Tag Archives: radio
How a Japanese Designer is using traditional crafts to change our perception of disposable product designs
Let’s start with a question, the last time you went looking for a product, say a hairdryer, what did you look for in that design? The common answer would be the features of the product, price, color, form, and of course brand – to name a few. But we never wonder about what happens to the product once we are done using it. I believe any design is truly sustainable when the designer has a solution for the treatment of the product after we are done using it. Designer Kodai Shimizu is actually implementing this thought with his collection of designs titled the Craft-Techmen Project.
The philosophy behind these designs is simple – if we create an emotional aspect to our products along with an easy way to repair them at home, each of these previously disposable designs will become an heirloom to be handed down across generations. Kodai Shimizu, who is a graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven, decided to change our approach to everyday objects by using a thread as a conductive material. The products included here are a hairdryer, a radio, and a speaker as of now. This collection of threads replaces the switches and controls but rather gives us a new mechanism for controlling the volume, speed, or temperature of each of these products. Also, the design being so simple, it is easy to dismantle and repair the device if need be!
“Since threads are used to assemble the parts together in this project, not only is it easier to disassemble and repair, but it is also possible to add new functions to home appliances by using current-carrying threads. By rotating a part of the home appliance, the threads touch each other, and the voltage changes and the microchip inside the appliance responds according to the value, and the thread that conducts electricity acts as a dimmer switch” says the designer.
The Craft-Techmen Project is almost a rebellion to the mass-manufactured products available in the market today. Using wood for the body of the products ensures each product ages gracefully over time, almost changing with each year the product is used, absorbing the memories and characteristics of the user. I know technology progresses very fast and yes, the hairdryer or speaker of the future may be a whole new device after all, but tell me this, would you let a beautiful timeless radio like this handed down to you, be thrown away or would it be as treasured to you as your grandpa’s favorite vinyl disc and turntable? I know I would treasure mine.
Designer: Kodai Shimizu
The Hairdryer
The hairdryer’s transparent top doubles up as the temperature control. A simple twist of the surface relates to a higher temperature. The almost analog-like beauty of this design lets you actually see the physical interaction ( and the twisting of the threads) that causes this temperature change.
The Radio
Rotate the wooden disc atop this radio to see the threads interact and the channel change. I can see people across the ages – a grandfather and his grandson watching in wonder as they almost play with this device to get their favorite radio channel.
The Speaker
Although lacking a see-through surface to enjoy the interactions, this chunky speaker design holds the details atop the speaker and you can see them move as you adjust the volume.
While these are just three products displayed here, the project suggests a new take on everyday objects for our modern daily lives to question the materials and electronic technologies surrounding us. And after seeing this collection, it sure has given me some food for thought.
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This radio from an alternate universe uses glasses of water as it’s remote control!
We’re all used to turning a couple of knobs and pressing a few buttons to operate a radio, but have you ever played with glasses of water to change a radio channel? Probably not. Designers Tore Knudsen, Simone Okholm Hansen, and Victor Permild recently launched their art project ‘Pour Reception’. And it’s beyond anything you can imagine. Pour Reception consists of two internal speakers, an AUX input, a handy guide and two glasses that must be placed on the body of the radio. And no the glasses aren’t just to sip water from, though you could do that. The radio uses the two glasses filled with water as it’s interface!
Designers: Tore Knudsen, Simone Okholm Hansen, and Victor Permild
Sounding a little fantastical to you? There’s more. Pour water into the glasses, and the stereo starts! Transfer some water from one glass to another and you can change channels. Touch the glasses, and you can fine-tune the radio’s signal, eliminating distortion. Finally, pop a finger into the water to control the volume or to bring the radio to a halt!
This might seem like a scenario from an alternate universe, but the tech behind it is pretty common. Objects emit micro amounts of electricity, and touch tends to disrupt this and convert it into a signal. By using Tact library by NANDstudio (an open-source Arduino shield that turns any object into a touch and proximity sensor), the designers converted the radio platform, glasses, and water into different layers of a capacitive interface, allowing them to conduct minute amounts of electricity and transforming them into sensors. Utilizing a Wekinator (an interactive machine learning tool), various gestures such as touching the glass or dipping a finger into the water were mapped into commands for controlling the radio. The end result; a radio with glasses of water functioning as a “digital material interface”.
So why did the designers actually create such a stereo? “It is possible to augment our physical world in ways that challenge our perceptions of the objects we interact with. In this project, we aim to change the user’s perception of what a glass is–both culturally and technically. Pour Reception is an example of how technology can give new meaning to our cultural and functional perception of objects” said the creators.
They wanted us to look beyond the usual functionality of day to day objects, to dive deeper into the different ways they could be used in our lives, and to form an interactive connection with our environment. And I think they have succeeded. I don’t know about you but I’ll never be able to look at an ordinary radio or a glass of water in the same way again. I’ll know their real potential!
