David Menting

Hello, I am David Menting, an industrial designer/user interface designer from Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Have fun browsing my portfolio!

irisbox

The irisbox is a sound-based availability system.

2008
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
Individual project

irisbox

The IrisBox connects you to your most important friends and colleagues in a special manner. It tells you how open your contacts are to external communication in an unobtrusive and refined way: namely by using a soundscape. Every one of your contacts is represented by a characteristic set of sounds, which change according to their status. This allows you to judge whether you can engage in conversation with your contact, preventing unwanted encounters and promoting perfect timing. Your own level of availability is set by twisting the large ring on the face of the IrisBox. When the ring is twisted, people that have you in their contact list hear dimensions of your sound change, indicating a change in your level of availability.