Random Messenger

Augmenting common objects

Media arts, Rapid prototyping, Playful Experiences
Milano (IT) / Domus Academy, February 2007

Keyboard hacking is a cheap and quick way to create effective early prototypes. In this workshop, a keyboard was taken apart and modified in order to augment a common dust bin and make it behave as an unexpected message repository.

Brief / Concept

Keyboard Hacking was a short-term workshop (2 days) organized by Massimo Banzi for the MA course in Interaction Design to introduce physical computing elements. The workshop taught how to use normal keyboards to create quick and economic interactive prototypes. The final project assignment proposed the usage of common objects and to focus on their typical affordances in order to propose augmented solutions. To accomplish this goal, two kind of sensors were distributed: tilt (to detect basic motions) and light sensors.

Design Process

Hacking a keyboard to make an asynchronous messaging system based on a everyday object that is reconsidered from a different perspective, looking at its affordance. Random Messenger is a dust bin containing a system built on a hacked keyboard that allow people to add own messages to a shared repository and to listen to formerly recorder files, simply by using the affordance of the artifact. The interaction modality focuses on tangible elements related to the usage of any dust bin: by opening the cover, a voice message can be added and by emptying it a randomly extracted speech is played.