Core77

iPad Wall doesn't make any sense

By Rain Noe - February 3, 2010

in Object Culture

This concept by Clarke Hopkins Clarke, to take a bunch of "recycled/refurbished" iPads and make a wall out of them, initially seems interesting...and then you start thinking about it. The description makes little sense:

There is no concern for the wall being obsolete in a few years time with the launch of new technologies. Each iPads contains its own processor and hard drive, the combined processing power and disk space will be so large that the wall will last for many years to come. The modular design will also make installation and replacement very easy.

With the built-in features of the iPad and customisable applications, there is literally an endless number of things we can do on the wall. Interchangeable wallpaper pattern & video is just the beginning, but imaging a giant jigsaw that you can play using multitouch, an interactive aquarium scene, digital graffiti, interactive speaker wall, even a life sized digital bookcase for your iBooks! (If you can't reach the top shelf, just drag it down with multi-touch!)

For wallpaper and patterns--why do you need an iPad? Ditto for interactive aquariums and graffiti; oughtn't you just purchase cheaper touchscreens? And the bookcase is where they really lose me: For one, who wants to read a book standing at a wall, and two, that bit about not being able to reach the top shelf--so we're supposed to get a ladder, then manually slide a book along different screens until it reaches our eye level?

The whole concept of the iPad is that it is a personal and intimate device. Throwing a few hundred of them on a wall does not make that wall either of those things. This is a prime example of taking a hot product and generating a half-baked concept around it to generate some buzz, and we have to rate it a Fail.

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yoda

14 years ago

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Is it useful? no it isn`t.
Are there better solutions for this? Probably.
Do I like it? Yes I do.

Just like the Ipad.
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Mike

14 years ago

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Megafail!
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Alex

14 years ago

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You might rate it a fail .... but if it's single intention was to generate buzz (regardless of what people think of the concept) ... then it's most likely been a resounding success!

The concept is unfortunately poor though... is this what happens when architects attempt to integrate an iPad into a design? Ouch!
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fastdesigna

14 years ago

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I think this architecture firm is one of the first to tile individualised PC onto a wall. and I can see why it's so different to the usual touch screen wall. It can become a data farm or processing farm. I can see the future as having individual processor inside each object, roof tiles, wall tiles, floor tiles included. There are so many gadget waste each year, why not use it as building material?? This concept is very ahead of its time. Very forward looking, I like it.
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Jason

14 years ago

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What I think the concepteur was excited about was the potential of an entire wall that was able to be interacted with by [multi]touch in a much "finer-grained" way than existing systems of that scale, which tend to use light/motion sensors as input. Any of the shortcomings you listed (bookcase height, etc.) are able to be overcome with the right programming driving the whole wall.

It might be blatantly capitalizing on the latest product buzz, but it is a great concept... I'd personally love to see what the right mix of technical artistry could achieve with it (though I wouldn't want to be the guy to bankroll it!)
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Bao-Khang Luu

14 years ago

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Hey, Rain. I had no idea you wrote for Core77. Anyways...wonderful critique! I would have to agree that some concepts like this are not well thought out and only work to garner buzz.

Have you seen the smiling car and augmented reality t-shirt? I'd love to hear your critique on those.
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Andy

14 years ago

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I have to agree with you. The use of many iPads like this, on the surface, doesn't make a lot of sense. It'd make more sense to have a bunch of touch screens tied to a central controller.
Maybe the key in this concept is interactivity on a 'per pane' level... but then why have it in a wall?
Yup, half-baked indeed.
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eric jessup

14 years ago

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yes, retarded hype humper! FAIL!
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