Cartoon strips starring the object

The creation of cartoon strips was suggested in the tutorial as a type of design fiction that could be presented to users to spark discussion and ideas. The first type is simply a comic strip which sums up a scenario. I used a cartoon strip creation tool from toondoo.com for the comics. It is a quick ideation tool and is more expressive than the hand drawn scenarios from last week.

TITLE: PillowTalk
FUNCTIONALITY: Presence indicator only
KEY: Built into a piece of jewelry i.e. a ring so that the device is only set off by Sally, but she doesnt have to worry about carrying around a key.
DESCRIPTION: Sally has gone off to university, and Amy is her mum. Sally is in at strange hours and Amy often cant get through to her on the phone. She has bought a version of the 'uniSense' called 'PillowTalk'. This can sense when Amy is in her room, and notifies her mum. It utilises 'passive sensing', so Amy doesn't have to do anything to set of the device.
USE: It can be used to let Sally's mum know that she is home safely, or even when the right time is to call.

TITLE: The Clock

LOCATION: Indoors-not separated by a large distance. 

Idea was sparked by user through interaction with paper prototype. It has been taken to a speciality concept: what if what seems to be a short distance to fully mobile people (bedroom-kitchen) is  large distance for less mobile people.

KEY: There is no key

DESCRIPTION: Peter is unable to walk and he has lost his voice so finds it hard to communicate with his mum who is downstairs. This short distance would not have been much when peter was well. His mum has a portable device that lets him know when she is available to communicate with (it only works when she is at home). Note: It may be possible for it to know her location in the house so that peter knows where she is so he feels 'connected to her' and less lonely. Peter is able to tell her if he's hungry.

PROBLEMS: Technically achievable through other means i.e. text messaging, but presence indicator is not.

USE: Communication between mother and child separated by distance.

TITLE: 'Teddy Share'

LOCATION: Portable & Domestic.

KEY: No key

DESCRIPTION: Parent can connect with child at their bedtime, and have the object tell stories/play music etc.

PROBLEMS: Difficulties transmitting sound over xBee. Would have to use pre-recorded sound data which could be equally valuable as they could just use a telephone if they wanted to.

USE: Feeling of connection between parent and child. Could also implement a night-light

TITLE: ShareChair

LOCATION: Domestic i.e. front room

DESCRIPTION: Two users can have watch TV together and share reactions via a reaction dial or similar device. There would be the sense of presence.

CONTEXT: Could be used between siblings if one is studying abroad to watch their favourite TV show together

PROBLEMS: Needs to be very intuitive and not feel clunky

TITLE: Collaboration

LOCATION: Corporate

FUNCTION: Allowing professionals with time differences to be aware of when their business partners are at work, and therefore when they are available for communication and collaboration

PROBLEMS: How to communicate in a valuable way