Sony Wandular Project

B

interestsdesign

hi, i’m james

?

I like spaceand learningmore about it

I’m a recent industrial design graduate. I specialize in user centred design and do thisthrough a ocus on human actors knowledge and creating unctionally beautiul graphics toaccompany my work. I’m currently looking or employment in a role were I can use these skills.

I’m interested in understandingpeople, the ‘why’ they want, not just what they want.

I enjoy making instructions asit’s a puzzle to make sure theymean the same to everyone.

I work best in groups where Ican use my multidisciplinaryknowledge to support thosearound me.

I like travellingto strangeplaces

I like havingdiscussionsabout...Well everthing

can we make our constantlychanging technologysustainable?

in collaboration with

and to be eatured in the

Sony contacted Brunel in2012 with a challenge, theywanted to make technologysustainable and break theconstant cycle o disposableelectronics. They asked orBrunel’s help to do this and agroup o seven o us decidedto work on the project.

We then worked with Sony asdesign consultants, developingthe concept over a period oour months.We produced a series oconceptual products whichdeliver on the needs o theuser and provided a viablebusiness model.

Project: WandularClient : Sony

image by: kyle bean

emotionaldurability

aimgoalsinsights

mobile life

differentages

fashion

technologicalobsolescence

upgradability

modularity

multiplicity

cloudcomputing

variousskins

Design work: James Burchill, Ben Clarke, Katherine Harris, RichLarsen, Tahir Shabuden, Amy Huckeld and Jake Mcmillian.Photography and communication: James Burchill, AmyHuckeld, Paris Selinas and Ed Horsord.Models: Thereore design agency.

At the centre o everything we learnt was theneed or emotional durability. Products whichreally mean something to us will be kept longater they stop being useul. I we could achievethis, it would ensure our products value to the user.

The insights we gained revolved around the need or theproducts to be unique, people are dierent and peoplechange. We would have an easier time holding ontocustomers i we embraced this rom the very beginning.Our designs would ocus on providing products thatcould become truly unique with extreme ease.

The goals then evolved alongside this. Thecentral tenants was the need to caterto changing ashions and the diverseage range o customers. We alsoacknowledged the need to make all ourproducts mobile, as this is what is currentlytrending in the technology market.

Our rst challenge was to work out how tomake our products last a lietime, when thetech culture reveers the newest item andviews the old as obsolete.

InitialConcept

FurtherDesign

Brunel Sony Wandular |Overview 21January 2013

Brunel Sony Wandular | Concept overview 08/02/13

Core and Core holderThe core hasa unique colour/pattern which theowner keepsfrom birth.

The core holder (eg in wood or other materialwith emotionaldurability) rests in the nest - withor without the core

NestThenest is abase for the cores, it can also be adisplaysurface or incororateholographic display.

It haspride of place in thehome and ismade ofmaterialsto reflect itslongevity (eg wood for themain externalbody)

ToyThe toyhasacustomisablecover/numerousversions. It isenabledbythe core (eg byNFC),

AR TabletTabletscould come in manysimplegeometries/sizes. Theyare enabled bythe core.

Theyare asminimalaspractical

WatchThe watch hasan emotionallydurableclasp/holder for the core. The band isareplaceable flexible display

WandLike the watch the Wand hasanemotionallydurable bodyand cliphousing the core which iskeptthroughout adult life. Moduleswhichcan be used with the Wand include adisplay‘scrol’ and a projector. Bothrecieve gesture input from the Wandbody.

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Core with customisable This is a unit that will beinterchangeableinto

diferent accessories via insertion and will carrytheuser’s preerences,settings and data.Thiscould easily beinserted into wearableitems thatarekept on the user at all times such as necklace,bracelets and watches.Although themain keywill stay thesame,devices it will be used or willchangeover timeopeningup opportunities toproduceand sell devices theproduct can beusedwith,and could potentially lead to collaborationswith other companies rom diferent markets.

• Interchangeable• Wearable• Opportunity to sell

accessories• Market stretch• On you all the time  

Our initial concept ocused around a ‘core’ with customiseableadditions. This was to establish a small, almost jewellery likecentral piece o tech, which handled all the cloud computingand then relayed that inormation out to other pieces otech.However, Sony elt this still ran the risk o pieces o techbecoming obsolete around the ‘core’.

We then developed a lietime assortment o products to gowith the ‘core’, aimed at dierent stages o lie where people’srequirements or tech would be dierent. This time we eltwe were closer but this was still going to result in productsbecoming obsolete, even i was over a longer period o time.

Eventually we came up with a our nal concept. We woulddevelop ve products which could be altered and updatedover time. Each o these can be introduced rom a certain ageand then using modular parts or alternative skins, be updatedas the user ages. We elt this was also the way to keep theessential emotional attachment.

InitialDesign

We also took on the challenge o creating a concept orthe UI that would reinorce our aims o emotional durabilityand uniqueness, while remaining unctional or everyoneregardless o users age.

The core needed some personality, so each core would display a user’s uniquepattern. The pattern would be generated algorithmically or each user, based ontheir personal interest and would slowly evolve. It was intended that each patternwould also be animated, encouraging users to look at their cores and improve theconnection that they elt with the product.

In both the example interaces taken rom our tablet and watch concepts, you cansee the green shoots expanding on the interace. This is an extension o the core’sunique pattern. This was intended to make it obvious which user was connectedto the device at a moments notice, as well as stamping a user’s personality on theproduct.

The question remained how to developso as user age they can still read theirscreens and press buttons. This wassolved by extending the role o the core.The core was responsible or gatheringinormation rom the devices used by theowner and working out their capabilitieswith this data. The core then subtlychanged the interace over time, so usersdidn’t eel they had to adapt to a newinterace or elt sel-conscious about theirneed or larger type or buttons.

A lietime bond in a small item that you carry withyou, holding your memories and your experiences.It also serves as a personal cloud connection,managing the connection and enabling any deviceit connects with to contact the cloud.

A platorm or ‘Cores’ to share data that mightotherwise be orgotten. It orms a social hub or aamily or other network and shares inormation basedon the group context and personal preerences. Italso projects inormation above it’s body. Showingimportant calendar events or photos shared by thegroup.core

nest

This AR tablet interacts with the world just by lookingat it. Designed to be used rom childhood to senioryears, with a simple interace supported by buttonsthat grow out o the surace. The body can coveredin dierent case to refect the user. Robust cases orchildren and slim stylish cases or adult users

viewThe play monitors sound as well as health andhappiness and adapts its output to how a child eelscreating un or helping soothe, depending on what’sneeded. It also comes in a wide variety o potentialskins which can tted over it’s internal body. This is toallow a child to make a choice and make the toymore unique to that child. play

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A product or the proessional, it provides a screenand numerous methods o control in a tiny package.It goal was to provide a portable desktop on the go.The top part unctions as a projector as well enablingusers to share content.

The design was kept to a minimal shape to increaseappeal across genders and age. The technologyis hidden when you don’t need it. This produces avery subtle piece o technology which doesn’t clashwith the owner’s choice o ashion. The product usesa fexible clear screen as it main body can shapeddepending on it’s current use.wand

wear

thanks for reading contact me at [email protected]

or call me on07775337868