| Pop-Sci Core77 Design Challenge/ Description MEMORY 7/16/03 |
| Description of Design | |
CAPA, A Personal Digital Time Capsule A certain color, smell, flavor, or texture, can trigger memories from our childhood and remind us of something once very familiar to us, but it's not always quite clear. Over the years, our memories get rusty and are often forgotten, until we stumble across something to remind us. Wouldn't it be great to rediscover that particular toy you once played with as a kid or that curious strange object you found? Introducing CAPA, a personal digital time capsule which captures, stores and displays the user's childhood memories. CAPA, captures a kid's memories and after a period of time, displays these memories just like a time capsule does. It is a perfect toy to give kids allowing them to create and store memories that they can enjoy in the future. The user experiences CAPA in 3 stages: first as a kid's toy, then as an alarm clock, and finally a time capsule. The duration of the first two stages is set by the user. At the beginning stage, CAPA is a cool digital toy to be played with for a duration of time that users can set. Let's say for example, one year. During this time, kids place their favorite objects inside, and CAPA detects and scans them automatically by using its built-in 3D laser scanner. It captures a 3D image of any small object kids can get their hands on. From favorite small figurines or stuffed animals, to found objects, such as sea shells and rocks. After removing the object, CAPA instantly projects it as a 3D image using its 3D projector. At this stage, the most recent images are accessible, while all other images are transferred and stored in the Flash Memory located in the docking station. Once the year is up and they've captured enough objects, the 3D scanning capabilities shut down and CAPA goes into its 2nd stage, becoming a completely different product, a cool 3D alarm clock. Like the captured images, the clock hands are also projected by using its 3D projector. Although it functions as a reliable alarm clock, the precious images are still permanently stored inside the docking station and are inaccessible. At this point, the user sets the desired amount of time they wish to store the images. It could even be 20 years!! When the extended time has past, CAPA changes into its final 3rd stage, a personal time capsule. With a special sounding alarm, it signals the user when it's time to retrieve the precious, childhood memories, that have been digitally stored within. The user is then treated to a nostalgic slide show of all the cool objects they enjoyed as a kid and can have the pleasure of viewing them anytime they wish! Website Link Resources for 3D Projector Technology: http://www.musion.de/indexeng.html http://www.mrl.nyu.edu/~perlin/demos/autostereo.html http://www.sanyo.co.jp/koho/hypertext4/0109news-j/0912-1.html http://www.sanyo.co.jp/koho/hypertext4/0209news-j/0910-1.html http://www.elumens.com/main.html |