My new startup:-)
www.flyingfrom.to

Electric car Co-Leasing for the city commuter. A service-design project at CIID. Together with Andrew Spitz & Manas Karambelkar.

The Brief
In partnership with Volvo, we were tasked to design a service and experience prototype around cars.

The Problem
The world has shifted from being a majority rural to a majority urban. With this, cities are getting denser and very expensive to live in. Therefore, much of a city’s workforce is living in suburbs. These people commute to work in cities every day from long distances and Copenhagen is no exception to this. This creates congested city centers and higher pollution levels. The cars remain idle during work hours and are not used to their fullest capacity – taking up space.

Design Question
How can we free the city centers of cars and lighten the pollution levels by using the downtime of cars?

The Service Solution
DropCar offers a solution for people living outside Copenhagen to own a car on an affordable lease and share it with the public services while they are at work.

Workers use the Park & Ride system, where they leave they car at a DropCar free parking at the train station, and take the train into the city. While they are at work, the public services have access to the car. With this shared system, the amount of cars needed in the pooling system of the public system is brought down to the bare minimum and less cars need to be produced and serviced.

Our mission
- Promoting the switch to electric cars and the usage of Park & Ride systems.
- Embracing co-operation between People & Government.
- Offering a networked service for the rural areas.
- Minimize the amount of cars on our little planet by maximizing their use during downtime.

Benefits to the user:
By using DropCar, you make it cheaper and easier for the municipality to do their job, so it makes sense that the users receive benefits.

- No huge initial investment to own a car.
- No need to worry about insurance and maintenance.
- No extra fuel costs.
- Complete ownership of the car during your time.
- Free parking and train rides to workplace.
- Benefits to the municipality:
- No huge initial investment for developing and maintaining a fleet of cars.
- Social responsibility.
- Build a rapport with the people of your municipality.

Experience Prototyping
We went through several iterations of the concept through experience prototyping of various touchpoints of the service.

Our first experiment was to simulated the experience of having one’s car used by someone else during work hours by having others use it during the day. We simulated the whole welcome pack and signup process. As a first prototype, we used bicycles instead of cars.

We ran a simulation of the whole service by renting a car, picking a worker up, have him drop himself at work then we brought the car to a public servant for him to use the car to do his job during the day. We also sent push notifications to each party to test the communication.

Project Details
Team: Manas Karambelkar, Markus Schmeiduch, Andrew Spitz
Duration: 4 weeks
Course: Service Design
Faculty: Chris Downs, Rory Hamilton, John Lynch, Alix Gillet-Kirt

This project is connecting two Copenhagen neighborhoods using the old maritime technology of SignalLamps, combined with the modern network layer of twitter messages.

The aim of this urban intervention was to connect the two sides of the harbor, that are geographically close but still feel disconnected. Furthermore, it showcases how communication between remote locations was achieved in the past, in the context of Copenhagen’s maritime culture.

The installation has a graphical user interface to allow users to type their message. An Arduino is translating the message into Morse code and transmits the signals using old maritime signal-lamps. The same interface is placed on the receiving side, which serves to decode and display the messages.

Each of the two SignalLamp stations has its own twitter account so people can follow the conversations between the two harbor sides online. User from around the world can also use twitter to send a new morse-code-message by an @reply to one of the Copenhagen SignalLamps and broadcast their message into the harbor.

#CPHsignals is a fully functional prototype and was successful in provoking interactions between the two sides while exhibited in the Copenhagen harbor. The SignalLamps were kindly sponsored by maritime-antiques.dk and special thx @ Sebastian Schuster for his Dev Support.

A project together with Ana Catharina Marques and Kostantinos Frantzis for the Systems & Layers class at CIID. Faculty: Adam Greenfield & Engin Ayaz.

Update 1 – the press coverage

Wired UK
c net
designboom
Creative Applications

Update 2 – We did an Interview for the CreatorsProject Brasil. Here the english transcript.

######

How and why you came up with the idea for CHPsignals?

This project was developed during a course called System and Layers at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. The course was about the different layers that cities have and how the inhabitants are connecting or interacting with these layers. Different kinds of interaction can transform the way a city is perceived. So, we started to analyze which layers the city of Copenhagen has and one of the most visible and strongest layer of Copenhagen is the harbor.

