Student Design Challenge

Acts of Giving has been an investigation into the act of giving, its symbolism in objects and its importance in society. Through a series of workshops and the subsequent distribution of cultural probes, we found that the most meaningful gifts are often those to which important or meaningful memories are attached. A gift from someone close or a memento from a specific time or place, though insignificant in material value, is transformed into a treasured object. With this insight, and in the context of ubiquitous computing and Internet of Things, we have designed an interactive, ceramic, data-gatherer which records the environment of specific events through the collection of temperature, humidity, colour and sound data. Sitting in the background or as a centrepiece at a family meal, the gatherer collects data from the physical environment, creating an informational snapshot of that space and time. Using Rhino and Grasshopper, we translate this data into a printable three-dimensional form, transforming a meaningless artefact into an evocative character, a physical representation of a moment in time.