Interactive Cube for Vodafone
Wireless-controlled interactive sculpture
In early 2002, Vodafone approached IDEO to design a reception area within an 80-meter glass enclosure in their new headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal. IDEO wanted to connect the outside space—a vast expanse of water—with the inside space, and encouraged Vodafone to consider using mobile phone technology to allow lobby visitors to interact with objects outside the building.
Working with a team of in-house architects, IDEO designed a four-meter cube that acts not only as a distinctive landmark but also allows visitors to play interactive games using their own mobile phones anywhere within the building. IDEO created and commissioned most of the cube content, consisting of templates to display news, information and advertising, an interactive game and “toy,” and a series of looped animations. Three other games and a “toy” were created by a Lisbon-based digital media company.
In addition to the cube, IDEO designed the reception area, which contains a reception table and other pieces of interactive furniture. The table houses two interactive displays to allow visitors to browse interactive maps of both the site itself and its relationship to the city of Lisbon.
IDEO also suggested that the staff should be allowed to wander through the reception area with custom PDAs, to enable them to personally greet visitors, take down their details electronically and check if a meeting room was available via an online room-booking system.
Project date: 2002
Related Projects
