Nous

DESIGN: Anna Batog

Denmark

make me! 2016

The key word for this design project is connection. Such a connection can be both a technical term and something ethereal, almost out of this world. In Einstein’s theory of the state of entanglement, two particles are connected and a change in the state of one immediately causes a change in the state of the other one, even at distant corners of the world. Through this design project, Anna Batog wanted to establish and encourage people to stay connected even at great distances. Let’s stay close to one another while being at distant corners of the world. The NOUS project is based on the designer’s own experience when she lived far away from her partner for a long time. She noticed then how many couples had to struggle with a similar situation. Unfortunately, long-distance relationships do not have the privileges of communication that are commonplace  for couples in ordinary relationships. For those living at a distance, daily knowledge of what the other half does is a luxury, and it takes considerable effort to maintain a similar state of information with the kilometres separating both persons. NOUS (French for ‘we’), is a device that attempts to connect people living in long-distance relationships. Nous is designed to become part of such a couple’s rituals and blend seamlessly into their lives. The device works in pairs and communicates wirelessly via Wi-Fi. When one person goes to sleep, the other device goes off, thus informing them of their lover’s condition. In the morning, instead of an alarm clock sound, a message specially prepared for the other person can be played. The aim of this project is to introduce modern tools for couples in long-distance relationships, thus adding real-time communication – one that is present in the background.