i n t e r a c t i v e_t o u c h…

“Human beings do not socialize in a completely random way. There’s a tangible reason for us being together, that ties us together. Again, that reason is called the Social Object. Social Networks form around Social Objects, not the other way around.” Hugh MacLeod at www.gapingvoid.comAnother interesting article about social objects from the same author her.

I am finally understanding that these two concepts are fare from the same. Social objects are the shared or common ground for why a social interaction occurs. The social life of objects are the objects life itself.  Of course can the social life of object be a social object, like is the case with Thinglink.But a given object itself is not a social object per se… So a 2 liter thermos is not in itself a social object, but lets say a shared interest in outdoor activity would be. So social objects are not tangible in that sense.This is probably obvious but I had to get my head around it. 

After I have read up on different projects and meanings about RFID I have come up with some questions that I think could be included or serve as starting points for my project this semester.The fact that RFID is tangible e.g physical, and out there in the real world. I am thinking of the possibilities of getting people out from their computerized lives and enter into the physical world once again. This is interesting because many people know are doing more and more of their social time in front of he computer. So my questions are as follows:

• In which ways can RFID enhance peoples social/physical lives?
• Can one use rfid technology to connect people in a different manner?
• How can we take advantage of the fact that RFID is tangible?
• How willing are people to touch in their everyday lives?
• Are people willing to contribute to a larger social system?
• What kinds of social interactions are suitable for Touch?
• Are people willing to be traced, or how fare are they willing to go in a social context?

As of now I am thinking that my project will turn into a crossing between Touch as culture, playful RFID and RFID and the everyday….  Another aspect which I find intriguing is the aspect of traceability? And what kind of advantages but of course disadvantages this have on everyday life. And if it is possible to make some good use out of it! 

As of now we are supposed to decide on what theme we would like to work on for the rest of the term. When we starte the semester working around Playful RFID seemed like a natural way to go…But after reading all the briefs of the Touch project I find it very hard to decide on what to do. I had hoped that this was clear by tonight so I could finish researching and come up with some good ideas by tomorrow. So I would have a lot of time to produce the deliverables for friday.

The interactions of transactions.A task about the the payment and ticketing system in Oslo. Making a new interface and system for Oslo Sporveier.More is coming….  

The conscience consumer.This task was about mobile services that create new perspectives on shopping. Working with Gunnar and Alice we made a service that provides information about the products that you buy. The information is based on political issues; ethical, environmental etc.  The service is provided trough a website tagger.com where you can write your own tags. And then paste them on the products, the shelf, outside the store or wherever you want for others to read the

Hit the flies….The first real, hands on RFID task this semester. The task was to make a simple interactive interface using RFID tags and a reader. We, Fan Fan, Bo and I ended up testing different tools for interaction.The “game” or what potentionally could be a game is about catching flies with different tools that have different levels of difficulty. We discovered that the delay from when you hit the reader until something happens makes the interaction somewhat frustrating.