Sustainable Awareness Tools

Usability Check

Lisa Weiss — Mon, 09 May 2011 08:41:07 +0000

Below you can see a variety of different sketch prototypes in cardboard of the scanner and carbon paper case that gave us a clear idea of which form actually works well. Before deciding on the final shape the scanner can be placed in the cases to check ergonomics.

In the video the scanner was embedded in the cases. The final device worked best in terms of evenly distributed pressure and consistent work of the wheels that run the scanner. It enables the participant to scan surfaces very casually.

An exemplarily scan of the wooden fence

Cultural Exploration Kit

Lisa Weiss — Thu, 05 May 2011 15:54:42 +0000

As a part of the reasearch about sustainable awareness tools, we are creating a citizen sience kit that will enable participants to collect and archive urban traces of any sort. Whether patina, usage or corrosion, the citizen science kit can collect those traces via three input channels. The kit contains a hand scanner, a camera build-up and carbon-paper to create prints.
The first variation of the kit is built on methods of storytelling and speculative narrative.

Citizen science employs technological artefacts (e.g. Devices to collect data on air pollution) and transforms users into researchers, by equipping them with the scientific authority embodied in the artefact. The Kit is designed as a speculative object, concealing its function from passers-by but raises curiosity and is intended to draw attention, questions or even suspicion.

With this kit, we are transformed into archaeologists scrutinizing the city, digging towards its roots, uncovering traces left by its inhabitants and conserving and mapping them, while at the same time getting in close touch with the real fabric of the city.

The following pictures show first models of how the citizen science kit might look like.

Traces, patina, wear and tear

Lisa Weiss — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:12:40 +0000

First Scanned Traces

Jochen Fuchs — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:24:38 +0000

Project Analysis

Florian Sametinger — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:29:45 +0000

After deconstructing the term sustainability into semantic fragments, we mapped these fragments to various sustainability projects. Fields of inquiry included Product Design, Interaction Design, Service Design and Media Art. Since interaction design is our main field of work, we chose … Weiterlesen →

Patina Collection Map

Jochen Fuchs — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:09:28 +0000

Interaction Design for Social Sustainability

Florian Sametinger — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:46:15 +0000

This is an introduction to the concept of Social Sustainability and how interaction design can affect and enable it in urban neighborhoods.