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.
More...Projects
Our work can be understood as a long-term research programme investigating alternative values for everyday technologies. Nonetheless, projects are the fundamental building blocks of our research. We pursue projects that are formed around particular situations for design, rather than particular forms of technology or theoretical starting points. We have worked with cloistered nuns, small islands, care homes, garden wildlife, residential streets, and energy conservation groups to name a few. We build technologies that respond to these situations, designing research products that may be one-offs for individuals to live with, batch-produced for groups, or self-build DIY designs for anybody to make at home. Here are some of our projects:
My Naturewatch
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.
More...ProbeTools
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.
More...Datacatcher
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.
More...Energy Babble
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.
More...Indoor Weather Stations
‘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.
More...Photostroller
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.
More...Prayer Companion
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.
More...Plane Tracker
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.
More...Local Barometer
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.
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