Tangible Interfaces for Non-Literate Rural Communities Message in a Bottle. Weather Tank.

LINCOS ( Little Intelligent Communities ).

Anthropologists have found that even the earliest civilizations have used tangible artifacts to visualize abstract concepts and store information. Water Clock, Hour Glass and Memory Boards are good examples.

African Memory Board.

Weather Tank. Small water tank to visualize weather forecasts to fishermen.

Interactions Output  Motors with propellers: water turbulence.  Air blowing fans: speed and direction of wind.  Water temperature: predicted temperatures.

Input Users can choose the day or night by pushing objects—suns, moons—over the rod from one end to the other. Interactions cont.

Message in a Bottle. Voic interface based on a simple water bottle.

Interactions Refilling and transferring messages ListeningRecording

Fingerprint sensor determines identity of user during refilling process. Recorded voic s are uploaded to the "Communication Machine," incoming voic s downloaded to the bottle. Refilling and transferring messages

Upon opening bottle stored voic s are played back to user Audio is stored as MP3 files in memory chips of a board under the bottle Listening

User drops picture of person to communicate with into bottle. RFID sensor registers identity of recipient, voic is recorded with built-in microphone. After recording, user removes picture from bottle and takes bottle to refilling machine. Recording

Deva Seetharam and Stefan Marti