Designs on the home of the future

Ten students recently showed designs for products which will help people interact with technology in and around homes of the future.

Responding to a brief from mobile phone operator Orange to design a product which "encourages playful, spontaneous communication between family members, places or objects" for the company's "intelligent" house of the future project - Orange at Home - each student put forward prototype ideas for designs that use technology to enhance people's lives.

The work - from the Royal College of Art, London - focused on different products centred around the theme of communications concepts and which were installed at a futuristically styled house in Hatfield, southern England, used by Orange as a testing ground for the latest high-tech innovations.

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The final designs included a pillow that can wake you up, "intelligent" skin tattoos, tread-sensitive flooring, a text-message wishing well, a talking milk carton, and a communications game.

Rachel Wingfield is responsible for the design of a pillow which gently lights up and unobtrusively wakes the person sleeping on it. The pillow is made from fabric that contains light reflectors which can be set to alarm mode or activated by a mobile phone ringing.

Also using the theme of light, Natalie Woolf, who is doing research work for a degree in reactive surfaces, designed a floor that lights up as someone walks over it.

One of the more eccentric ideas for the home are the "intelligent" skin tattoos designed by Kelly Sant and Indri Tulusan. Made of silicone, they can communicate and talk to other elements of the house. For example, the tattoos can tell when a person is arriving home, turn on the lights and increase the home's heating or cooling.

Tom Hulbert developed Gotcha, a multi-player game of hide-and-seek between strangers. Players join the game by buying a device which has a four-digit number assigned to it. The device is wirelessly connected to all other Gotcha games purchased and, after a player comes close to another person with a device, the hide-and-seek game can begin.

Stuart Penny and Gianni Tozzi designed a concept to encourage members of the household to communicate emotions through electronic objects. The objects are different and situated around the house. For example, a milk carton sits in the fridge and "speaks" a romantic message or a funny line - anything - every time the door is opened.

There is also a wishing well for the garden that lights up and gradually fades again when a message is sent to it by a telephone text system. Complementary items have been designed to sit on window sills and coffee tables throughout the house to ensure the family is never far away from a personal message.

A short story told on video has been produced by Dean Wilson. Called Digital Familiars Pt2, it forms the basis of a narrative which is used to prompt questions about the growing trend towards personalised digital communications. The project also looks at the gap between the increasing technological sophistication of children's toys and work/adult applications.

Noam Toran designed a living room table through which subliminal messages can be left, such as "children, clean your bedrooms" or "please do the washing-up". Because it is subliminal the messages cannot be seen by the naked eye and a fan has to be used to read them. Toran has since developed a range of furniture incorporating the messages!

Siman Kim created a telephone ringer, light-switch and doorbell which do more than just turn on and off. These everyday household objects can interact with the family around them by varying their responses, depending on movement or intention. Kim's aim is to improve the functionality and use of common household objects.

Jon Carter, project manager for Orange at Home, said: "At Orange we are constantly looking and building towards the future so it is important to work with the innovators of tomorrow Working with the Royal College of Art (RCA) helps explore new products and services for markets that have yet to be created. In time, these will become the products of today."

Susannah Handley, senior tutor and head of research for fashion and textiles at the RCA, said "This was a great project for our students. It gave them the opportunity to invent the hybrid products of the future - objects that combine sentiment, play, emotion and fun with sophisticated communication technology.

"Orange understands the need to make technology more accessible and friendly and it has been inspiring to see how business and designers can work together to create an alternative way of humanising and connecting with the new interactive digital environment," she added The RCA is renowned for being at the forefront of developments in art, design and communications.