about a year ago i talked about advancements in the field of teleportation. new technological developments always get my neurons firing. so in search for some scientific creative energy i once again came upon an invigorating incident: invisibility.

another one of the holy grails of science, invisibility is usually targeted at creating cloaks for defense purposes [though i wonder being invisible does not provoke more offensive behavior]. some time ago headway was made, resulting in a near perfect 2D cloak [yes, 2D, not 3D. we are not that far into the future just yet].

obviously we will not be discussing the technical details nor the evolution of invisible tanks for that matter. engineering material and wars are as boring as today’s paper. considering this is a blog about creativity and inspiration, we are going to get freaky with invisibility [okay, maybe i lied. “freaky” is not the right word for the job, but i will try to get as close as possible].

being unseen to the naked eye is an idea we have been toying with since we were children. such behavior is usually directed at us being invisible. however, today’s theme revolves around products and design, not people [temporarily ignoring the fact people are more important than products].

in the field of product and interaction design it can be very productive to hide certain aspects or features. products could become less cluttered if you hide all that is not needed at a given point in time. simply envision an interface which only shows the options available at your current action, not distracting you with anything else.

such a technique might also provide you with some sustainable behavior. in getting the “green hippies” off your back, you can hide certain un-green aspects of your design. such aspects include hazardous materials, fumes and residue’s. but i do have to note that such behavior does not go well with greenpeace and similar organizations. but then again: how well does a car sell when sporting the slogan: “now, zero toxic emissions!”?

jokes aside, unseen objects could create a more relaxed environment. just envision a desk which is only filled with your object of present attention. i my current case that would be the cupertino white that is my macbook. but come to think of it, we could even make the desk disappear.

however, rendering certain things around you invisible might cause some problems. so whatever this invisibility-machine will be, it has got to have an opacity setting. if i start walking around, i would very much like to know what is in my path. or at least perceive a glimpse of such object.

but why lose some features only temporarily? why display the packaging of a product while on display? why even bother with a transparent casing if you can just make it disappear? and how good would all your home appliances look if no wires were seen? [just remember to take notice of these invisible wires, running off with your not-so-mobile radio can cause quite a mess].

finally there is also the esthetically pleasing effect. a lot of products are only carriers for other things. what if we could lose one of today’s ugliest designs: the tv stand. but let’s not stop there. just think of other cool ideas such as invisible bottles, unseen light fittings, umbrella’s, planes, the roof of your house, the entire earth’s crust…i cannot wait for more wonderful possibilities to emerge from such a technology…

too bad such a technique will most likely find its implementation into the commercial world around the year 2100.

in a sense invisibility is a lot like ultraviolet radiation; you cannot see it, it might bring you pleasure, but it will harm you eventually.

jan van der asdonk is a contributor to studio469 in the shape of his creative spamming, manifesting itself in his somewhat distorted views and theories of the world around him. feedback, topic requests and fan mail are all very welcome at jan@studio469.com

This entry was posted on Friday, November 9th, 2007 at 15:32 and is filed under Column. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.