Ceci n'est pas seulement une pipe: semantic meaning of everyday objects in a connected world

As we live more and more connected lives, spending countless hours in front of a screen, the web is also spewing out of its “tubes” into the real world. We can now access it not only using a series of technologies that pull us away from the screen: cell phones, RFID, Bluetooth, wifi but these technologies are now embedding themselves in everyday objects. Our use of these is therefore changing. The principles of natural mapping, mental models and affordances (D. Norman, 2002) that allow for certain behaviours to take place are evolving.

The physicality of opening an umbrella for example is directly linked to it’s mechanism and a need for protection from the rain but can now also mean turning on your iPod (http://www.proto-typen.org/ibrella/doc.html). What happens when people start opening their umbrellas on a sunny day?

This presentation aims to explore the reasons why semantics and mental models should be considered when designing everyday intelligence. Using case studies and examples of projects (Good Night Lamp, Stickychat), we will explore the way that people really use, (or don’t) the ubiquitous web. How, as users, we interpret, play or hack those semantic layers.

We will also discuss the reverse phenomenon, or when the meaning or function of objects is rendered useless because of their online evolution. Using the example of a music-sharing service (Stint) as well as observations around Second Life, we will try to dissect the mechanics, semantic disruptions and infrastructural challenges that that online evolution poses.