Collect / Clips - Amina Abbas-Nazari

Collect / Clips

If Objects Could Speak...
Self Initiated
2009
Badge ME
Self Initiated
2009
Mirror, Mirror
Self Initiated
2009
These first three projects were completed during my final year at University,
all broadly centered around the theme of identity.
They look at how we portray ourselves and how we are perceived, through
the objects we own, the music we listen to and finally our personal
appearance.

If Objects Could Speak...

Initial Investigations:
If Objects Could Speak...
“Don’t overlook an heirlooms potential genealogical value. Your
ancestors belongings can illustrate their tastes, social status
and the time period they lived in.”
– Allison Stacy, Family Tree Magazine editor.
Initially I proposed a service called Heirloom Memories which would be offered as part of
funeral care to people who were preparing for death, to start a dialogue into these issues. I
also investigated how we might put an actual price on sentimental value.

Primary Research: Interviews
If Objects Could Speak...
In interviews possessions were used as a vehicle to facilitate
the recalling of memories about people, places, events etc.
Interview excerpt. Object: 1 Toman (Iranian currency) Piece.
“I moved to England from Iran in 1972 when I was 19 years old. Before
I left for England my Great Grandma gave me some money. By this time
she was already very old and probably hadn’t been shopping in about 20
years. She gave me a 1 Toman piece. She was too old to understand that
because of inflation the penny was worth nothing, even in Iran. At that
time probably the equivalent of about 1/15 English pence. I remember her
telling me how I was not to spend it all at once! I’ve always kept the penny
though, safe in a drawer. It reminds me of my Great Grandma and when I
came to England. She lived to be very old. Over 100 years.”

Technology:
If Objects Could Speak...
I originally investigated using Bone Conduction Technology to
allow objects to ‘speak’. I later decided the use Radio Frequency
Identification would be more appropriate for the devices design.
Bone conduction is the conduction of sound to the inner
ear through the bones of the skull and is a very simple
technology. A bone conduction speaker can be constructed
from a rubber over-moulded piezoelectric flexing disc.
This technology is used for some hearing aids, ears-free
headsets or headphones and other specialised applications.
The sound produced seems to come from inside the user’s
head, but can be surprisingly clear and crisp.
I deconstructed a Hasbro ‘tooth tunes’ toothbrush that uses
bone conduction technology to play music while children
brush their teeth. Inside was a circuit board connected to a
small diaphragm that vibrated as the music played. When
this vibrating disc was pressed against my head I could hear
the music. I then strapped it to my hand and put my finger in
my ear, again I could hear the music clearly.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) Tags are like advanced
forms of barcodes. Each RFID tag has a unique ID number
that it transmits. This means when they are attached or
implanted in objects that object can then take on that
unique identity. They make it possible to identify and
track almost any physical object. The tags can already be
purchased quite cheaply making it possible for them to be
utilised by the general public.
I attended a Tinker It! course to gain some practical
knowledge of physical computing, Arduino, processing and
incorporating RFID technology, to help me with designing
this product.

If objects could speak...
What would they say? And how could this become reality?
Utilising radio frequency identification( RFID) this device
allows the narrative of our lives to be told through the objects
we own and the memories associated with them. Memories
about the objects (embedded with RFID tags) and their owners
can be recorded and played back using the device and then
also updated as new memories are formed.
The device is intended to create a different way of preserving
and cataloguing information about our family history and
ourselves, that can live on after we die, to be passed to future
generations.
The project explores potential uses for RFID technology and
was the result of investigation into subjects including oral
history, ubiquitous computing, sentimental value, heirlooms
and memory preservation.

