Cardboard model of an alarm clock for the home environment

Real scale model in white cardboard. With this model, one can demonstrate the actions of setting the alarm, snoozing and deactivating it. The interaction is characterized by physical shape changes and the embodiment of “the alarm” by a distinctive physical component.

Research questions.

How can embodiment of digital functions by physical artifacts result in a clearer and more expressive interaction?

Impact.

The alarm clock is published in the doctoral thesis of Lukas Van Campenhout, and in Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. Next to that, the alarm clock is used as a demonstrator in several courses in the 3d year bachelor and the 1st year master at Product Development, Faculty of Design Sciences, University of Antwerp.

Van Campenhout, L. D. E. (2016). Physical interaction in a dematerialized world [Doctoral dissertation]. Eindhoven, the Netherlands: Eindhoven University of Technology.

Van Campenhout, L. D. E., Frens, J. W., Hummels, C. C. M., Standaert, A., & Peremans, H. (2016). Touching the dematerialized. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 20(1), 147-164.