Project Prompt
Design and develop an Absurd Device/Gadget/SmartObject for the first "Absurd Hotel" to be opened in Japan.
This will be a partnership between Kenya Hara (原 研哉) and Kenji Kawakami (川上 賢司).
The hotel will also have a Gift Shop where some of the absurd inventions can be purchased by the guests.
Idea Development
Our ideation started with going through the user journey in a hotel. We wanted to make a product that has some connections to a hotel experience and could also be used outside a hotel.
After brainstorming, we decided to focus on products and services in hotels that are agreed to be free, like toothbrushes, combs, slippers, etc. And people usually take them home to keep using them too. We wanted to break that "agreement" by making people pay for these products.
There are more and more products in our life that join the subscription system, and we are getting used to it without a chance to say no. For example, apps that you download but can not use any features without a subscription, BMW heated seats that you buy but do not have heating features. It seems like owning a product today doesn't mean you have the right to use it. By turning a product that is more ordinary into a subscription product, we are trying to exaggerate this situation.
We chose a comb as our product to start because it has a more dramatic motion when the teeth are closed. It also gives us more freedom in form development.
User Journey
Trial - End trial - Subscription starts - Upgrade service
The user journey contest 4 stages. When users first pick up the comb, a trial session automatically starts and allows users to use the comb for a certain length of time. After the trial session ends, the teeth of the comb closed and basically make the comb not usable. Only after users subscribe and pay for the service, they can continue to use it as a normal comb. We also offer upgraded premium service for extra functions (TBD).
Sketch Models
Work-like testing model - Cardboard model
Work-like testing model - servo motor + pinion and rack