2

The design aims to engage users in making, crafting, and customizing on a continuous basis with everyday materials.

Using cardboard as material further aims to motivate (de)construction and replacement of any given part.

playlist. Videos are added to the playlist remotely via You Tube’s mobile interface. The Inter(net) coms are a wireless network of rebuilt home intercoms, originally installed in the home in

1974. Using a VoIP application and a private server, they function like a chat room throughout the house, offering a convivial convenience.

Desjardins, A. and Ball, A. Revealing tensions in autobiographical design in HCI. Proc. of the 2018 Designing Interactive Systems Conference.

ACM, New York, 2018.

http://depts.washington.edu/ soagrd18/project/aubree-ball/

2. Domestic
Widgets

With the aim of co-creating the
future Internet of Things with
families, we are developing
open, data-enabled physical
visualizations called Domestic
Widgets. Starting with a do-
it-together cardboard kit,
families can assemble and are
encouraged to decorate and
complete the unfinished designs
using everyday materials they
have lying around. Through
speech-based interaction,
the Widgets aim to lower the
“programming threshold” for
family members of all ages
and with any level of technical
proficiency. This approach also
leverages the discoverability
and transparency of speech
interaction, further motivating
collaborative creation and reuse
of the data-enabled artifacts.

www.domesticwidgets.com David Ver weij, David Kirk, Kay Rogage, and Abigail Durrant, Northumbria University

→ [e-mail]

3. Dwelling
Amongst
a Ludic
Internet
of Things

These two bespoke systems
were designed for my family
and our unique home. They aim
to broaden mainstream visions
of home Io T objects through an
autobiographical design inquiry.
The Thought Projectors offer
an ambient way to communicate
non-urgent thoughts, curiosities,
past-experiences, and simple
pleasures. With a single switch,
they play a collaborative You Tube
2
The pre-programmed
microcontrollers allow
nearly screenless setup
and control using the
Google Home (Mini),
focusing on hands-
free, quick, and easy
alteration of a Widget’s
functionality.

3

Thought Projectors offer an ambient way to communicate non-urgent thoughts, curiosities, past-experiences, and simple pleasures.

3 Inter(net)coms, a wireless network of rebuilt home intercoms, function like a chat room throughout the house.

INTERACTIONS.ACM.ORG 12 INTERACTIONS NOVEMBER–DECEMBER2018 DEMO HOUR