PopSpots
48-hour Design Challenge, Global Sustainability Jam (location Oslo), October 2011
48-hour Design Challenge, Global Sustainability Jam (location Oslo), October 2011
Global Sustainability Jam is a global event where lots of enthusiastic people all over the world gather to "jam" on sustainable ideas for a better world. The concept of this "workshop-event" goes straight to my heart, and the weekend was fantastic! We were around thirty people on our location, Oslo. There were mostly designers, developers and entrepreneurs, but also psychologists, academic researchers, students and others there - which made the group dynamic very good. And I believe we were about 50-50 norwegians and foreigners from all over the world. We had great fun, got to know new friends, and learned new stuff. I'd really recommend you to join us on our next Sustainability Jam, or the Service Jam in February.
On friday afternoon everyone who participated on this global event got a one-word-theme: "Playground". We did some brainstorming sessions together before we divided in groups. My group wanted to work on playgrounds for adults, and turning the city and areas that are normally not concidered as safe into flexible playground. Walking in the dark, especially in places like a dark ally or a park, (we have called these places blind spots) might feel unsafe and uncomfortable. We designed a service called PopSpots; by the use of your cell phone you can activate your surroundings and make it fun, playful and safe to walk at night. We wanted to create a service that rewarded the walkers, and encouraged them to choose walking over car or taxi, also by night. We didn't want to create a system that tells you to be safe, we wanted to create something that made you have fun, and acctually forget that you're afraid.
This was a team project where we all worked on the idea and concept. The visual work is done by me (at about 5AM on a saturday night/sunday morning…) Research, idea, concept, sketches and presentation took us 48 hours. We were a damn good group, and we won for best project in the Norwegian Jam. On the team: Julia Edin, Line Barkved, Maciej Warchal, Alexandru Stanoi, Ioana Benjamin, Victoria Utheim, Ann Kathrin Waage, Line With and me, Nina Lysbakken.
On friday afternoon everyone who participated on this global event got a one-word-theme: "Playground". We did some brainstorming sessions together before we divided in groups. My group wanted to work on playgrounds for adults, and turning the city and areas that are normally not concidered as safe into flexible playground. Walking in the dark, especially in places like a dark ally or a park, (we have called these places blind spots) might feel unsafe and uncomfortable. We designed a service called PopSpots; by the use of your cell phone you can activate your surroundings and make it fun, playful and safe to walk at night. We wanted to create a service that rewarded the walkers, and encouraged them to choose walking over car or taxi, also by night. We didn't want to create a system that tells you to be safe, we wanted to create something that made you have fun, and acctually forget that you're afraid.
This was a team project where we all worked on the idea and concept. The visual work is done by me (at about 5AM on a saturday night/sunday morning…) Research, idea, concept, sketches and presentation took us 48 hours. We were a damn good group, and we won for best project in the Norwegian Jam. On the team: Julia Edin, Line Barkved, Maciej Warchal, Alexandru Stanoi, Ioana Benjamin, Victoria Utheim, Ann Kathrin Waage, Line With and me, Nina Lysbakken.
Walking a dark and unsafe area you easily open the app and check if is already transformed into a PopSpots. If it is not yet, you report it as a blind spot. If the area is a PopSpot you activate the app and start walking into the area. Getting closer to different objects in the park (it could be a bench, a wall or a tree) your phone activates a sensor. The sensor either turns on twinkling, ambient lights or makes your phone play soothing tones. By moving the phone around the tones turns into tunes, and the twinkle turns into light streams.
What if walking home at night felt like this?
This is a concept, meaning we are using some pictures from the internet as a moodboard to show how we think. We don't have the rights to all of these pictures. (But all the purple sketches and app-sketches are done by me.)
