A designer shelter for digital natives
A designer shelter for digital nativesScrawling graffiti on a piece of street furniture is usually seen as a public offence. But in this case designer Samuel Wilkinson and neuroscientist Beau Lotto want you to do exactly that.

The Ommatidium, a new installation created by the duo, not only looks good - the crystal glass prisms that make up the canopy are all individually hand cut - it also serves as a community hub thanks to augmented messaging app Traces.

"Our brain makes meaning by truly engaging with the physical world,” says the apps creator Lotto, explaining the synergy between the digital and physical element of the design. “That means we are not outside observers of nature; we are defined by our interactions – by our ecology.’

Visitors, who chose to hang out there during the day or night (when powerful LED lights spotlight the sculpture), will be able to digitally litter the site with everything from graphics, videos, music playlists to other bona fide ideas for urban regeneration.

Recently we've seen a rise in the use of civic social media, from apps that promise to make you a better neighbour to networking sites that provide a for local activists.

The Ommatidium, signals a new trend for community-driven projects that cross the border between physical and digital realms.


The Ommatidium In Numbers: 1,500 — number of asymmetrically cut crystal glass prisms
600 — weight in kilograms of the entire canopy
4.5 — height in metres of the hang out slash community hub
5,000 — rainbow variations onto the pavement
10 — number of people in their millions expected to pass by the site