The city is rounded by water, this geographic conditional determined the way that the city was developed and the way that the population moves around the city. On the same way, this conditional separate parts of the city that is visually connected but physically inaccessible because the existing bridges are located far apart. The Opera house and the Royal theater are two of the biggest landmarks in Copenhagen and only about 300m away from each other. But it would take 17-18 minutes to reach the other side with a bike for example.

Following these research the idea to connect the edges of the harbor with some sort of communication-system appeared. Nowadays, old historic ships still are very present in the harbor of Copenhagen. That was the point were we started to be highly interest to combine the old and the new. Our project was a way to rescue the old maritime communication way towards a modern digital urban society.

How does it connect the iPad with the spotlight and how the text is converted to the morse code shown messages sent using lights?

The user types a message on the Ipad interface we made. When they send the message, it gets uploaded on twitter on the transmitting sides account (either @chavn or @nyhavn). A small computer, located in the wooden case under the signal lamps, uses the Twitter API to retrieve that message and once it does, it sends it to an arduino board (also located in the wooden case). The arduino is programmed to break the message into a series of letters and spaces. Each letter is then converted to a series of dots or dashes (ie Morse code). Essentially a High-Low (or ON-OFF) voltage waveform is created. This waveform is then sent to a relay (an electrically operated switch) which turns on and off the signal lamps to transmit the morse code signal.

Are people really using this device to send messages? Do you think it could be helpful in other ways besides entertaining

Our installation was exhibited only for a short time. During that period people came by and where highly interested in discovering what it was and how it worked. People even used their smartphone to send messages for the Signal lamps after they left the installation.

For us, entertainment was just one layer of #CPHsignals. Our primary objective of the installation is to connect Copenhagen with its maritime history and give an insight as to how communication over distant locations was achieved in the past. The twitter layer was added as a comparison for people to see the differences, between old and new, the antique and modern. #CPHsignals can be viewed as a historical or educational tool while combining entertainment and aesthetics into the whole experience.

Could CHPsignals be adapted for other cities, like Rio de Janeiro, or São Paulo, for instance?

Yes, our project could be adapted in any city connecting places that feel disconnected. For example, in Rio de Janeiro the signal lamps could connect Urca and Pão de Açucar, or be around Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Brasilia can be another example, at Eixo Monumental there is a sequence os importants places for the city, they seem close, but because of the scale of the city they are far distance from each others, the signals lamps could be one one to connect then and transmit information about the places.

How do you feel about working with this two extremes ways of communication, morse code and twitter?

It was a challenging for us to come up with a solution for connecting both technologies. Twitter is in the same way limited as Morse Code was. Both systems were successful in using the cutting edge of technology of their time while having a simplified functionality that made it usable and successful.

Both systems are completing each other in our project. One part produces the message in a digital way to be saved and be accessible online, the other part translates and transmits the message in an analog and visible way that interferes with the landscape’s perception.

######

Most futurististic bicycle concepts concentrate on the bike itself but not the interaction between the bike & it’s rider. This concept is a result of an investigation into the possibilities and challenges of a bicycle-human hybrid.

A project for the performative design class at CIID. Together with Andrew Nip & Hideaki Matsui.

scenario
In a not-so-far future, fuel shortage and long-term financial instability has led to a shift in personal transportation. The main mode of transportation for most people now is the bicycle. Cars have become less common and are primarily used by the upper class. The ongoing environmental pollution and degradation has reached a point where it is safer to wear breathing masks and exposure to the environment needs to be monitored. In this future, the bicycle is now considered the ultimate symbol of an individual’s social status and expression.

The megacities have become breeding grounds for a number of bicycle-focused subcultures. One of these sub-cultures that has developed combines aspects of cyberpunk & DIY hardware-hacking with their personally modified bikes.

They call themselves BikeBorgs.

concept
BikeBorgs are physically connected to their bike. The connection enables the transferring of data & energy between the rider and the bicycle. The bike generates energy from the rider in the form of body heat & cycling power in order to create a self sustaining system.

Through the use of open-source hardware and software, BikeBorgs are able to modify their bicycles to include different sensors and actuators based on their individual needs. Modifications can include adding sensor to measure the level of pollutants that the individual has been exposed to or adding lights to enhance hand signals.