Semantics:
If Objects Could Speak...
I wanted the device to be an impressive and striking object in its
own right. Something that people will take care of, respect and
be inclined to display, not hide away.
Sound:
The cone is based on the form of gramophones. When the device is in ‘play’
mode it symbolises the amplification of the sound recording belonging to
the object. When the device is in ‘record’ mode it signifies how the sound
is being taken in and compressed so that it can be stored in the device. It
also has connotations of nostalgia and antiquity.
RFID:
RFID is a wireless, intangible, technology and because of this it can take
on almost any form. I created a graphic that borrows from existing icons
for wireless technology and combined it with a diagram of a family tree to
describe the device’s function (left). This pattern was then laser cut into
the top of the corian base.
Illustration -
“A Graphic Language for
Touch” by Timo Arnall

Additional Information:
Brass Cone:
Audio In / Audio Out
Corian Base:
Houses data storage and RFID reader
On - Off - On Toggle Switch:
Play - Off - Record
If Objects Could Speak...
After this project was featured on the Fast Company website
described as “Scrapbooking, for the RFID age” I was contacted by
Linda Fantin at The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah -
“I read about your RFID device and found the idea fascinating
especially as it relates to my passion - scrapbooking and
memory preservation. I would like to learn more about your
idea and write about it in my monthly scrapbooking column
in The Salt Lake Tribune, a newspaper in Utah, the epicenter
of modern scrapbooking. (Members of the Mormon faith are
encouraged to document their family histories, fueling the
past-time’s popularity).”
I found this feedback very interesting as it made me view my project
in a new light and consider different ways the device my be used by
different people.

Badge ME

Badge ME
Socket for
headphone
jack
Show off your music, not your music player.
Scrolling dot
matrix LCD
screen
Skip Track
Forward
Applications and websites like www.last.fm exist as social
networking tools that bring listeners of the same types of
music together.
Badge ME is a tangible, mobile version of www.last.fm,
bringing this digital interaction into the real world. It
connects between your mp3 player and your headphones to
reveal the song you are listening to.
If Badge ME was manufactured I would be interested to
see peoples reactions to it and also their behaviors when
using the product. Would people be more inclined to start
conversation with strangers knowing they listen to similar
music? Would people change their playlist according to
their environment or the people they are surrounded by, or
even what they are wearing?
Volume Up
Volume Down
Skip Track
Back
Wire to MP3
player

Context:
Now Listening -
As part of this project I interviewed people about their favourite songs verses their guilty
pleasure tracks, which would be disclosed for everyone to see as a result of wearing the badge.
Jamie Rachael
Sea of Love -
Cat Power
/
Step Back in Time -
Kylie Minogue
Juliet Nikki
America -
Razorlight
/
Bat Out of Hell -
MeatLoaf
Badge ME
Research suggests the types of music we listen to can be a good
indication of our personalities, other interests and disposition.
Often when you meet new people the subject of what music
you like is one of the first topics of conversation and it creates
bonds between people with similar interests.
These Streets -
Paolo Nutini
/
Poker Face -
Lady Ga Ga
In for the Kill -
La Roux
/
Claire De Lune -
Debussy

Mirror, Mirror
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the
fairest of them all?”
- from the story of Snow White

Initial Investigations :
How is cosmetic surgery changing?
How will cosmetic surgery effect and be affected by human
behaviour as technology develops?
Mirror, Mirror
Originally I proposed, what if the household name brand Braun provided cosmetic surgery,
taking their current catalogue of beauty and grooming products to an extreme. Perhaps as
medical technology evolves it will become more affordable and therefore more commonplace.

Physiognomy is the reading of a person’s character or
personality from their physical appearance, especially
the face.
Recent research shows evidence that people’s faces
can indicate such traits as trustworthiness, social
dominance and aggression. It is also suggested you and
your personality determine your own facial appearance
as you age - facial bones are eroded and facial muscles
are built up by the expressions that we habitually
display.
In these computer-generated images, the emotionally
neutral face in the middle has been morphed to show
the typical characteristics that make a face look more or
less trustworthy and dominant.
Illustration by Professor Alexander Todirov, Princeton
University. Trends in Cognitive Sciences (Vol. 12, P. 455).
Mirror, Mirror
Development Research:
Dr. Stephen Marquardt created a mask of the ‘perfect’
face calculated using the golden ratio. The template
is known to be used by plastic surgeons to map out
patients features and suggest how to adjust them.

