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\x0a “The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.”\x0a

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\x0a Mark Weiser\x0a

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\x0a “One of the things our grandchildren will find quaintest about us is that we distinguish the digital from the real.”\x0a

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\x0a William Gibson\x0a

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Mujicomp

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(photo by fgirardin on Flickr)

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During a recent talk in Switzerland (video) Matt Jones introduced the term “Mujicomp”. He said that ubiquitous computing components need to be “tasteful, simple, clear, clean, contemporary and affordable in order to be invited into the home” and that Mujicomp is a key factor in developing a bottom up strategy to building the sentient city.

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I couldn’t agree more… but it does worry me a little.

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I love the idea and there’s definitely a place in the world - my world even - for Mujicomp but I think we could be in danger of forgetting something.

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To understand what (I think) he meant by Mujicomp it’s probably worth looking at the design ethos of Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukosawa. Two designers that introduced the concept of Super Normal in 2007.

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The zen-like Super Normal philosophy is about design that’s executed in such a way that it’s easy for people to accept because it effectively becomes part of the existing “normal” in their lives. It upgrades normal but doesn’t shout about it in order to pander to the designer’s ego. It simply dissolves into behaviour.

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Naoto Fukosawa’s ”design dissolving into behaviour” quote is used in relation to ubicomp frequently. He also designined the classic Muji CD player so I can see why it’s logical to end up with Muji as the style benchmark for the Internet of Things but I think we’re in danger of forgetting that the majority of people probably think Muji is posh, boring - or even “poncy”.

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I have a feeling that Mujicomp is likely to only get invited into the homes of the people with taste.

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If we really want to design the sentient city from the bottom up we shouldn’t forget that the rest of the world aren’t designers. We should be thinking about those that probably think Billy Big Mouth Bass is something hilarious, and worthy of display on their wall.

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This photo from Matt Jones’ Flickr is titled “Not Mujicomp” and he’s right. It certainly isn’t super normal for me but I think we shouldn’t discount the mileage we could get by creating things with such mass appeal.

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I know the stuff in that photo is only destined to be landfill and would probably do more harm than good but we’re designers - we can work out how to be funny and sustainable at the same time, surely.

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I definitely reckon I’d add funny to the list of attributes needed to get ubicomp invited into people’s homes.

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\x0a “The adult public’s taste is not necessarily ready to accept the logical solutions to their requirements if the solution implies too vast a departure from what they have been conditioned into accepting as the norm.”\x0a

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\x0a Raymond Loewy on his famous MAYA (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable) principle.\x0a

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\x0a “Put simply, blocking access as envisaged by this clause would both widely disrupt the Internet in the UK and elsewhere, threatening freedom of speech and the open Internet, without reducing copyright infringement as intended. To rush through such a controversial proposal at the tail end of a Parliament, without any kind of consultation with consumers or industry, is very poor law making.”\x0a

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\x0a Digital Economy Bill | Tom Watson MP (via adactio)\x0a

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“Digital interactions are moving beyond keypad and screens and into sensing, networked products that inhabit our everyday lives. This session will explore how designers can create engaging experiences between physical products and digital services.”

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More great IxDA10 stuff from Timo Arnall (Elasticspace).

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AR in Zardoz

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Yes, there’s projected augmented reality in Zardoz (1974).

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It appears to be in LOLspeak too.

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SXSW Fieldnotes

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James Bridle has made a book for the post digital panel at SXSW.

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It’s designed to last you the week you’re at SXSW and features maps, a diary, schedule, info pulled from the Lonely Planet guide to Texas and space for you to write notes.

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According to James it was:

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“Pulled together in a few hours at the last minute despite planning it for ages. HTML -> XML -> InDesign for the talks schedule. Simple PDF resizing for the LP section. Basic-as layout for the rest, with some running heads and page numbers to minimise endless searching. Printed 10 through Lulu – £5 a pop, plus £25 to expedite shipping (because I left it until the last possible moment). Arrived in 4 working days. Done.”\x0a

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It’s great but I can’t help thinking it could have had more hooks back into the digital domain. I’m not entirely sure what and how but It feels like you should be able to use it as a jumping off point to go and get more content, submit content or communicate with the other owners of the book.

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There’s more information on Booktwo.org if you’re interested.

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\x0a $The guys at Panic have released details of the status board they built for their office. It’s a web page that displays the following information - frequently updated using AJAX.\x0a \x0a\x0aE-Mail Queue — number of messages / number of days.\x0aProject Status\x0aImportant Countdowns\x0aRevenue.\x0aLive Tri-Met Bus Arrivals — when it’s time to go home!\x0aThe Panic Calendar.\x0aEmployee Twitter Messages.\x0aAny @Panic Twitter Messages.\x0a\x0aSomething interesting from their blog post.\x0aLes, one of our support guys, said it best after a week: “That board is like magic.” Our support turnaround time is faster than it’s ever been. Just the simple act of “publicizing” those numbers — not in a cruel way, but a “where are we at as a group?” way — has kept the support process on-task and, I think, made it a bit more like a video game. (It helps that when all the boxes are at “zero”, a virtual bottle of champagne appears on-screen, and a physical one is likely removed from the fridge.)\x0aGreat stuff. Imagine if something like this was to be done at scale on urban screens.$ \x0a \x0a \x0a

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The guys at Panic have released details of the status board they built for their office. It’s a web page that displays the following information - frequently updated using AJAX.

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E-Mail Queue — number of messages / number of days.
Project Status
Important Countdowns
Revenue.
Live Tri-Met Bus Arrivals — when it’s time to go home!
The Panic Calendar.
Employee Twitter Messages.
Any @Panic Twitter Messages.

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Something interesting from their blog post.

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Les, one of our support guys, said it best after a week: “That board is like magic.” Our support turnaround time is faster than it’s ever been. Just the simple act of “publicizing” those numbers — not in a cruel way, but a “where are we at as a group?” way — has kept the support process on-task and, I think, made it a bit more like a video game. (It helps that when all the boxes are at “zero”, a virtual bottle of champagne appears on-screen, and a physical one is likely removed from the fridge.)

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Great stuff. Imagine if something like this was to be done at scale on urban screens.

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