superkb.com :: karen bonna rainert

SubAlerts

Problem: Useful information is not always packaged in a way that allows it to be used to its fullest potential. This idea drew me to analyze the current subway communication system because I discovered most people do not think about their commute until they are already in motion, yet the data that could help ease their journeys is only accessible from home or at the subway station.

Solution: Offering subway riders a chance to obtain such information when they are away from their computers, yet before they arrive at a subway station by pushing content to their mobile phones will give riders an opportunity to use their time more efficiently and make informed decisions about their travels. The goal in building SubAlerts is to help users avoid both scheduled and unexpected delays and inconveniences of riding with the MTA on a daily basis. Offering subway riders a chance to obtain such information when they are away from their computers, yet before they arrive at a subway station by pushing content to their mobile phones will give riders an opportunity to use their time more efficiently and make informed decisions about their travels. My goal in building SubAlerts is to help users avoid both scheduled and unexpected delays and inconveniences of riding with the MTA on a daily basis.

socialight

Problem: Tasked with finding a design idea that focused on communicating "people-to-people" and privacy, our team wanted to provide people with awareness of friends around them and enable them to get in touch in ways that reflect natural modes of communication. To do so, we set out to take advantage of the most ubioqitious tool available at that time: the mobile phone.

Solution: socialight is a location-aware mobile social networking platform that allows people to connect with their friends and friends of friends in new, expressive ways. Using the current or past location of friends, the socialight platform provides a number of subtle and overt tools and mobile phones as an interface which enable unique modes of real-time and time-shifted communication.

Created with Michael Sharon, Dan Melinger, and Mohit SantRam. Since the initial research stages in 2004, socialight has since become a successful startup company.

Scout

Problem: In an environment with many people constatnly coming and going (in our case, our school), it's nearly impossibleto know who is around at any given time. We wanted to explore what interesting effects would surface if you could.

Solution: Scout served as a presence detection system for our graduate program's floor. Using a card reader at the floor's entrance, students would swipe their NYU IDs and the system would register that they were on the floor and reflect that presence on a website that appeared on an adjacent kiosk and was also available via the internet.

Students could check the website remotely to see who was on the floor as well as query the students that were present based on skills, interests, etc... The real challenge proved to be getting the students to change their established behavior and swipe in (and out) as they came and went. In an effort to add an incentive to do so, we allowed students to leave anonymous messages for each other and the only way to see what messages were left for you was to swipe your ID card.

Created with Christine Brumback, Dennis Crowley and Alex Rainert.

NYC Subway Musicians Documentary

Problem: New Yorkers spend a good chunk of their travel time waiting on subway platforms while often being entertained by various subway performers. Sometimes we tip them, but we rarely have a chance to find out more about the musicians other than their musical preference. Who are these people? Why do they perform in the subway?

Solution: A video documentary about the life and music of NYC subway performers. Viewers were able to jump to sections of the documentary by selecting a subway station location on an interactive subway map interface.