Exhibit

Lightbox

Lightbox is an urban design concepts we did for Deutsche Telekom, which is presented at the Kontakthof. The Lightbox enables a new way of communication between city and inhabitant. Installed on footpaths within a city It informs pedestrians on relevant informations of it’s direct environment, e.g. best public transportation options, air quality and use of electricity in the neighborhood. During nighttime the Lightbox breathes slowly and supports people on their way, changing color and speed of pulse depending on time and amount of traffic.

                         

Background

In a cooperation with Deutsche Telekom and University of Applied Sciences Potsdam with the goal of creating a permanent exhibition for the “Kontakthof”, an exhibition and conference space at Telekom Innovation Arena in Berlin. Our course, supervised by Prof. Frank Heidmann and Prof. Constanze Langer developed an exhibition concept which includes projects of third party companies and startups as well as our exhibits. The creation of Lightbox started with the request of the Telekom asking for a redesign of the MFG-Box (Multifunctional Case) which is used by Internet Providers to provide telecommunication services to the surrounding area. As a german resident, these boxes are as usual to see as a streetlight. So our concept would be spread across a variety of cities and would reach many people.

Concept

The Lightbox has two main functionalities: Light up public space according to time of the day, frequency of pedestrians on the street and other parameters. The breathing light creates the feeling of the pulse of a city and displays its heartbeat throughout day and night. The Interface on the sides of Lightbox displays location-based informations for people walking by including tourists, residents as well as children or older generations without the access to smart devices that offer these informations. Thereby we aim to connect people in a new way by giving them informations about local hotspots, sights or news to get a better feeling about what's going on in their neighborhood. While the current version has no direct value for residents our redesign aims to bring city and surroundings closer together. With our redesign we aim to give the MFG-Box a broader functionality and contribute to a better life quality in future smart cities, that focuses on people.

During nighttime the Lightbox breathes slowly in warm colors.

Philosophy

Our Smartphone accompanies us every day and has the possibility to display us an incredibly wide range of informations. in contrast, screens in public spaces and cities usually show static informations, advertisement or public transport feeds through LED panels. The digital revolution did not take place in urban structures of germany despite few exceptions. The Lightbox is therefore a way to inform people on subjects that are relevant for everybody in their current situation and location. So there is no need to obtain these from private smartphones. Furthermore the light box is a new way for a communication between governmental services and the residents of a city. Truely location based Informations can become an efficient way to address a specific part of a city and their inhabitants concerning specified informations, feeds or recent problems. Showing the energy consumption for a specific street can create a competition between their residents so that wastage can be reduced.we believe that location based information may bring residents closer together, and strengthen solidarity and communities in neighbourhoods.

The Interface

Exemplary Usecase (Rendering)

Exemplary Usecase (Rendering)

Service

Joyn

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Exhibit

Cityscope

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