Holiday at the Airport

The latest in tourist holidaying is the “Holiday at the Airport”. There is no longer the need to actually leave the country but to enjoy the experience of being at the airport about to leave for a fantasy trip abroad.

Similar to the theme park experience, at the end of the security queue you receive a photo of your xray baggage and footage of you and your friends/family queuing with fear and excitement.

You receive photos of the people you meet, the places you loiter, the food you consume at the many vending and fast food chains.
You relish the moment you find that your flight is delayed and the electricity in the airport has failed. The moments you share with strangers will never be replaced, they are unique and you savor every angry word, stressed and confused face. You audio record the moment the airport representatives fob you off and the budget airlines blame each other…

This is the new ‘Holiday At the Airport”, just as Ballard might have depicted.

via flickr

DNA Dating: GenePartner & ScientificMatch

GenePartner & ScientificMatch are DNA dating services that both offer the best taglines i have read in a longtime “Love is no coincidence” and “The Science of Love”. They equally use the same language and aesthetics you would find at most dating sites- is this a way to hook in their punters? Lull them into a sense of security?Obvious marketing techniques using getty imagery offering hideously unemphathetic service opportunties. I would love to do some ethnography on the implications on those using this site – journalists have already carried out their own research how about some ethnofiction? What are the possibilities of this service being really pushed to the extreme? Certanly a well trodden area in film and fiction as well as in Design Interactions at the RCA.

ScientificMatch outline the 6 key benefits to scientific matching your partner according to your DNA:

• Chances are increased that you’ll love the natural body fragrance of your matches.
• You have a greater chance of a more satisfying sex life.
• Women tend to enjoy a higher rate of orgasms with their partners.
• Women have a much lower chance of cheating in their exclusive relationships.
• Couples tend to have higher rates of fertility.
• All other things being equal, couples have a greater chance of having healthier children with more robust immune systems.

Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

More photos from my visit to the Secret Bunker can be seen at the following flickr account and here

Now on an EPIC journey

I’m at this moment attending and exhibiting at the EPIC conference in Copenhagen. It’s set in amazing surroundings at the Uni of Copenhagen and im surrounded by ethnographers, social anthropologists, designers of all strands. The conference theme is (in)visibility. I’m showing The Delphi Party service of the fictitious FATE institute in context of unveiling possible futures of a loved one within a facilitated workshop of friends and family.

New Year = New You …again!

Yes it is another new year, another January and anther excuse for publishers to not only predict the future but tell you how to change your life and be happy! The future of self-knowledge is here again!

me and 23andme

One of my next quests is to work with the now developed 23andme genetics information service (see earlier post). I just wonder who is doing their service design strategy work because i think there is so much in the future development of this service area. Surely Virgin is jumping on the “predicitve gene testing extreme customization service” by now, not just the stem cell bank service he has got going. It could at least be one of his virgin red letter day experiences: extreme personalized health/beauty regimes and medicine packages whilst you wifi on the Virgin Pendolino trains ! Its so obvious.

Spray On Condoms

And an interesting way to make condoms fit better!. A diagram to show a new product that will spray on a uniquely fit to purpose condom. The Institute for Condom Consultancy is in co-operation with Vinico and Qualo Design plan to launch a spray-on condom tailor-made for all sizes. According to Jan Vinzenz Krause, from the Institute for Condom Consultancy, “Our team is developing a type of spray can into which the man inserts his penis first. At the push of a button it is then coated in a rubber condom. It works by spraying on latex from nozzles on all sides. We call it the ‘360 degree procedure’ — once round and from top to bottom. It’s a bit like a car wash. The plan is to make the product ready for use in about five seconds.” The high-tech condom will be available in a variety of colours and strengths by 2008.