ITP Spring Show 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2-6pm & Monday, May 11, 5-9 pm
 

Ozge Kirimlioglu

Money Switch

A light switch that prints receipts according to energy usage, to let the user know how much Money electricity costs them.

http://www.anarchicdesign.com

Classes
Industrial Design Workshop,Networked Objects


This is a critical look at the trendy green product industry, and a trial to bring more fun interfaces into green products. It is also trying to make people understand that, just looking at raw numbers of energy usage or even twittering them, is not engaging enough to make people change behavior. This might be seen as punishing the user and also as wasting more resources because it uses paper; it is both, indeed. I believe people at the end, really only care about the real harm that comes to them, which is them losing a lot of money in this case.

Audience
Anyone tough enough to see the reality of their energy costs, as they use it.

User Scenario
User comes to the room, turns on the light switch and the light source turn on. The user turns off the switch and depending on the time duration it was on, the switch prints out a receipt for the user. User sees the real cost of their usage and swears not to leave the lights on for ten hours straight ever again. Happy end.

Implementation
It is made out of metal. Its form resembles a tank. It throws you stuff you do not want, just receipts not bullets though.

Conclusion
I learned a lot about the the existing and improving field of sustainability.