objects for critical thinking and social change. Drawing concepts from Critical
Design, Ubiquitous computing and Emotional design, products will contain aspects never imagined
before, interactions will be as complex as the public is involve on it, but most importantly they will stand as
media for communication, delivering messages as calm technology or facilitating critical thinking in the
public that uses them.
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2. Technology in everyday objects
LIVINGTOM December 19, 2010
the role of the product designer
This project intends to comment and revise commentary. He asks he students to think in
technology as a tool for imagining new services future scenarios where The designer can
and products that invite users not just to possibly contribute “solving problems” but he
conversations about critical situations that are doesn't. But this solutions are not the ones
consequences of our daily behavior as expected by the public today, because are
solutions that aim to provide tools for
individuals and the collective society but as a
conversations about this, most of the times
medium to propose new ways of interactions undesirable problems” so the idea of these
that can contribute to the existing or future products is not to solve problems but to
social, economic and cultural opportunities. contribute to the social structure of today by
Living Tom is a fictional product but it was delivering messages. this messages are full of
designed in such way that the public of today significance aiming to inspire the public to think
would consider it as a possibility, as a real about a future which is better than the
product that could live in any house. This is key imagined by the designer.
to deliver the message effectively. Fictional I am personally very interested in this topic.
products are powerful communication medium Designers are not problem solvers because we
lack the knowledge to solve all the problems we
if they can break the ice between the public and
attempt to work on. Don Norman wrote for
the interaction. Anthony Dunne in an article core 77:
for Adobe Think Tank said: I read outrageous claims made by designers who
For us, it’s important to try and push and stretch have little understanding of the complexity of the
design, but this activity can only happen from within. If problems they are attempting to solve or of the
we get plonked down as artists then the dialogue stops
standards of evidence required to make claims.
(sec. 2).
Anthony Dunne is the Chair of the Design
But we have a powerful tool in our hands,
Interactions program at the Roal College of Art
we can change point of views, we can create
in London. He wrote Hertizian Tales which
trends. Most importantly we can access the
which proposes design and objects for critical
LivingTom
The product uses
movements using DC
fans and a plastic bag.
when the users
presses the surface
the motion starts.
Technology:
DC fans
Hbridge
LEDs
fsr (forse sensitive
resistors)
transistor
capacitor
Materials:
Plastic
wood
cotton canvas
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3. LIVINGTOM December 19, 2010 everyday of people, we can inspire,
create emotions, modify behaviors Objects which are
and all this give us the power to elevated above the
deliver powerful messages and in this pragmatic and formal
way contribute to change inspiring requirement of the
the public to desire this change. functional artifact, and
deliver ambient
observations in
Nothing But Emotions
How to do Critical condensed form for
reflection and
Don Norman in Emotional Design contemplation.
wrote:
Tim Parsons
Without emotions, your decision-making
ability would be impaired. Emotion is
always passing judgments, presenting
you with immediate information about
the world: here is potential danger, there
is potential comfort (11).
Emotions are clearly part of our
decision making and they invite the
public to use the products or to buy observations in condensed form for interaction, feel and look were key to
them, emotions create an attachment reflection and contemplation. develop its forms and functionality.
to the product so it can be consider in Good Design can sell, good and In this way the success of LivingTom
a small scale as way to create emotional or poetic design not just would be measured in terms of how
sustainable design because we wont sells but at the same time create people was going to react to it as it
get rid of something that make us attachments with the user that are would be very close to reality and
smile. consequently causes for reflection and emotions were clearly something that
Emotional design can be consider as critical point of view if the object has the public needed to feel anytime the
poetry in design, which in words of been designed to communicate interaction was presented.
Ralph Ball as stated by Tim parsons something and it is targeted to right
in his article, Is irony killing design? : audiences.
Objects which are elevated above the
pragmatic and formal requirement of the LivingTom Design process took into
functional artifact, and deliver ambient account this concepts. Emotions in
Elio designed a collection of objects that
Precedence will help you keep rational and live a
Utility Pets normal life in case of a transplant or
Designed by Elio Caccavale during the process where you have to
take care of the baby pig. one of these
objects is a special device which allows
If your DNA is going to be genetically
you to keep smoking in the same room as
engineered into a pig, who will take care
your pig, but stops the pig suffering from
of the baby pig. You would have it in
dangers of passive smoking.
your home, you would want to care for
Elio’s project is a very good
its well-being. After all is your health that
heart growing inside your pig might reference because he designed a fictional
eventually be inside your body. (Fiona object that can be easily imagine in his
Utility Pets Rabby from Dunne and Rabby future scenario. Utility pig can enter into
Tony Elio’s project is about xeno-transplantation; any house allowing the general public to
using pig organs as replacements organs, explaining the project for the Designing
comment about this future. The role of
yourDNA can be genetically engineered into a interactions book by Bill Moggridge.)
pig, when its an embryo the designer is that of the communicator.
