Project Overview

People commonly need to transfer data between one another when collaborating on a project. At present, this is often done virtually by sending data as email attachments, or by uploading assets (such as documents or pictures) to a shared network drive or file hosting service such as Dropbox. However, this can be a cumbersome process, as it often requires communicating and forming a data-sharing strategy with your collaborators. This is particularly tiresome in the case where you just want to share a quick sketch with a colleague sitting in the same space. Couldn't data transfer be as simple as tossing someone a ball? This was the inspiration for the Idea Sponge, a tangible device to simplify the data-sharing process in a co-located space. 

Approach

Pressed against a surface, a sponge can be used to soak up fluids. In this train of thought, I explored the idea of using this as a metaphor for 'soaking-up' digital data from a surface or device, and later releasing the data somewhere else by squeezing it. Better yet, we could even throw the Idea Sponge to another person working in the same room as a fun, fast and physical way to transfer data. To explore this concept, I created a prototype using Sifteos, as they were wireless and small enough to be embedded in a real sponge. They could also register different gestures, such as a 'pressing' and 'shaking.' 

Results

The result was a functional prototype  built in WPF/C# and Xamarin, using Sifteos. Although the concept was designed with all forms of data in mind, the final prototype focused on enabling someone to make a digital sketch, "pick it up" with a Sifteo cube, and later "shake it out" so it would appear on another device.

Course

Completed as a Semester 1 Project Course in Interactive Media at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria.

Themes

Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs), Data Transfer, Creative Collaboration

Skills & Technologies

Sifteos, WPF/C#, Xamarin, Interaction Design