The Tweeting pillows
Masters in Interaction design at Edinburgh Napier University
Time frame: 2013
Module: Prototyping and technology
The brief
This experimental project was designed to visualise and reflect on the interplay of technology and tactile interaction. Here, regular sleeping pillows were coded and intercepted with prototyping kits called Makey-Makey. These pillows were given a twitter profile and were wired to tweet online, whenever someone hugged them or held them close.
By embedding Makey Makey kits inside the pillows, when touched physically by people, the pillows could tweet online and emote.
The pillows were coded to tweet a nice or disdainful comment when they were physically touched. It was an abstract experiment that was designed to review people's responses when inanimate objects suddenly find a voice of their own on social media.
Tweeting pillows went on to win the curator's choice award at the NOISE FESTIVAL in London in 2014.
To know more about the project, you can visit the following tumblr link.
The rig using the wired-in pillow and prototyping tools to visualise each tweet
Documentation video of the project narrative