So the first interface that I thought interesting at Maker Faire, was a apartment mailbox unit:
It looked something like this and had a sign over it that said something to the effect of: you look drained, charge your phone here.
So basically each mailbox had a key in it and inside the box was a wire with a head attached to it. These heads were for various cell phones to be connected to a power supply. Also next the mailbox were drawers of changeable heads incase the mailboxes that were left had head’s that were incompatible to your phone. I felt that this was a very practicle idea and a needed artifice. It was also made from a very good interface as well. Users are use to opening and locking things in mailboxs and also lockers, like those in schools, as well as gyms and amusement parks. So the user knows exactly what to do when it comes in contact with this object.
A second interface that I found a bit more amusing was an ipad connected to a type writter. This artifact reminded me of some of the projects we looked at in case. The items made from obvious things or things involved in their use somehow, for exmaple the bus stop made from a bus.
The ipad set on the top of the type writter where the paper usually goes, and you could use the type writter to type on the ipad. It was very ironic to me and although the artist didn’t present it as such could be used to explore different effects of technology and so on.
I was inspired by the exiTrip booth at Maker Faire. I was really interested in the fact that they hacked old ipod fm transmitters, that can now be foubd on the interent for around 20 cents. It was a great appropreation of an obsolete item which can be used in meaningful and innovative ways. This made me begin to think of some projects of my own.
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