Product Designer Chris McNicholl has created a modern application for a traditional object with TweetingSeat; an interactive park bench with an online presence. The bench is designed to explore the potential for connecting physical and digital communities by logging its usage through uploading images of its users and environment to a live Twitter feed.
This project stemmed from an investigation of communities, and focuses on the idea of creating an object that people may interact with on both a physical and digital level.
“TweetingSeat has been created in order to explore the environments in which it is placed and look at the people whom it encounters”, explains Chris. “The way in which the bench should be used has purposely been left open, allowing people and communities to build their own relationship with it.”
Each time someone sits down, TweetingSeat uploads an image from two cameras to the Twitter feed. One camera is located on the bench looking at the surrounding space, and another is located nearby looking at the people who use it. Whilst emphasising the features that distinguish it from traditional park benches, the object has been designed with this aesthetic in mind.
