The tangible user interface uses Phidgets magnet sensors to sensors when a ‘friend pass’ is placed onto the screen. This then triggers one of three actionscripit animations, the initial design and implementation is really simple, but this is just the beginning.

If you are an experienced AS3 coder and know anything about XMLsockets, I would be great full of a hand to get this prototype working to its full potential at the graduate shows. Also, if it could dynamically load photos from Flickr, or really get Tweets that would also be amazing!

Jump in to find out more…

Testing the Sensors Work.

Using Phidget magnet sensors I first worked out if the magnetic I was using were strong enought to work through a laptop LCD. I was lucky that event 5 year old laptops only have a 8-11mm thickness. There are some points that are shielded, but so far there has been no problems with using rare earth magnets so close to the display. A quick good search found out that the magentic problems are mainly associated with Cathode ray monitors.

Embedding the magnetic sensors.

The next stage was to embed the sensors into the rear of the screen. I completely stripped down the Dell laptop that I was using, and taped the sensors in place to get the initial feel for the tangible user interface.

The Flash (AS3) Code

The last stage was to create an image on the screen that aligned the physical object to the location of the magnet sensors. This animation will now apear as if its a tangible user interface, move a object to explore, and the explore diagloge comes up.

Download the AS3 FLA – Source Code

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. Ben Arent also hold a UK patent pending [0808775.1] on some of this tech, so if your VC and want to get in on the action get in touch!

The ‘Friend Pass’.

The friend pass had to be modified to work on the screen. The resulting friend pass had to have two magnets one to trigger the sensor, and a larger one to stick the avatar to the screen. This is mainly because the weight of the acrylic. Early prototypes used steel, but the final device had to have another magnet placed 30mm about the sensor to hold the pass in place.

You should now have a tangilbe user interface!

This is just the begging of what could be possible, it would be great to see manufactures build sensors directly into screens. If you are a AS3 coder, or think you could even create this in Blend, please get in touch. It would be great to link this up to some live services.

I’m also looking for someone who can help me with an XML socket, which is meant to read the RFID reader.

is approximately 1.6180339887. This number is the basic ratio of making stuff look good. It can be in Type, Buildings, Products, but most importantly its constantly seen in nature. When creating a product, I would recommend thinking about the golden ratio and how you could use it to complement the form.

As part of a second year university module I applied the Golden Ratio to my class mates faces. You can see the results bellow, I have also included my own Layered TIFF with Overlay, So you see how beautiful you are.

Addicted to Cheap Shopping? Most people believe that prices are constantly rising, but in reality the cost of most consumer goods have been drastically falling over the past 10 years. Libby Potter crosses three continents to reveal how ‘cheap’ has changed the world.
In America she visits the busiest mall on earth – which can house 32 jumbo jets – and the small town where one store revoluntionised the way everything is now sold. In Europe, she meets shopaholics and sees how one retailer totally transformed how we buy. She also goes shopping in the ‘citadel of cheap’ – the largest wholesale market in the world and discovers why communist China no longer wants to be capitalism’s low price manufacturing workshop. But how long will our addiction to cheap last? [S,SL]

This afternoon I saw a BBC 2 program about the state of England’s addiction on cheap shopping. As a product designer, you have think that its my occupation that are making things worse, but this is my design solutions to a couple of questions proposed on the show.

PROBLEM: So many products, so cheap, products are disposable. Recycling centers can’t keep up.

SOLUTION: a ‘Cradle to Cradle’ design response, where each product is easily up-cycled into the same product or even a better product. See my book review post.

PROBLEM 2: There is always a looser in cheap products.

SOLUTION: Yes, Socially resonability can be built into the design. For example during my time at Resolute I investigated VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) used in our manufacturing process. By designing our products to use a low VOC, we lowered the risk of casnergenic compounds introduced to Resolute workers by 80%. This investing in design and design for the assembly line and the environment add an extra cost to the product, but that’s better than cancer… Isn’t it?