SH-Mobile LAB Activities in 2006

Mobile communications was first used in America in the 1940s. After many improvements, the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (now known as NTT) introduced its initial car telephone (first generation) service in 1979. This was the first service to cellular technology with automatic exchange, which has become the base technology for modern mobile phones. Now, a quarter century after that initial service, the mobile phone has become an essential tool that continues to influence how we communicate and go about our daily lives.

In 2006, the SH-Mobile LAB wants to consider what form mobile communications will take in the year 2029, 50 years after the mobile phone first appeared, not just through discussion amongst core members, but also by involving students.

What is the future of mobile phones in 2010? How will phones be used? The SH-Mobile LAB investigated the future of mobile phones and the possibilities for socialware designs. The work was lead by Prof. Shinichi Takemura of the Kyoto University of Art and Design, and involved both core members and guest members invited for their expertise on the chosen topic.

Phase I (April 2004 to March 2003)
- Proposing a vision and ideas for the use of mobile technology based on predictions about how people will go about their work and handle information in 2010 -

Using the core members' backgrounds and shared interest in mobile technology as a base, brainstorming sessions were held to generate ideas about mobile related art and imagination, and about how people behave in cities (their experiences associated with moving around), cities being the actual environment where many different users interact with information using mobile phones and other mobile technology.
The aim was to take the ideas generated by the brainstorming sessions and translate these into more practical form in the latter stages of the laboratory process together with invited guests.
Also, "material" for use in the workshops was gathered from city environments and from the actual places where research and practical work was carried out. The discoveries and inspirations obtained from the real world through this field research were brought together and prototyping work was undertaken to represent these in the form of a media design for 2010.
The vision and ideas for mobile technology generated in phase I are to be summarized in a report.

Phase II (April 2005 to March 2006)
- Giving shape to the vision and ideas for the use of mobile technology -

Phase II will give shape to the ideas for the future of mobile technology and the vision generated by phase I.