I mentioned earlier that my old team at 1HQ had been shortlisted for the 2010 Inclusive Design Challenge. Just before I left, we presented our submission to the judging committee. Design Week published a summary of all the entries in this week’s issue.
We designed “Move,” integrating emerging technologies to create an intelligent, morphing surface for eating, entertainment and independent living.
The top surface can reshape itself to do things like grip onto and tilt a soup bowl, lift objects so stiff fingers can grasp them, or form a gully to catch spills from a toddler. The bottom uses nano-fibres and electric currents to stick or un-stick itself from any other surface. It’s a futures concept – so would take 10-15 years to commercialise.
Our original ambition was to design a new piece of furniture for transitional activities, but the process led us to a new set of challenges.
Surfaces
As product designers, we love designing objects. But in this case, we shifted perspective from stuff, to the stuff that stuff sits on. Rather than requiring people to buy new things as they age, why couldn’t we change surfaces, so that the things you already have are useful and usable?
We prototyped the surface in a small, portable format, but the underlying technology could work on a kitchen counter, desk, table, airplane tray, car dashboard. Anywhere, really.
From Assistive to Adaptive
The holy grail of inclusive design is also universal design – solutions that have something to offer most people, not just those who have “special needs.” Assistive technologies are inherently niche – the available market to fund the product development is much smaller than investment required.
So this is an adaptive technology that works for anybody. Use to eat your dinner in front of the TV, entertain kids at a restaurant, or grip your drink during turbulence on a plane. But it’s also there when you need it to pick up a utensil or carry something in your lap in a wheelchair.
Not so Sticky
At first, we focused on how to get things to stick and recess. But then, it became clear that making things un-sticky at the right times was just as important. The ability to lift objects up and grant just a little bit of grip around the edges turned out to be one of the most popular features of the surface.
The integral lighting and gestural interfaces also sparked lots of conversation. Although not intended as a media surface, you could use Move to play simple drawing games, provide task lighting, or create interactive therapeutic activities that react to physical objects on the surface.
Moving On
Did the process take us where we expected? Not quite, but that’s the point. By shifting our perspective from the foreground to the background and re-defining the existing cultural meaning of assistive technology, we got to a place that ‘s much more dynamic than a piece of furniture.
Now, we need to wait until March to hear the results of the judging!
