Let’s Get Physical + Virtual.

Our weekly assignment for the 9-27-07 Softness class was to create a connector, but in traditional Despina fashion, the term connector was left open to interpretation. Despina showed us some different options for fasteners in wearable technology and went into depth about how conductive thread can be used as a means of integrating circuitry and couture. My gut instinct was to jump all over the conductive thread she left behind for us to experiment with, but a brief conversation with my extremely gifted classmate, Taylor Levy, after class made me think twice. The two of us had previously discussed our common interest in creating communications devices able to tap into the online world to retrieve information in real time which could then be useful to the user in the real world. If everything from restaurant reviews to social networks exist in the virtual playground we call the Internet, why should we not have access to that very real information when we need it most–in our real lives. Why must there be a divide between our time spent in front of the computer and that spent living life. Taylor and I ended our conversation with two questions: Is it possible to connect physical and virtual space, and if so, is this type of connector a real connector or simply an imaginary construct?

Taylor and I learned that we collaborate best when we’ve defined the space in which we can play. The diagrams and PDF files below explain our analysis and what it means to connect space. We could not actually begin building a connector without defining space and how connectors interact. We turned to our good friend the Venn diagram for help in explaining our theories. The sum of our work is a proposal for a device which integrates with Facebook to store/retrieve information as needed when interacting with people in the real world. If meeting a person for the first time in a coffee shop, and the Facebook database knows that you like the same music and have 10 friends in common, why should you not know the same information so that you can strengthen your connection with your new acquaintance faster and more efficiently? The technology exists as does the need for such information in a world increasingly dependent on the web.

Human Space
Connected Space