by Claudio Moderini e Renzo Giusti

AROUNDMOBILE is a design investigation launched in 2007 with the aim of exploring the boundaries between MOBILE technologies and the world of objects, artefacts and PHYSICAL PRODUCTS that support both COMMUNICATION and SOCIAL processes and behaviours. AROUNDMOBILE aims at investigating the bandwidth of the mobile concept, from ultra mobile ubiquitous solutions, to static objects that exploit, from a different perspective, the potentialities of mobile technology, like the possibility to be remotely activated and/or to wireless retrieve information etc.

The territory of mobile communication is rapidly growing: today it includes every artefact that is connected WIRELESS to a communication network, that is able to DIALOGUE REMOTELY with other objects, can manage different MEDIA formats and that is (at least partially) PORTABLE.

The aim of AROUNDMOBILE is to re-think the MOBILE LANDSCAPE made of products and services by developing a set of innovative solutions (not a mobile phone) inspired by emerging characteristics of contemporary socio-cultural, technological and business scene.

In the 1st edition some KEY DRIVERS have been explored in order to individuate the ontological aspects of mobile domain by addressing research questions such as:

- what is the phenomenological nature of a mobile device, what are its behaviours and which are its iconic

- which are the interaction paradigms for a mobile device addressing aspects like gestural interaction, cognitive affordance, cultural acceptance etc.

- how are mobile devices interconnected and which the correspondent social, business and technological platforms

- what are the strategic implications of a mobile business that is by nature cross-industry (telecom, consumer electronics, service providers etc.)

EMERGING KEYWORDS: aesthetic of gesture, iconicity, experience convergence, hybridization, always on situated interaction, integration, service experience, social networking, strategic partnership.

With the 2nd EDITION – ALWAYS BETA – AROUNDMOBILE is enriching its framework by introducing two main research topics:

- OPEN SOURCE : mobile technology as an enabling platform, more than a product or solution,

- ALWAYS BETA: social behaviours and active involvement of users in the design experience

In the web 2.0 style communities of early adopters are the proactive test-beds for deploying pioneering ideas and for fine-tuning concepts in a virtually never-stopping loop based on people networking, sharing of information and synchronization of their experiences.

As Enrique C. Ortiz pointed out:
“Web 2.0 is based on user intelligence instead of technologies, i.e. by giving users smart tools that enable them to apply human semantics to information provided, you get a more intelligent web. This can only be done in a massive (thus useful) way with open standards and protocols that are inclusive and inviting to everyone.”

Acknowledging this promising scenario, AROUND MOBILE-ALWAYS BETA! aims at exploring the potential for developing new concepts for mobile devices and services that build upon the experience of COMMUNITIES and user driven design development.

Inspired by emergent phenomena within the web 2.0 and software development context, open source and always beta concepts can be extended to embrace an innovative, iterative, way to consider the entire DESIGN PROCESS, not only for mobile content development but also for the creation and production of mobile service tools and physical devices.

Crossing the established model of consumer electronics industrial design with the present style of novel application developers, AM-ALWAYS BETA! tries to envision new STRATEGIES for deploying technological innovation at the service of users experience.

The usual business model in the mobile industry has, so far, been the one of the walled gardens, where innovation was cast upon users from above by service provider and mobile phones developers. The Always Beta! Claim aims to suggest a mood of constant potential improvement in the development of integrated mobile solutions. It is alluding to a permanent state of being a “WORK IN PROGRESS ” as much as an approach that tries to short-circuit traditional production and distribution models, with a timely versioning and a reduced time to market for introducing innovations.

Milano, 11th June, 2008