Mirror, Mirror
What if when we looked in the mirror it gave us feedback, similar
to that of standing on the bathroom scales?
This mirror analyses your face using recognition technology and
cross-references it with collated data to give quantified readings
about your appearance. For example, It can give a measurement
not only of beauty, but a reading of trustworthiness or describe
how aggressive you are.
Consciously and subconsciously we make judgements based on
personal appearance about ourselves and others. On a primary
level we asses factors like attractiveness and interpret emotions
but research suggests our character can also be evaluated from
our facial appearance.
With this kind of data about ourselves being more freely
calculated and communicated it may pressure people to have
cosmetic surgery now, not only to make them more attractive, but
also to hide or highlight certain attributes.

Tina
For Habitat
2008
Cascade_09
Multidisciplinary Group Design Project run by onedotzero and D&AD
2009
Helen Storey MBE Exhibition
Working with KIN Design for Helen Storey and London College of Fashion
2010
These three projects were produced for external briefs.
‘Tina’ marks where my cross-over from furniture design to interaction design
began, to become my main focus of attention for my work.
The following two projects gave me the chance to collaborate in
multidisciplinary groups, working on interaction design briefs.

Tina

Tina
In order to keep Tina’s light on you must give the lamp
continued attention.
To wake up Tina adjust its position and the light will come
on for 20 minutes, after which it will turn itself off. Adjust
it again to turn it on for another 20 minutes. Intended as
a gentle reminder of time passing as you work, it will also
ensure the lamp is only kept on when needed.
Asked by Habitat to design a piece of domestic lighting
constructed primarily from paper, this table lamp named
Tina, is based on packaging nets and the form of a
concertina.
When Tina is moved or adjusted it will hold that position
due to the wire structure in the folds of the lamp. The
top can also be opened allowing the light to spill out
increasing the brightness.
20
20
20

Cascade_09
Six day multidisciplinary design project.
I was selected to take part in a multidisciplinary
group design project run by D&AD and onedotzero.
We were asked to ‘re-imagine the city’ for a project
that was an experiment into the design process
and how different design disciplines work and work
together.
We gave a presentation of our concepts and
ideas at BFI, Southbank to members of the public
and design industry as part of the onedotzero
adventures in motion festival.

‘Re-imagine the city’ outcome.
Our group developed a concept were people could
customise the noise their oyster card makes when they
touch in / out to describe their taste in music. This would
then create a soundscape at tube stations to reflect the
type of people that were travelling through it.
Cascade_09

Helen Storey MBE Exhibition

Helen Storey MBE Exhibition
‘From Fashion to Science. 1985 - 2010’.
Working at KIN Design, we were asked by London College of
Fashion to design, construct and install an exhibition for the
fashion designer Helen Storey, in celebration of her recently
awarded MBE.
In-between four televisions that showed a retrospective of Helen
Storey’s work, we folded origami panels from tracing paper
with polypropylene supports, that fitted together to form a 3D
structure. The structure was lit from behind with colour changing
LED’s and grew out from the walls at a space in King’s Place,
King’s Cross, where the exhibition was held.
In addition we also created a DVD showing a collection of Helen
Storey’s work that was held in a CD case handmade from folded
origami for guests to take home with them.

Mapping Oral History
For the GeoVation Challenge organised by Ordnance Survey
2010
Freesheets
Self Initiated, intended for Art on the Underground
In Progress
100th_Monkey_Movement
Self Initiated
Ongoing
The final three projects are concepts I have been working on recently and
reflect ideas that I am currently interested in. They are still in early stages
of development. They investigate how the internet is affecting peoples’
behaviour, blending the virtual and real worlds and encouraging real world
interactions / experiences via digital stimuli.

