Last Friday, we were joined for another inspiring talk about collisions of physical and digital. One of this year’s graduate residents, Josh Barnes discussed hisCommunication Quilt; a project combining augmented reality technologies with traditional crafts in order to create a warm, physically comforting way to communicate digitally with family and friends. Read on to find out more...

Josh told us that he comes from a maker's background, and had grown up spending a lot of time on the pottery wheel. His house was always packed full of objects that were all brimming with their own unique histories. Josh has always connected objects with people, attaching different family members with the furniture/ornaments that spark memories of them. When he first arrived at Brighton University to study 3D design, Josh told us he was unaware of the clear lines drawn between disciplines. This seems to have stood him in good stead for approaching design and digital technology in an interesting and multidisciplinary manner. University taught him that design was not purely about aesthetic and functionality, but also about sustainability, well-being, process, material and increasingly about how to wrangle with advancements in digital technology. He drank in books and articles about Critical Design and Post-Digital Design, and has become fascinated by the philosophy and ethics surrounding contemporary design.

Josh is drawn to objects, which aid communication between people in ways which are both staunchly traditional (storytelling through quilt-making), and new and playful, such as Tweenbot, a post-digital robot designed to trundle its way around New York, using human assistance.

Technology is a way to rediscover human nature, to push our most traditional buttons and also new ones we did not know we had, to make humans tick in a novel way.’
Paola Antonelli – Talk To Me: Communication Between People and Objects

Josh admires the principles of Critical Design, which uses speculative design proposals to challenge narrow assumptions, preconceptions and givens about the role products play in everyday life. He agrees that a lot of modern design has not quite kept relevant to our rapidly changing needs. Digital clichés are multiplying at an alarming rate, and clever design avoids these as much as possible. Many designers are experiencing a revitalized appreciation for analogue, and romantic notions of the physical. Josh finds it important to stay informed of these continually evolving movements and discussions, and feels rather responsible to do so, as he is of the generation that nursed social media from the young MSN Messenger to the unstoppable forces that are Twitter and Facebook. He believes that many of his generation, having grown up in the eye of the internet storm, feel a strange responsibility for harnessing the power of digital technology to change the world for the better, and not letting it get out of control.

Whilst at University, Josh discovered AR (augmented reality) technology, which is able to scan a real time image captured in a device like a phone, and to either add a virtual layer of information to that image on a screen (a dinosaur standing in Trafalgar Square) or to trigger other information (like a video or a message). This technology enables design experiences to exist between two worlds. The first examples Josh saw of the use of this technology was ‘to layer adverts on top of adverts’, but he saw a lot of creative potential in its use and so started experimenting with the technology using AR software, Aurasma.

Whilst Josh’s Dad was in hospital, nurses there encouraged the family to bring in an object that would make the place feel more like home. The family brought in one of their quilts, and Josh noticed the profound effect that this object’s association with home and family had on the atmosphere of the room. He had a bit of a eureka moment when he realised that quilts are traditionally made up of bold geometric patterns, which are a perfect platform for the use of AR technology. Josh had told us that quilts tell stories; the making of them spans a large chunk of someone’s life, and they are made up of scraps belonging to different people at different times. The thought of imbuing these special objects with even more information really excited him. Here the penny dropped to make a 21st Century magic quilt for kids, which allowed them not only to be reminded of their families by this colourful, comforting object, but also to directly communicate with them. This quilt could be used to comfort and engage children who are spending a lot of time in hospital or away from their parents.

Josh took his idea to the Royal Alexander Hospital playgroup specialists, to discuss what children really need in these sorts of situations. They loved the idea, as it allows children to play and rest at the same time, and to have a project to work on while they’re in hospital. The discussion gave him a lot to think about, in terms of types of play, hygiene and inclusivity of the product. The first polished prototype had two sides with two different functions. One side is a sort of colouring-in quilt, where a child can use washable fabric pens to decorate trees and animals. The other is a bright composition of fabric animals that you can scan with a mobile device in order to call up images, videos and messages. Each animal on the quilt is representative of a friend or family member, who can upload content whenever they like. This content can then be explored and discovered by the quilt’s owner. There are other possibilities for quilts to become loaded with information in a similar way; one of Josh’s early ideas involved a self-reflection quilt that you can use as a sort of diary or sketchbook. He is also considering ways in which to allow for two-way communication using the quilt.

This is not the only project in which Josh has explored this kind of technology; his Shadow Bench project is a wonderful example of his playful and thoughtful approach to AR. Josh had said earlier on in the talk that on a trip to a Milan design museum, he saw a vast quantity
of chairs that you couldn’t sit on, and he vowed never to make a chair. Ironically, after vowing never to make an chair that you can't sit on, he made a bench that you can't sit on (when prototyped in wood). Despite this, here is a bench with a difference, and the idea behind it holds heaps of potential. Having always been intrigued by memorial benches, Josh decided to explore the possibility of augmenting a memorial bench. He designed a bench that could be used as a sundial and also as a way to access information. By using Shadows, a piece of software developed to aid the calculation and drawing of sundials, Josh designed the bench’s structure so that it cast different shadows on different days due to the changing path of the Sun. Scanning these shadows on different days would unlock hundreds of different snippets of information about the person honours, in the form of writing, photographs or videos. This project allows information to remain special. Many of us are used to getting instant access to information. The kind of excitement that we may have once felt whilst looking through an old photo album or diary (of which there is only one) is diminishing because of this. Josh’s bench could keep a photograph, which may be very special to someone, locked away all year round except for one day, where there will be an opportunity to discover/rediscover it; it is a beautiful concept, and could allow information more dignity than we currently give it. The project is also a striking balance of both digital (AR) and ancient (sundial) technologies.

Whilst carrying out his residency at the Studio, Josh will be developing his Augmented Reality Quilt project and seeing where it takes him. He wants to work with illustrators and animators in order to create augmented experiences, and to ‘bring the quilt to life’. He also wants to address ethical and practical issues concerned with the quilt, such as how it would be manufactured and how inclusive the technology can be. He also wants to explore the question of whether this kind of technology really does bring people closer together, or whether it promotes distance. After its R & D phase and much user-testing, he will be looking to put his project onto Kickstarter
We are looking forward to seeing Josh’s project unfurl while he’s here.