A selection of photos from and about Neukölln which are part of the KiezExplorer iPhone App. All photos were taken between September 2010 and April 2012.

Liberated airfield at Tempelhofer Park.

Semi-legal DJ Set at the Hasenheide.

Weserstraße is Neukölln’s main nightlife area. The Fuchs & Elster is a café during the day and turns into a club at night.

Located immediately next to Tempelhofer Park, Café Engels invites you with its Mediterranean atmosphere.

Seemingly endless green areas around the Flugfeld Tempelhof provide enough space for relaxing, barbecues and sports.

Photo studio at Weserstraße. Video interview with Brian.

Every first and third sunday the Flowmarkt Nowkölln attracts crowds to the canal bank.

The Hasenschänke in the middle of the Hasenheide. Good prices, very down-to-earth, a quiet great tavern.

The Ä at Weserstraße celebrates the alternative life.

Circus Lemke is a bar which attracts many people with its living room-like atmosphere.

Piano maker Helmut makes the rounds with his piano at Landwehrkanal.

The Landwehrkanal early in the morning, double exposed. In the evening a popular gathering area to enjoy the evening sun.

Sundays in Neukölln usually start at slow pace. Relaxing in front of Nathanja & Heinrich at Reuterkiez.

The sunday brunch at Sing Blackbird is the haunt of the fashion scene.

Generative Polaroids is a set of gesture controlled drawing tools to explore the possibilities of Microsoft Kinect and to produce generative prints. Using Kinect & Processing. A project for the Generative Design Class at ciid.dk. Taught by Joshua Noble & David Gauthier.

a concept by
Markus Schmeiduch (smeidu.com)
Signe Mårbjerg Thomsen

Our concept focuses on the visually impaired, and explores a device to improve their ability to discover and navigate through a city. This was part of a 36 hour project for the Copenhagen Institute of interaction Design (ciid.dk)

a concept by
ANDREW SPITZ (andrew-spitz.com)
MARKUS SCHMEIDUCH (smeidu.com)
RUBEN VAN DER VLEUTEN (rubenvandervleuten.com)

www.kiezexplorer.com – Learn more about Neukölln and about the creative wave making the neighborhood famous. See how beautiful Neukölln can be in this KiezExplorer Documentary.

Listen to my interview with the Techberlin Friday at Six podcast-show. I’m answering questions about KiezExplorer. Wahwah.fm and Barcoo are also part of the show.

Die OFFF ist mehr Festival als Konferenz. Mehr Hipster als Business-People. Überfüllter, aber billiger als vergleichbares. Sehr Inspirierend, aber auch anstrengend. Und überhaupt ist Barcelona der heimliche Headliner der OFFF.

OFFF 2011 = Hipster mit iPhones.

Leider ist das Festival dieses Jahr total überfüllt und man muss großteils lange warten um überhaupt in die Session-Räume zu kommen und dort angekommen die Präsentationen zumeist stehend verfolgen zu müssen.

John Burgerman spricht sehr unterhaltsam über seinen Umzug von England nach New York und die Work/Life Balance.

Nick Campbell hält eine motivierende Rede über die Realisierung der eigenen Träume (Kein Bild von Nick, aber idente Aussage)

Die großzügigen Pausen werden genützt um Barcelona zu entdecken.

PostPanic präsentieren die OFFF 2011 Main Titles

Headliner am letzten Tag ist Stefan Sagmeister. Er spricht über sein neues Film Projekt, in dem er dem “Glück” auf der Spur ist. Ein weiteres Highlight war die Präsentation von Aaron Koblin über DatenVisualierung.

Park Jardins de Laribal

Christopher Columbus zeigt in die Zukunft. Die OFFF 2011 & Barcelona waren ein gute Inspiration für die nächsten Schritte dahin.

Date: 2010-2011
Info: global branded YouTube channel for Allianz. Online Video Hub for the different Allianz Markets. Videos on the Allianz corporate websites are embedded via YouTube Video Player.
Client: Allianz AG
Project by: Knallgrau GmbH
My work: consulting, concept, workflow-management, communication with Google, launch-development, ongoing advice.

http://www.youtube.com/Allianz

In Berlin fand am 17-18. Mai die NEXT 2011 statt. Eine Konferenz über die Zukunft des Internets. Dieses Jahr mit dem Thema “DATA Love” oder warum Daten die neue Währung im digitalen Geschäft sind.

