Domesticating Search

This project is aimed at re-designing how people interface with web resources. It aspires to create a better fit between the web and the physical and social landscape of the home. We present three prototypes that address different aspects of the discovered design space, which we probed with over 150 design ideas.

Tokens of Search turns web links into physical tokens, which may be carried in pocket or purse and used as tangible signifiers of meaningful web resources.

Hole in Space provides web-mediated perception of a remote place. It senses an approaching user and adjusts its presentation according to the user’s proximity and gestures at its physical interface.

Manhattan presents local events around a home in the form of a physical display. Users can access information from web event repositories through an interactive piece of furniture that subtly hints about the kind and location of the events.

This work is a collaboration with Aalto University.