RITUAL, FETISH, OR VICE
SCENARIOS
* walking into a dark house/room
* in the kitchen, when cooking, when one has full hands and needs to turn on or off lights
* when one needs ladders to change bulbs or regulate direction of spotlights
* medical environment
* when around the dinner table and need to dim lights
NEEDS
* a need for a certain aesthetic (contemporary, retro, modern, baroque etc...)
* medical and hygiene related needs
* better accessibility
* more playfulness
* less power consumption
* smaller
* a need to reinvent the gesture
* my personal need to do so
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
* back lit/glow in the dark/night light inserted in wall switch
* activated with something other than hands (i find the clapper very ironic)
* more ubiquitous, such as on tables, embedded in lighting, in chandeliers
* networked
* aesthetically more pleasing
* could me more playful, less played out, more innovative, with a touch of sarcasm to help people gain perspective when home
* should use less electricity by usign DC powered LEDs or LED bulbs
* could always be smaller in size
THINGS THAT BUG ME WITH HOME LIGHTING
* the lack of attention we put into the act of turning on the lights
* how ugly some light fixtures and especially low energy ones are
* the amount of space wall switches take to fulfill only one or two functions
PROJECT
I am known for making useless objects, like a gigantic bracelet, an interactive sewer grate and a musical bazooka. My process does start with need finding, but it only generally revolves around me and solely me. I have the need to make this object and i am going to make. That's it.
My process changes everytime and sometimes the purpose comes half way through the prototyping. In this case i am not sure yet what scenario i am going to focus on, but what i plan on doing is, by the end of the semester, creating a new light control system, a new lamp and maybe a chandelier. I want to see if i can build a lamp or a wall socket and then see if i can add or re design any aspect of it.
MATERIALS NEEDED
* Tinker.it MP3 player module
* Qprox sensors like the Qwheel and Qslide
* Ultrabright LEDs
* LED light bulbs and lamp bases
