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Identity, Memory
A simple and expressive example of how a restaurant overcomes the problem of guests forgetting their coats - an issue probably caused by the coats being located out of the line of sight when people leave. This restaurant is well warmed by the sun, and a number of guests arrive by car (relatively unusual for Tokyo) so remembering a coat may not be a high priority.
Our paper submitted to DUX last year proposed the concept of the range of distribution to describe how far people allows allow objects to stray from their person. Range of distribution is not just about distance, but also location in relation the body such as out of the line of sight and/or out of the range of reach.
Understanding the range of distribution for objects is interesting primarily because objects that are placed out of sight are more likely to be forgotten - and objects that are forgotten are less likely to be used, and people tend to value and eventually pay for things that they use. Another non-trivial issue is that the performance of wireless devices may be affected by how far objects stray from one another - some RFID readers have a range of millimeter's, Bluetooth has a range of meters. Its not just about data transmission but can also affect battery life as devices scan to relocate one another.
Back to the restaurant cloakroom... guests are given a toy (shown in the box below) that matches the one on the hanger (photo above). When leaving the restaurant the toy acts as a reminder that the coat needs to be taken, and perhaps more obviously acts as a ticket to identify the right coat. Simple, fun and elegant very much keeping with style the restaurant itself.
Writing from Tokyo | March 8, 2006 | Permalink
Comments
I like the thought about 'range of diatnce'. I've often thought the the benefits of wireless digital home/landline phones - that you could 'roam' around the house/garden with them as you would a 'true' mobile - were outweighed by the cons. The cons being that because the artefact is a shared one - used by everyone in the house it is not a personal 'thing' and so it's not kept on 'you' but rather laid to rest in all many of abscure positions around the house - often at a 'range' which makes it very difficult to find. The audible sound of the phone ringing often just induces rage in me now - like a pavlovian dog - just knowing that i have to search the house for the phone rather than it being fixed to the phone socket; in it's 'place', in range. And of oucrse the socket used to be next to a table on which the phone would be placed and where you could store paper and pens to jot down and give permanence to the information you were getting. Now if run around the house phone in hand to find pen and paper. You can see it bothers me!
the move to bluetooth enabled mobiles which use switch to landlines should get around this issue. that or I get an old 'dial' wired phone.
Posted by: jamesB at March 10, 2006 7:31 PM