AppleKarts | Studio PSK

ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENCES
- Design is not just things. We experience the world around us in a myriad of forms, and design should be responsive to this, exploiting this fact to communicate ideas. By providing firsthand experiences, in the form of workshops, interactive installations and events, these projects aim to engage people in a ‘hands-on’ approach, bringing design to life, and as such combining a wide range of skills, ideas and opinions from all involved.

DIGITAL TOPOLOGY
- Knowingly or otherwise, we are immersed in a Digital Topology. We are surrounded by digital objects and electronics, and these have become an intrinsic, inescapable part of contemporary life at all levels. The projects in this category consider the current and future development of this landscape, and how digital technology can be used in a social, cultural and local way. Merging digital and non-digital elements, I aim to create subtle and creative alternatives for this technology, questioning (and breaking) the rules of the current digital paradigm.

FANTASTICAL
- These projects challenge the concept of what is (im)possible. Asking what we really know about reality, these designs are fantastical in their nature, but never frivolous or parodies. Taking design beyond its traditional role, I intend to show how it can be used to not only clarify, but to distort. Such speculative design can excite and stimulate, feeding our need for discovery and our imagination. The products in this category take us beyond our hopes for the future, making tangible our dreams of today.

Why do ‘apps’ need to be confined to the screen?

AppleKarts are small machines that use the audio output from an iPhone to make drawings. You can ‘draw’ your favourite song, or tell an Apple Kart what to draw by singing to it.

The AppleKarts were exhibited live in Il Compasso Di Latta, La Triennale di Milano, Milan. In this demonstration, members of the public were invited to drive an AppleKart by making music with a toy trumpet.

The sound is recorded on the iPhone using the built-in audio recording software, or an existing song can be used. The iPhone is then nested inside the AppleKart, where the sound is played, and in turn controls the Kart drawing out a visual representation of the sound or song.

Research Collaborators:

Dr Jon Rogers, Head of Product Design Masters, University of Dundee.

Pete Thomas, Director of Uniform.

Elio Caccavale, Product Design, Glasgow School of Art.

Michael Shorter, Product Design Researcher, University of Dundee.