design fiction project: a wearable tool for seamless and secure access
Caroline David, Alexandra Rempe and Laura Wilson
this project began with an exploration of the items we carry in our pockets.
considering the way in which these items have changed in the past ten years (think smartphones and ID swipe cards), the near future of these items could look drastically different.
building on the concept of wearable technology, we designed a simple access ring which can act as a one-touch digital key.
working in the practice of design fiction (also called speculative fiction), we worked to build a looks-like prototype which helps to tell a story to convey the use of this near-future product.
in order to convey what this product does, it was important to include simple visual feedback to indicate that the ring is granting the user access to a secure space.
the simplest way to represent that was with an LED light powered by a 3V hearing aid battery.
the ring was rapidly prototyped using SOLIDWORKS and a MakerBot 3D printer. the main design constraint was getting the battery to fit into the ring in a which allowed the LED to switch on and off.
finally, we chose how we wanted to tell the "story" of this product. because this was an exercise in design fiction, the presentation of the prototype had to accurately convey its use.
James Bond is an easily recognizable cultural icon, which means that most of the story is already in the name.
it's sleek, convenient, and discrete. James Bond uses it, and in the near future, you could be using it too.
THE 007 Secure access ring
