How can we implement a new use for phonebooths that would not interfere with its functionality but expand it? The project is both a commentary on this antequated technology as well as a call to action to find and implement new uses for a system that is intact across the world.

For my proof of concept, I will be using a rotary phone as the interface. I find it a nice aesthetic for an abandoned technology. Instructions will be silkscreened onto the face of the phone module. As of now, they will toggle the flash, control number of photos, delay between photos, to name the core features.

Operator is a physical installation that puts the user in the role of a switchboard operator. Presented with a patchcord the user can bridge a connection by selecting a node from a grid of locations and placing a live conference call with the respective location’s public telephones.

Players use their GPS-equipped iPhone to retrieve text and image based clues. The solution to the clues are actual locations. In order to solve the clue, the player must travel to the location and check in. Points are awarded in decreasing value as more players solve a clue.

The first few players who solve a clue are given credits to create their own clues. As other players solve clues, the clue creators receive residual point values.

The game is ongoing, with a neighborhood-based leaderboard.

21st Century Confession Booth is a peaceful place where the one can dispense the heavy burden of sins and secrets in the privacy of a quiet booth. The booth is equipped with an analogue vintage desk microphone, a soft cushion for kneeling, and a highly intelligent speech to text algorithm. Visitors can anonymously confess their sins and secrets to be broadcast immediately onto twitter.

This game requires a laptop and works anywhere in the world where there\’s a wifi connection. Your laptop\’s wifi connection is used to triangulate your position.

Gangs are assigned by the zip code of your home address. The goal of each gang is to gain as much territory as possible.

Territories are acquired as players plant time bombs at different locations in physical space. If the bomb is not diffused by a local gang member in time, the bomb will explode and the territory will be turned over to the gang that planted the bomb.

There are 4 ranks within each gang. General > Lieutenant > Sergeant > Civilians. Your rank is determined by your share of the gang\’s territory. Higher ranking players have more power and influence.

Throughout the day we constantly ask about the whereabouts of our friends. This iPhone application gives the user a quick way of asking where a person on their contact list is, without needing to make a phone call or type in an SMS.

A wearable sensor measures the expansion and contraction of a person\’s rib cage as he/she breathes. This data is streamed to a mobile phone via bluetooth and written to an online file via PHP. The partner phone reads this file and visualizes the other person\’s breathing (stretch sensor) and proximity (GPS capability on a smartphone). The two people are thereby able to feel connected without conscious communication and are also made more in touch with their own breath rate and sense of spatial awareness.

The project is a wristband designed for visually impaired users and consists of an RFID reader, a bluetooth module, and a flat battery. When the wristband approaches one of the assigned RFID tags, it produces a beep on a cellphone which is then followed by an audio message assigned to the particular tag.