Connecting Cameras : Putting a New Twist on Connected Consumer Electronics

• Main Author: Gaunt, Kevin
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Umeå universitet, Designhögskolan vid Umeå universitet 2016
• Subjects: Connected Products; Physical-Digital Interaction Design
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-126477

Camera makers are now increasingly adding WiFi chips to cameras to make transferring photos to smartphones or computers easier. At the same time this new technology brings on the opportunity to rethink what a connected camera could be and how it might shape our relationship with these devices. As the features in our consumer cameras start to move beyond physical constraints of the device itself, we will rely more on the device’s inherent character to make sense of it. Through multiple workshops, experiments, mockups and prototypes I explored a set of alternative characters and concepts for our digital consumer cameras and ultimately give an example of how a playful camera might inspire us to look at ourselves and the world around us with new eyes.  The resulting provocation is KOPPLA, a prototype of an Internet-connected camera that treats its owners as a creative collective. It offers inspiring creative challenges at the touch of a button. These challenges come from other camera owners in the collective, from local communities or from organizations interested in gathering personal perspectives. The final design aims to provoke new ideas for what the industry considers a connected camera to be. In that sense, as a connecting rather than connected camera, KOPPLA goes beyond offloading photographs to a smartphone or the Internet – instead connecting its owners to new places, people and ideas.