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4. LIVINGTOM December 19, 2010 Precedence Susanna’s project is very interesting
Organs of perceptions as she design critical objects for
Designed by Susanna Soares conversations around subject of critical
matter to the design fields.
One of the more striking proposals to
Her projects are clearly not
come from her project was for an
alternative means of diagnosis, less something possible now but its more
technical and invasive, but also less about opening the discussion around bio-
precise. Bees trained to detect a products than proposing a real product.
particular hormone would be placed in a The fact that designers cant make actual
specially designed glass container, the bio products it doesn't mean that he cant
person breathes into a smaller open do it. The idea with this kind of
New organs of perceptions, Bees
As biotech and other advanced technologies chamber within the larger one, if the communication devices is to inspire
move out of the laboratory into the bees detect the hormone they move into technological advances.
marketplace there is a need now, more than
ever, to explore the cultural, social and ethical
the smaller space indicating its presence.
implications of emerging technologies.
Process
The controller
LivingTom started as an interaction
between a controller an a major object
which would give the feedback to the
user upon touching the control at
certain combinations. This was a way
to add a layer of complexity to the
interface. The idea of objects as
creatures that you would need to feed
with interaction in order for them to
react. This at the end would end in a
more complex interaction and more
rewarding experience.
The first 2 weeks were an exploration
of form, relation between the objects
and the technology and a intensive
prototyping of all the ideas. three
controllers were made but at the end as
will be explained bellow. The
controllers didn't make it through.
Kinetic and close
The controller gave LivingTom a good
layer of interaction. the process was
more complex and the output would
have been perhaps very powerful. But
the separation of the user from the
main object of feedback was not ideal
for this product since sound and
movement were very subtle and a
separation would only reduced the
chances to experience it.
By week 2 I decided to move towards a
single unit were the control was a
couple of force sensitive resistors
placed in the two corners of the qyare
based just around the dome.
Inside the dome I placed the plastic
bag, fans, LEDs and amplifier system.
LivingTom then started to take shape
into its final iteration.
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5. The prototyping of the kinetic
LIVINGTOM December 19, 2010 movement that the bag was
intended to do was key to the
project and the code had to be
precise so the relation between
pressing the sensors and the
reaction was seamless as possible.
After getting the code and the
movement right the question was
how to hide the bag but at the
same time keep the movement.
This because in order for
LivingTom to be a real product
the surprise couldn't be expose.
Otherwise the public would be
focus on the technology and not the
output of it.
Conclusions
Design needs to change, but we
don’t need more art projects, those
are perfect for discussion in the
galleries but haven't demonstrated
a greater impact. What I believe we
need is products that can live in our
houses, that marketing groups can
get excited about and that the
public accepts with joy, but that at
the same time are designed over a
rich and critical thought.
Metaphors in design, poetic and
playful interactions are tools that
the designer can use in his
advantage to combine this two
strong sometimes complicated
combinations. All the designs don't
need to reach the market, and they
shouldn't, some designs should be
fictional but as real as possible so it
convince the audience. With this
products we can deliver messages
about negative futures cause by our
practices, communication now can
lend to a different tomorrow.
LivingTom is an experiment of a
series of project that I will like to
pursue all of them as
communication devices that
provoke conversations around
critical subjects. I believe this can
be achieved with technology and a
thoughtful product design practice.
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6. LIVINGTOM December 19, 2010
Works Cited
Dunne, Anthony. Hertzian tales : electronic products, aesthetic experience, and critical design. Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press,
c2005.
Norman, Donald A. Why Design Education must Change. Core77, Web, 26 November, 2010.
Parsons, Tim. Is Irony Killing Design?. Object Thinking. objectthinking.wordpress.com. Web. 24 Nov 2009.
Uncertain futures: A conversation with Professor Anthony Dunne, Adobe.com/ designcenter/Thinktank, Web, 21 feb 2007.
For more information please visit my personal website: http://www.asotodesign.com/parsons/?cat=5