Have you ever said "yes" to mean 'certainly not'? How often does "no, it's fine" mean that it most certainly isn't-bloody-fine? Tone of voice can often communicate much more than the words that we're saying, and it's a crucial part of being a good conversational partner. But most people that use speech synthesis don't have any control over their tone of voice, a frequent cause of misunderstandings and assumptions of emotional or intellectual impairment. How might we restore some control to them? Six Speaking Chairs by Graham Pullin & Andrew Cook is a project that explores this question through some radical and unashamedly ridiculous interfaces. 

Even more than being about speech, though, this is a project about interaction design. It takes a complex design challenge as a starting point and uses it as an excuse to test ideas about form and interaction, materiality and perception, borrowing from Dieter Rams, Kenya Hara, Naoto Fukasawa and Zen Buddhism - amongst many others. For this lunchtime talk, Andrew Cook will introduce the project and discuss the ideas that lie at its heart, and continue to define his work across interaction, product and graphic design.

This Lunchtime Talk is part of Open Studio Friday, which takes place at the Studio every week.

Do you want to find out what is going on at the Pervasive Media Studio? Are you interested in meeting our residents, talking about a specific project or curious about pervasive media? Why not pack a sandwich and join us for one of our Lunchtime Talks and Open Studio Friday.

Lunchtime Talks are informal presentations by Studio residents and associates. They normally take place at 1pm on Friday, are free and open to everybody who’s interested in what we do.

After the Talk, we also invite you to stay with us for the afternoon to continue the conversation or work on your own projects. We provide chairs, tables, wireless and a great space. You bring what you need to work with (laptop/mobile). Our open afternoons close at 5pm.

Let us know if you’d like a tour of the space and we'll be happy to show you around. Send an email to admin@pmstudio.co.uk