Wie in jedem Jahr hat man sich beim Veranstalter Sinner Schrader ein Thema ausgedacht, dass einen Leitgedanken der zukünftigen Entwicklung des Internets deutlich machen soll. Und kein Thema war in den letzten Monaten so präsent in den Massenmedien wie „Daten“, vor allem in Form der Diskussion um den Schutz unserer privater Daten (Stichwort Google StreetView & Facebook).

Diese in Europa etwas monoton geführte Debatte wurde auf der NEXT in Berlin um spannende neue Aspekte aufgelockert . Auf 6 Tracks aus den unterschiedlichsten Perspektiven von Branding über Commerce und Mobile bis hin zu Social und Technology wurde das Thema aus erfrischenden neuen Blickwinkeln behandelt.

Der ehemalige Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, hat vor kurzem Zahlen präsentiert, nachdem die Menschheit bis 2003 nur soviel Daten generiert hat, wie aktuell alle 2 Monate produziert werden. Unternehmen wie Facebook leben davon, dass ihre Plattformen von den Usern mit privaten Daten gefüttert werden, um diese in Form von Profildaten gepaart mit Werbung zu wahrem Geld werden zu lassen. Die Bewertung von Facebook liegt aktuell bei über 50 Milliarden Dollar.

Eines der Fundamente des neuen Daten-Zeitalters sind die von Amazon angebotene Cloud Computing Lösungen, auf der ein Großteil der neuen datenhungrigen Anwendungen aufsetzen. Amazon’s CTO Werner Vogels präsentierte in Berlin Lösungsansätze für die Anforderungen der Zukunft. Daten-Speicher und -Transfer ist so billig geworden, dass es nicht mehr nur Groß-Unternehmen vorbehalten ist, innovative Projekte zu stemmen, sondern es sind heute vor allem Start-Ups die Vorreiter sind. Man denke an DropBox.com, die die private Festplatte in der Cloud Realität werden haben lassen oder Soundcloud.com aus Berlin, die sich anschicken, legitimer Nachfolger von MySpace als Darling der Musik-Userschaft zu werden.

Der Claim „Daten sind das Erdöl der Zukunft“ wurde auf der Konferenz wiederholt verwendet. Andrew Keen, der sich selbst als Anti-Christ des Silicon Valleys betitelt, beschreibt in einer flammenden Rede das Ende jeglicher Privatsphäre. Er fordert eine “neue grüne Resistance“ als Gegenpol zu diesem „neuen Erdöl“, die den privaten Raum wieder zurück erobern soll.

Ein weiteres Google Zitat, dass auf der Konferenz verwendet wurde, stammt von Hal Varian, der voraussagt, dass Statistiker die „coolen Jobs von morgen“ sein werden. “Ich bleibe dabei, dass der Job von StatistikerInnen einer jener mit dem meisten “Sex-Appeal” der kommenden 10 Jahre sein wird. Und nein, ich scherze nicht.” Bereits heute suchen Größen wie IBM händeringend Spezialisten, die diese neue Flut an Daten sinnvoll verknüpfen und interpretieren können.

Oliver Reichenstein, ein in Tokio lebender Informations-Architekt, sprach in seiner Keynote-Speech davon, dass man weniger die Daten an sich lieben sollte, sondern vielmehr die Weisheit, die durch einen vernünftigen Umgang mit Daten entstehen kann. In Japan wurde beispielsweise ein unabhängiges Geigerzähler-Netzwerk etabliert und die Stadt Wien hat vor kurzem data.wien.gv.at gestartet. Damit können Bürger, Unternehmen und Kreative auf die, von der Stadtverwaltung, gesammelten Daten zugreifen und neue Anwendungen & Interpretationen entwickeln. Damit erhofft man sich Impulse für Demokratie und Wirtschaft.

Klar zu beobachten war, dass alle auf der NEXT präsentierten Erfolgs-Kampagnen und Start-Ups es gemein haben, dass die Community im Zentrum steht und der kollektive Partizipationsdrang die Formel des Erfolges ist. „Social Media“ ist daher weiter das bestimmende Modell.

