The satellite is, in essence, a playful exploration of modes of communication. Its round, biomorph product shapes have been chosen to invite people to playfully interact with them. The device consists of two parts that communicate with each other from different locations. One end can see but cannot hear, the other end can hear but cannot see. Assymetrically limiting communication modalities was a deliberate design choice in order to awaken curiosity and creative thinking, to stimulate discovering different, new ways to interact with other people. At the same time the concept can be seen as a silent reference to the distancing effect and narrowed communication of many ICT devices.
Source: Battarbee, K., Baerten, N., Hinfelaar, M., et al. 2002. Pools and satellites. In Proceedings of the Conference on Designing Interactive Systems Processes, Practices,Methods, and Techniques (DIS’02). ACM Press, 237–245.