Mapping Oral History

Mapping Oral History
Local social networking through oral history.
This website concept utilises digital mapping, allowing users
to tag locations and leave recorded messages / memories /
stories about that area. This website offers people the chance
to give a personal view of the places they have lived and been,
building both a current and historical perspective, that can be
catalogued and then heard by other people, tourists, visitors
and possibly future generations.
Also preconceived to make users more aware of their
neighbours and encourage interaction between members of
the same community within a digital space, hopefully being
mirrored in the real world.
This concept was devised for the GeoVation challenge,
organised by Ordnance Survey. The brief was to explore
innovative ways to use digital geographical information.
Oral history is the recording, preservation and interpretation of
historical information, based on the personal experiences and
opinions of the speaker.

Freesheets
A newspapers readership is around three times it’s circulation figure.

Freesheets
“The web lets us all be publishers” - Russell Davies,
Newspaper Club
The web allows people to contribute their own content to
it through a variety of mediums including blogs and twitter
etc. And this kind of behaviour is becoming increasingly
popular. Freesheets is intended to be deployed on London
Underground to enable an analogue, real world experience
of this activity.
The average newspapers’ readership is about three times
it’s circulation figure. Freesheets will highlight this subtle
interaction between public transport passengers while
also promoting it. People will be encouraged to contribute
their personal news / views / adverts to freesheets, then
leave it behind for the next person to do the same, building
“localised” content in real-time. Conversations can be
continued online using the #Freesheets hashtag.
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Text
Advertisement
Image
Newspaper Information
- Freesheets, modelled on the Evening Standard

100th
Monkey
Effect
is
a
supposed
phenomenon
in
which
a
learned
behavior
spreads
instantaneously
from
one
group
of
monkeys
to
all
related
monkeys
once
a
critical
number
is
reached.
By
generalization
it
paranormal
spreading
of
an
idea
or
ability
to
the
remainder
of
a
population
once
a
certain
portion
of
that
population
has
heard
of
the
new
idea
or
learned
the
new
instantaneous,
means
the
ability.
100th_Monkey_Movement
Illustrations in collaboration with Daniel Haddock

100th_Monkey_Movement
Secret Cinema - Lawrence of Arabia:
I spent some time working for Secret Cinema, which also influenced
this project.
All of Secret Cinema’s promotion, hype and communication with
audience members happens through digital means. They have a very
strong online presence and members of their community are asked
to carry out certain tasks for film screenings. For example, they’re
asked to dress up accordingly and bring props, but for this film they
also had to group themselves into ‘tribes’ according to where they live
in London, which in turn created online and real world interactions.
People displayed their ‘tribe markings’ on their social network profiles
to link with other people who were in the same tribe as them. They
were then encouraged to display their tribe markings when traveling
to the film screening and group together once at the location. Visitors
seemed really excited at the chance to act out of the norm and be part
of this collective ‘secret’ immersive experience.

100th_Monkey_Movement
Concept for a social experiment investigating the potential of
social networking to affect people’s behavior and blending the
real with the virtual.
This project relates to ideas like “flash mobs” and “guerilla
gardening” whereby people come together via digital means to
perform collective actions in the real world. Also partly inspired
by the subject of “serious gaming” and secret societies.
The concept involves building a progressive digital community
of at least 100 people, who every week are sent a message of
a task they are to perform in the real world. Reinforced by the
100th monkey theory and the belief that at least 100 other
people are performing that same task during the same week
they feel as though they are having a positive effect on the
behavior of the whole of society.
A big incentive for the experiment is to purposely disrupt
people’s daily routine and give them an excuse to act slightly
out of the norm. A small challenge for the week that will give
them a bit of variation to what they do day after day. They may
see it as a game they are playing with people around them, like
they know something others don’t.

Example task and how it might be communicated.
The tasks may be activities that people always have good
intentions to do but never manage to get around to or lack
motivation to carry out. They will be decided on collectively by
the self-governing, online community of 100th Monkeys.
100th_Monkey_Movement

Amina Nazari
www.aminanazari.com
info@aminanazari.com
0794 662 3551