Revealing the Presence of Infrastructure

Captured this week in downtown San Jose, CA.

Will these warning signs preventing interferences disappear in the ubicomp of the future? There is probably a cultural take to it. It is not surprise that seamful design emerged in the UK. Designers have been used to warn about the limits of the infrastructure (i.e. the culturally anchored “mind the gap”) almost to the overdose. In other cultures, designers assume for the best without overloading the interfaces almost to the point of the uselessness. It will probably become important to understanding to find the right balance to notify the seams to the everyday users of the ubicomp invisible infrastructures. Might be a topic to extend to contribute to Julian Bleecker’s ‘Salon’ at Picnic’07.