collaboration with NICOLE CHAN
project brief: Design a project that rethinks how people communicate, work, or play using the ideas of NET, including productive, embodied, and mythological interaction.
spring09
View project site HERE
Shop Conscious was not designed to re-create the shopping experience, but rather enhance it. I believe that as consumers, it is important to be conscious about the choices we make when purchasing items. These items have a history. If the shopper could learn the footprint of a shirt, would it change the decisions to purchase the shirt? Shop conscious allows the shopper to obtain data, documentation, consumer reports collected from the network cloud. Because the opinions of friends may be important to a shopper when making their decisions, they are also able to connect to their social network to hear feedback on the clothing item.
First, the customer uses the shop conscious application on their phone in order scan the rfid tag on the clothing they are browsing. Based on their preferences, the customer views how much data is collected on the item, and the relationship the item has to their preferences. When the shopper places their device on to the shop conscious screen, the screen becomes initiated to play data, documentation and consumer reports collected from the network cloud. Their social network is also turned on, allowing the shoppers friends to view the clothing they are considering. While the shopper tries on the clothing item, they can switch on the web cam activated mirror, which pauses the screen to allow their social network and friends see their reflection.
Because we did not want to reinvent the shopping experience, but rather enhance it we decided to create a system that would aid the consumers rather than distract them. We believe shopping is not an event that needs to be extended. Currently, the viewer does not have control of what is played on the screen. The information displayed are the three top searches collected from the net. In the future design, we want to give the shopper the option of digging deeper into the information that is displayed. We hope that shop conscious can create consumers to become more aware about the footprint of the items resulting in a mindful experience.
Before Shop Conscious NET: TOO MUCH NOISE!
The noise of networks seem to be cluttering my life. Blackberrys going off every second. 100's of facebook status updates per hour(depending on how many friends you have), SPAM email, etc. I realize some of this information is useful, but how is it possible to have a voice within this network of noise when everyone has a comment to make about everything and anything?
Bogged by this network of noise, will your voice be heard? And through the noise, how do you filter out the meaningful information? How will I go about making a commentary about the overwhelming noise of networks? As soon as the user vocalizes their want, feel or am, these disappear into the network of others wants, feels and ams. Although the user's "voice" may be important, it becomes lost into this chaos of constant status updates.
Through the process of selecting these wants, ams and feels, I realize that my choices are very subjective. These are what I view as possible "useless" information, although they may be useful to the person who states it. While listening to the narrative, my interpretation of "useless" information switches over to possible "useful" information. It reaches a point where the device tells the user something quite powerful and perhaps even shocking. Then there is silence. The user realizes maybe this is now their turn to speak again. But once the user starts speaking, the device is triggered to talk over you once more. Their voice disappears into the network noise.
SHOP CONSCIOUS copyright 2009