For the past few years I have been discussing with some friends (privately) the need to incorporate certain technologies into our work to create product experiences that are more use-centric or user-defined. It has generally extended only to more expected uses of technology like using web tools as a platform for idea exchange or aesthetic enhancement tools in product design. Recently though while visiting at a company for a lecture I reawakened a different kind of interest in using inexpensive technology in other more product-centered ways.
The cost of technology keeps dropping at an exponential rate which means that its wide spread adoption is all but inevitable. This creates vast amounts of new types of E-waste from LED's to small chips. All this in the hopes of redefining the product experience and awakening a new era of smarter objects that respond to our emotions. I have compiled a very short list of images below of such items. In their current incarnations they are often considered novelty items, but their potential is incredible given their cost and the flexibility of design.
Upon closer inspection many of these products deserve evaluation by designers as tools that can allow customers to better define their product experiences, or even provide them the ability to make their own. Think of them as Apps for the world of atoms and see where this Pandora's box can take you. I feel a design brief brewing live on this blog.
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