Fluidtime service prototypes 1 Interaction Ivrea laundry service —working with people to identify problems, needs and desires 2 Torino bus service —allowing people to live with wearable, portable and ambient prototypes over time

1 Interaction Ivrea laundry service Fluidtime allows people to book a ‘slot’ on the web or by SMS, reminds them in the morning to bring their laundry to work, and lets them know when their laundry slot is ready. Ambient devices monitor the progress of the machine and let users know when the laundry is ready. A working system was implemented; it is now also being tested for room booking.

Marc “It’s annoying to go all the way downstairs just to book a washing slot. My clothes typically wait in a suitcase at my desk for a while before I can find the time, money and a free slot. Being able to book with my mobile phone and get an SMS when it’s finished would be amazing. Being able to release my spot would also be nice, if I knew that I wasn’t going to use it.”

Tarun “I usually book last minute and take the slots that are left. It would be useful to know who’s presently using the machine and who’s next…. so you could talk to them and know if you could squeeze in or not. This should be possible even now, but you never know whether people have exchanged their slots and everything gets pretty confused.”

Michal “A few times I booked a slot but didn’t use it—mainly in situations where I was extremely busy … Most of these times I went down and erased my name from the schedule.”

Ryan “I know about how long the washing takes, but I always forget…You know how many minutes are left, so you can 'synchronize yourself', but if you are as absent minded as I am, you forget.”

2 Torino public transport Fluidtime allows people to monitor the flow of buses in simple and convenient ways, wherever and whenever they want. Working prototypes were given to six people to use for a month in Turin; some phone-based, others simulating a watch, others providing ambient information in the home. They want the service!

Enrico Maria Martha Fabio

Maria - “It was very stressful for me to have to watch to see if a bus was coming; I prefer to look at the display….I like it, it’s nice and funny. I have learned to regulate my walking speed according to the information that is displayed on the watch-phone.”

Martha “I’m a punctual person and I hate ‘tempi morti’: I tend to fill them all the time. Fluidtime is a good support for this, especially when I’m at work. I can look at my phone and, if I see that a bus is arriving, I leave right away; otherwise, instead of waiting at the stop, I do something else before leaving.”

Enrico “When I was a student I didn’t worry much about time. But since I started working, time has become very precious…So, saving time with this application is something that I appreciate very much.”

Fabio “I can’t be punctual; it’s not in my nature and even Fluidtime could never help me. What I like is the interface; it’s really nice and entertaining, like a videogame. The best situation to use it is late at night, when there are few buses and waiting at the stop is very boring.”

Fluidtime team Antonio Terreno Alberto Lagna Crispin Jones Joanna Barth Laura Polazzi Michael Kieslinger Victor Zambrano William Ngan

Fluidtime tools 1Mobile interfaces 2Stationary objects