Context
"Herman the Unprepossessed" was developped in the pressure project (one week working time) on the theme "Design an interactive extension for the chair 'Hermann' (Ikea in white)".
The Setup
There are two speakers at the chair. They are mounted with two aluminum bars at the backrest. So they are located on both sides - left and right in the height of the head of a sitting person.
Their appearence is "speaker like": The case has a "transmitter like" case (a blunt cone), the front is covered with a textile net and last not least the fronts point both to the middle of the chair (like a big headphone). So everybody knows that there will be "something to hear", if you sit down on the chair.
The Behavior
When you sit down the system starts. There are two different voices, telling different "stories". The one voice sounds from the left, the other sounds from the right speaker. The content of the two stories discusses the same subject but represents opposed opinions ("pros and cons" - like; the hole thing in a pretty "black-and-white"-style). The content could be e.g. "death penatly" or "genetic engineering".
By sitting straight on the chair, you can hear both voices from left and right - soft but hearable. You can follow both contents (the speeches are slow and the sentences are short and simple). So it is quite possible that the person tries to listen to just one of the stories by moving his head/ear to one side near one speaker.
By doing so the voice of the selected side turns down. So it is unpossible to understand it. The voice from the other side gets louder to attract attention - but still not that loud that you can understand the content.
The behavior of the volumes is the same on both sides. So it is only possible to follow the stories by hearing both voices, both opinions...
If the person gets up, the voices stop. So anybody else could experience "Herman - The Unprepossessed".
 | IKEAhacker | Blogentry about 'Herman - the unprepossessed' in the weblog IKEAhacker, that is dedicated to the modification of IKEA products. [Thu 24. Aug '06] |
 | We-Make-Money-Not-Art.com | Blogentry about the pressure project 'Herman' featuring 'Herman - the unprepossessed' [Wed 12. Jan '05] |
