I need help, ANYONE!!!

[molested_cow]

Ok I am doing a project. It's a concept project so nothing needs to be made.

BTW I am doing Product Design.

I am currently doing an internship in a company, and as a part of the plan to keep me busy, I was assigned to do a concept project. It started off as "designing the PC of the future". Well, I don't have to follow that, but I want to focus on communication and improving its quality.

My project is based on making something that will improve communication between family members who live away from each other. Age group is college students and through interviews I have conducted, there are some really interesting things that I found out.

Here are the conclusion of the interview:

-current method lacks the real sense of presence.
-Sense of presence need not be expressed by visual or audio signal. The sign of your loved one's breath, or simply hearing what the person is doing is a much stronger sense of presence.
-people wish they have more control over the device on the other side so that they can see or experience beyond what the camera is set to.

Ok, so I really want to get away from making something that looks like a techware. At first I came out with a system that blends with the living space by using ceramic shell and plants but there wasn't much "communication" advantage to it.

Then I sketched out something, a desktop device with 360 degrees projection on separated panels. Everyone said it looks inspiring and want me to explore it more. So I tried. But I can;t see what I can do with it.

The separated panels can mean that they are modular. Currently I am also working on another project involving flexible display, and I can see how this can be applied to that. So imagine you got this device with different display panels which you can remove and attach to anywhere in the house. The panels can display videos or anything. How do you find this feature useful in the context of communication?

I'm really stuck right now and I need to come out with an update on the progress by Friday. So any thing you can think of, please throw at me!

 

[molested_cow]

BTW, I believe in solving problems, not creating one then solve it. Too bad I don't have a choice here.

On another note, I realized that visual and audio contact is over used in today's methods. You can't really create a sense of presence with just these. Afterall, humans have 5+1 senses.

I was thinking of simulating other senses like scent, temperature or even using low frequency waves to simulate touch, such as a hug or something. I think it's will be possible.... eventually, given that we can simulate the position of an playing instrument with just a pair of speakers.

 

[LizM]

Actually, even with modular panels I see the 360 as being a space problem. I think a IMAX style partial dome might be a better idea (and well suited for hanging above a recliner). You could incorporate that with some preloaded scents and sounds via a machine similar to the "white noise" gadgets people use to help get to sleep. You know, the ocean, etc. Only preload them with family stuff. The scents could be pre-loaded and delivered via a built in dry vaporizor system similar to the little plug in Vick's methalatum gadgets. The sounds and scents could be triggered via subroutines built to key off of a set of keywords the sender would load into the program when sending the visual portion of the message.

Hope this makes some sort of sense!