Page 10 of Design for our future selves 2001 Awards by Helen Hamlyn Research Centre - Royal College of Art

8 Anna Hiltunen/Design Products chatter A table that reacts to sound with a visual display of lights on its surface. By networking the table to the various appliances in the house, different areas of the table light up each time the phone rings, doorbell rings, or any alarm such as the microwave timer goes off. As well as its use as ordinary furniture, the table provides visual reassurance of an aural landscape assisting the hearing faculties of older users. The responsive and playful nature of the table increases enjoyment of the domestic environment and maintains independence no more straining to hear the doorbell or the phone.

[close]