The goal for this project is to design an interactive product that functions as a ‘happiness machine’ for the users. Forty percent of your happiness is determined by the day to day conscious behavior of your life: the way you think and look at yourself and the world around you. We use three strategies of Lyubomirskys to achieve this goal: savoring life joys, doing good things for others and counting the blessings what you have.
Context
Everyday you share the front door of the building with dozens of people. Sometimes you hear their footsteps, smell their cooking’s or see their laundry on the balcony. But who in fact are your neighbors?
Apartments are often anonymous buildings with uninspiring general spaces. People are geographically so close, and yet socially so far away. Therefore the focus was on the apartment buildings as setting for creating happiness.
Idea
A Well-known subject of the Volkskrant Magazine is the photo collage, where readers can send in their pictures of a certain topic. A random topic, seemingly meaningless, creates the funniest and interesting story by several fragments of different people. It immediately lets you think of your own relation to the topic. In our concept we choose the topic according to the happiness theory. The topics will make you remember precious moments, let appreciate the small things around you and gives you the opportunity to share your stories.
Concept
Every month the residents of an apartment building will receive a topic. In a newsletter and/or Smartphone application an introduction and some fun facts of the topic will be given.
The resident takes a picture of their personal piece that fits the topic and uploads it. The one place all the residents of an apartment share is the entrance hall. Tis often anonymous place is perfect to display the images in an interactive way.
When crossing the entrance hall motion tracking software maps out the resident’s movement to determine how the pictures will be displayed. This makes it an interaction that triggers residents to stop and think about the topic.
Creating a story together and getting to know your neighbors by sharing your fragments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q2hkaydDsBk