Neben dem Themenschwerpunkt gab es aber auch sehr spannende Sessions zu Innovations-Projekten. Peter Vesterpacka, vom Hit-Spiel Angry Birds, präsentierte seine Vision eines multimedialen Intertainment Erlebnis. So soll kommendes Angry Birds-Spielzeug mit NFC Chips ausgestattet sein, um am mobilen Device Zusatz-Levels des Spiels freischalten zu können. Bertrand Duplat, von Volumique, stellte ein iPhone Game vor, bei dem man reale Spielfiguren auf die Touch-Screen Oberfläche positionieren kann und diese mittels Sensor erkannt werden um dadurch eine ganz neue Form von Brettspielen zu ermöglichen. Andrew Zolty, von Breakfastny.com, stellte kreative Agentur-Projekte im Bereich „The Internet of Things“ vor. So ließ die Agentur einen Zeppelin mit dem Show-Moderator Conan O’Brien aufsteigen, der laufend via Foursquare seinen Standort mitteilte und dadurch für Fans verfolgbar wurde oder schickte ein mit Sensoren vollgestopftes Fahrrad quer durch Amerika, dass via Twitter laufend seine aktuelle Verfassung auf unterhaltsame Weise mitteilte. Breakfast NY wurde vor kurzem von Mashable.com zur innovativsten Digital Agency gekürt.

Wie es sich für eine Internetkonferenz gehört, war ein Meer an Laptops & iPads omnipräsent und Twitter war das wichtigste Kommunikationsmedium mit dem man Fragen an die Sprecher stellen konnte, oder sich über die wichtigsten Inhalte der parallel ablaufenden Session informierte. Ein immer wiederkehrendes Gesprächsthema war auch Berlin als neues Start-Up-Mekka Europas. Firmen wie Etsy.com und Soundcloud.com sind bewusst nach Berlin gezogen, um von dortaus die Internationalisierung voranzutreiben.

Die NEXT ist im Vergleich zur anderen großen Internet-Konferenz Berlin’s, der Re:Publica, sicherlich die professionellere, mehr wirtschaftlich als kulturell orientierte. Die Event-Organisation war sehr gut: ausreichend Platz in den Session, gute Verpflegung mit Essen, ausreichend Pausen für Networking und ein professionelles Kamerateam für den Live-Stream. Die Sprecher Liste war sehr gut und das Publikum setzt sich gefühlt vor allem aus Vertretern der Agentur & Medienbranche zusammen.

Datenliebe bei der NEXT 11 bedeutet: 1.417 Besucher, 155 Sprecher, 41 Sessions und 11.240 Tweets (Stand 19.05.2011 um 15:00). Damit war die NEXT11 Trending Topic in Deutschland. Die Konferenz hat es jedenfalls verstanden, ihrem Namen gerecht zu werden und in den beiden Tagen in Berlin einen spannenden Denkanstoß für die Themen von morgen zu geben.

Die NEXT Konferenz im Internet: www.nextconf.eu.

——–

Ein Auszug dieses Artikels ist in der Ausgabe 26.05.2011 des Wirtschaftsblattes erschienen.

Oliver @iA Reichenstein talks about his iOS app iA Writer, which he developed at informationarchitects.jp. Watch the uncut 30 minutes version here: youtu.be/qPMsbRzF2tQ

Wenn man an den 1. Mai und Berlin-Kreuzberg denkt, kommen einem wohl zuerst Bilder von Straßenschlachten mit der Polizei in den Sinn. Die jährliche Demo fand dieses Jahr in Neukölln statt und 10.000 Menschen demonstrierten wohl so friedlich wie schon lange nicht mehr. In Kreuzberg selbst feierten gefühlt doppelt soviele ein wunderbares Straßenfest. Eindrücke davon als Video & Photoserie.

Update: Christian Lendl war ebenfalls in Berlin im Einsatz und hat den anderen Blickwinkel, die Demo in Neukölln, fotografisch festgehalten.

Following Matthew Richardson during his visit to Austria. Seattle meets Natternbach (aka Snakecreek). The Lederhosen were required for a cider tasting party and a one-day hiking trip revealed some legacy of the former farm life in UpperAustria.

The American in Ledertrousers

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Matthew in UpperAustria

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Wanderstein

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altes Bauernfuhrwerk

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altes Bauernfuhrwerk II

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Wanderpause

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Verlassenes Bauernhaus

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