Soft communication

Stitchories, by Katherine Wakid from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, is a digital quilt—a cotton blanket with a built-in computer that can upload photos and record spoken narratives. The design combines technology and craft to encourage communication between teens and their elders.

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Via ID online.

Made me think of Hella Jongerius‘s My Soft Office that she developed in 2001 for the exhibition Worksperes at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. My Soft Office explores the workplace of the future and the role of designers to develop effective solutions for the changing demands of working conditions.

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The key piece of Jongerius’ installation was Bed in Business: a double bed that also functions as a desk. Monitors are fixed at the end, one pillow was turned into a mouse and another into a speaker. Jongerius also designed a keyboard with an inbuilt snack plate.

Related: Undercover, by Dana Gordon and Alejandro Zamudio Sanchez, can be wirelessly connected to any source of audio allowing you to listen to your favourite music or radio station; blankets a gogo in Blanket stories.