When is a phone not a phone?
Cast your mind back a week or so, to the story we posted about the ‘sensual’ concept phones put together by students at the University of Dundee. There was one made into a pendant, called the ‘Aware’ which sent a tingle down your back when one of your friends was nearby. Well, it got me curious – so I visited their website. There’s loads of cool designs on there, but could I buy one? Did they exist? A few emails back and forth later, and Ian Shiels, a 2nd year Interactive Media Designer from the project, has very kindly sent over some more information.Take it away Ian..
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These are prototypes of a new generation of mobile phones that have the potential to shatter the conventions of popular mobile telecommunications. They turn their back on the current trend of cramming more and more technical features into an increasingly smaller package. Electronics can only go so small, and once they reach their limit, what will be the future of the huge mobile phone sector? Our prototypes engage users in an altogether un-explored direction; they engage their senses and emotions. We have turned our backs on the saturated world of rich media, and have instead aimed to produce subtler, simple interactions. The potential for this convention-shattering change in telecommunications is huge.
The surprisingly large amount of interest we have received in the week following the websites launch is testament to people’s willingness to look at a fresh idea for the future of mobile telecommunication. Popular searches in Google for us are ‘sensual phones’, ‘m:ssage’ and ‘phone not phone Dundee’.
You can’t buy them, they’re just some lovely prototypes. As far as functionality, they don’t fully work, because as prototypes, their most important job is to convey the idea and the primary interaction (sound, light, movement) and they do that wonderfully! The m:ssage prototype is a little different, we embedded the circuitry from an old mobile phone inside it, and so you CAN actually text it to get a massage. The website looks like you can buy them, and the ruse has been a huge success in aiding visitors to the site to imagine these phones as real products, people seem to just love them! We won’t be sending the prototypes out for reviews in case we lose them, but anyone interested is welcome to visit them where they live, in the Interactive Media Design department of the University of Dundee.
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Thanks for that Ian. Not quite ready to buy yet, but never say never.. You can visit the Phone Not Phone site here, and check out some of their other quite cool designs.
