Erik Borra, Joel Weltevrede, Dirk van Oosterbosch, Erik Borra, No More Mondays, David Kousemaker, Vlad Trifa

iTea

Cosy tea-table column with "facts" about you.

There's nothing more interesting than hearing juicy gossip about other people. But did you know there is tons of "intelligence" on the internet about you? Using the iTea installation is like visiting Aunty Betsy: plenty of first class gossip... However, this time the gossip is about you. And it's all on the net, so it must be true, right?

iTtea teacup in action with a Rabobank-sponsored tag. -

How does it work?

Drop your ikTag in the old porcelain teacup. The system will start searching the social network for information about you. It will conduct a Google search, and even use information found on social networks like Flickr, Hyves, Facebook and Hotmail. You'll be surprised as to how much it can find about you online. The information will appear as ripples on the table and move outwards. Be aware of your online image!

Why?

You might be surprised to find out how much there is to know about yourself. This innocent looking teacup will reveal so much, it's downright scary. A voyeuristic feeling will creep over you and everyone else at the tea table when you see the "facts" of your life spill out over the table. Yes, you will deny some of the things the teacup says. But will people believe you? It's your word against the Internets.

In this voyeur-friendly world we want to make people aware of how open ones life actually is. RFID tags are invading our life rapidly, making it incredibly easy to access, collect and distribute (private) information about people.

Watch the concept demo at:
www.donblaauw.nl/blog/index.htm
(Don't forget to scroll down.)

This project was conceived and developed by Don Blaauw (design), Erik Borra (programming), David Kousemaker (design), Dirk van Oosterbosch (programming), Vlad Trifa (programming), and Esther Weltevrede (design).