Objectives

The aim of the research is to propose a new kind of interaction involving designers and normal users, interadio frequencies (rfaces) and online information between physical and digital media. With insight into social spaces it's important to promote a connected community and how they interact with their physical / digital environment.

The idea of the "Box" is proposed to physically couple virtual and physical spaces, creating a participatory environment and facilitate the exchange of ideas, information in an easy fashion of interaction. The importance to define a language is crucial to understand this abstract concept of space. Thus was necessary to define concepts as for example, Information Containing Objects which represents physical devices with the ability to receive and send data to networks or to other devices.

An important role to promote participatory environments are concepts like Design for connected communities, where learning and work are connected through networks and Distributed Constructionism in which, humans are able to learn better in the construction of collective environments.

The "Box" should work on a modular basis, adapt to different communication structures like play, share ideas, debate, etc. A Tangible Media Device is made for avoiding the must common gap for users between physical and virtual worlds, making computers part of everyday environments, more intuitive and also in this case; optimized for making a single task for single users or activity instead of multiple tasks for multiple users.

The Model

For understanding the system of the a modular "Box" it was necessary to establish a semantic visual model or a symbolic language for representing dynamic information structures and also the flow between them. Representing real time, synchronous, peer to peer communication. It has been separated in three categories:

• Objects: Modular element that contains, transmit and transform, receive or transmit data.

• Data: Piece of digital information like databases, streaming movies, interactive contents, etc.

• Channels: Connects two objects in a Uni or bi-directional way and with different proprieties that affects the data flow.

With these concepts it’s possible to visualize a data flow with simple icons and diagrams, just like an electric diagram flow.

Experimental Approach

The information containing object was represented by a cardboard box, which forms a tangible media device. This box works as a modular entity and limited to one function. Some of them detect movement, another emits sounds, able to print messages or even to control data trough sensors switches or potentiometers. Each box is connected with another one simultaneously trough radio frequencies (RF) communication and also to the Internet to a PC and server acting as a network node.

Some examples of implementation

• Announcement:

The device prints messages emailed to the group of the community on a small ticker-tape printer. After a time the papers takes the form of an archive allowing the community be updated about activities or for example, different announcements and comments displayed in a different way as in a computer screen.

• Play:

The box asks to be taken by a member for a period of time. Another participant looking at the online structure is able to send a specific message to the person who took the box. This simple structure promotes the interaction between members of a group that otherwise wouldn’t probably interact.

• Archive:

A recording device is placed in the box, storing the sound in an online buffer, the sound will be played exactly one year later trough a speaker box. This would allow, for example, a teacher to hear a lesson after one year or a recording a birthday message for himself. This function tries to illustrate how for tangible objects and virtual data, as a sound recording, can create new and improvised functions that were not thought in beforehand.

• Privacy:

A “Void Box” is connected to the keyboard registers and send online every word typed on the computer. The other team members are able to see this text inputs on the net turning the knob of a “Security Box”. This experiment aims to raise issues about privacy and security and the members feeling comfortable about sharing everything that they type. And the question if they would unplug the “Void Box” even when the software it’s also probably registering his keystrokes.

Conclusions:

The paper has been written in 2002 and expects that wireless technology becomes a standard in the future as a cheap, fast and accessible technology. Even when they explain that interconnecting every device to the Web could sound utopic. Today this kind of thinking is getting closer to the everyday life. The existence of the “Internet of Things” or the Web 4.0 are already part of our present, where for example, one-purpose devices are connected between virtual and physical environments.