1. Measure and display

An equipment or device that allows the user to “scan” the local environment for levels of electromagnetism.

..hmm, doesn’t that feel like.. Ah, just as I thought! And off it goes again..

Clothing that is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, and reacts by changing colour.
..as a subtle replacement for alarms..

Yes dear, it means that an alarm has gone off,and that the building is being evacuated..

Architectural display

Actual em bubbles, invisible to the naked eye. Reactive panelling on the building surface, displaying em presence.

Skin as display

As we increasingly fill our environment with electromagnetic fields of various sizes, strengths and frequencies, we may be tampering with the natural human habitat. As we are creating a landscape of radio, a twin virual reality, we may need to adapt our bodies to a greater degree than previously imagined.
This idea suggests the implant of an additional sense to spot em, since relying on our current 5 senses may prove insufficient in the future.

the brief

The Landscape of Radio With the increasing ‘ubiquitous’ use of wireless communications, the physical world is filling up with bubbles of radio waves, from massive GSM, 3G and wifi networks to tiny RFID pinging out their ID numbers. Each of these invisible bubbles offers a set of functions or services, from talking on the phone to transferring data or granting access or paying for a ticket.
This is a central issue for ubiquitous computing where computation is embedded, often invisibly into the environment. Knowing what kinds of fields are available (wifi, Bluetooth, rfid, etc) and knowing what kinds of functions, applications or services they offer may be a central usability problem in the near future. Can we design systems that let us know when we are in a particular kind of field, what we might do in those fields and what information we give up to them?
The project should look at the previous work of Dunne & Raby, particularly ‘Hertzian Tales’, as well as the research work on ‘seamful’ interactions by Chalmers et al.

This is the brief as we were given it. Following are some initial concepts. I will attempt to visualise them, and post them as I proceed..

1. Measure and display.
– on clothes, architecture or on/under the skin
– magic powder
– mutant digital representators
– cuckoo clock
2. Trap tool.
3. On/off switch. Distraction tool.
4. Free space. Protection shelter or artefact.
5. Mobile phone as comunicator between you and the big invisible.
– welcoming message
– multiple antenna icons