Sociometer

Tiernan Haugh

Campbell Scanlan

James Spratt

Dundee, the UK

Student Group

Tiernan Haugh, Campbell Scanlan, and James Spratt created the Sociometer as part of a “Social Digital” module in 2016. Social Digital is the combination of product design and digital interaction design students in DJCAD, Scotland. The Sociometer is an example of the interesting work that comes about when the two courses work together. Scanlan handcrafted the walnut box, while Haugh and Spratt concentrated on bringing different technologies together to make the Sociometer function.

《Sociometer》

Category | Visual Communication: Information Visualization

Group | Student

The Sociometer visually meters Wi-Fi activity in a social environment. Designed for a traditional Scottish Bar, the Sociometer aims to reduce the distraction of our phones by highlighting the amount that we use them in a social setting. The graph paper reads from a scale of Social to Digital, indicating the device usage in its immediate surroundings. As more people use the network the pen plotter’s movement becomes more dramatic, drawing attention to people’s change in behavior.

Having taken inspiration from centuries of scientific measuring equipment, the Sociometer monitors activity in the digital atmosphere. Similar to a seismograph, it translates bandwidth data into erratic pen movement onto scrolling graph paper. 

Within the traditional body is an array of 3D printed parts, microcontrollers, motors and belts. The Speedwell Bar was specifically chosen as a location for the product because it had recently won Dundee’s “Best Community Bar” award. It opened in 1903 and has served as a meeting point in the community since.

Research suggests that younger generations are becoming more content spending time on their phones rather than indulging in conversation. Fitting in with the bar’s Edwardian age interior, we contrasted dark wood with brass accents. The body was handcrafted with walnut from a traditional Scottish sawmill, using traditional joints and detailing.