A hypothetical partnership was formed between Google and Crate&Barrel to create a new digital division of Crate&Barrel.
Our task was to design a product to be sold in the C&B retail stores keeping in mind the partnership with Google, as well as looking into
next generation GPS technology.
Crate & Barrel is a chain of retail stores specializing in housewares, furniture, and home accessories. Merchandise is displayed in the "vignette" style, where items are grouped together as they might appear in the home.
Google is well known for their search engine, but they also offer a variety of online software packages, free of charge, that allow their users to share photos and video, post content to a blog and several GPS related applications.
During the 2006 Grammy Awards show, a 3D holographic projection was used to simulate the stage presence of the popular animated band Gorillaz. The Musion Eyeliner System was used to create the 3D illusion and give the audience the impression that the animated characters were playing within real space.
RealFiction's Dreamoc is a 3D display that gives the user the opportunity of combining real products with free floating animations, creating a mixed reality illusion. The Dreamoc has a 180° viewing angle and can display graphics in full color.
Our research has shown that the majority of Crate & Barrel's shoppers are female. They have a highly educated customer base with
discretionary income.
Self-expression is an important part of identity and people's purchases are a reflection of their personality. Sharing identity is crucial to building and
maintaining relationships.
Core Design Problem
How can we assist users in sharing identity with their loved ones through a physical artifact placed within a household?
Brainstorming lead to the concept of designing an object that could be used as a topic of conversation or displayed proudly with the user's home. A 3D projection of a globe could be used to display GPS locations of loved ones or photos from the last family vacation.
The device would utilize a collection of Google software to share personal experiences. It would also have built in sensors that allowed for full manipulation of the user interface based on gesture recognition.
Our final design concept was a 3D holographic fish tank with a touch screen interface. We modeled the design from a coy pond and the tank would be shallow enough to fit on a coffee table. The fish inside the tank would be a digital representation of a loved one and would allow users to keep up to date on their current activities, similar to the Facebook news feed but with a clean and easy to use interface.
A paper prototype was developed to test the user interface using the Wizard of Oz method.
