Projects

Yo–Yo Machines are low-cost playful communication devices that you can make yourself. They are designed to allow physically separated people to trade nonverbal, expressive signals across the Internet.

My Naturewatch Camera is an inexpensive wildlife camera that we designed for people to make themselves as a way of promoting engagement with nature and digital making.

ProbeTools are unconventional cameras and audio devices for Cultural Probes studies. Designed as Self-Build devices that researchers can make themselves by following instructions, downloading software and 3D models from a website.

Datacatchers are mobile location-aware devices that stream messages about the area they are in. Derived from ‘big data’ sources, the messages draw attention to the socio-political topology of the lived environment.

Energy Babble is a talk radio-like device that broadcasts environmental and energy related content. It draws content from online sources and listeners can use the microphone to join the conversation.

‘Indoor Weather Stations’ reveal the home’s microclimate by highlighting small gusts of wind, the colour of ambient light, and temperature differentials within the home.

The Photostroller is a movable device that shows a never-ending sequence of images drawn from the Internet, some related, others more random, like an electronic daydream.

The Prayer Companion is a resource for the intercessional prayers of a group of cloistered nuns, displaying short texts culled from newsfeeds and social media as an indicator of prevailing issues and moods.

The Plane Tracker draws on information broadcast by passing aircraft to recreate the view of their journey, allowing people to travel along from the comfort of their sitting room.

The Local Barometer is a system of devices that reveals the socio-cultural texture around the home by displaying locally produced online information depending on local weather conditions.

The Home Health Horoscope prints out a daily, automatically generated “horoscope” for the home that reflects domestic activities, based on data from half a dozen bespoke sensor assemblages.

A video camera mounted on a ten-metre fishing pole is attached to the roof of one’s house, with the view displayed on a screen indoors which is always left on.

The History Tablecloth is a device that augments a kitchen or dining room table, featuring an illuminating covering and a system of load sensors that slip under the legs.

The Drift Table is an electronic coffee table that allows people to float slowly over the British landscape from the comfort of their own home.

The Key Table signals people’s moods when they enter the home. Depending on how they place objects on it, a mechanical picture frame swings out of kilter to signal their emotions.