It strikes us as odd that in this United Nations’ International Year of the Potato there haven’t been any urban potatoculture initiatives. United Nations, helloooo?

Anyways, here’s an idea to get closer urban homo sapiens and their solanum tuberosum counterparts: Imagine there are potatoes secretly planted in public spaces and parks in the city; these potatoes can be looked up in a map and be adopted by carb-loving citizens (from now on referred to as potato pimps) who can take care of the developing urban potato plants by watering and fertilizing them as well as documenting the growth process.

The map can be updated with news and tips for the community of potato pimps, who, harvest time come, can get together to share delicious dishes using their beloved adopted tubers!

The map above shows real geographical positions of real potatoes sowed on a rainy Saturday in the city of Bogotá. The invitation is open for anyone interested in becoming a potato pimp to choose a potato and commit to take care of the plant.

We know some of our babies wont survive the tough life in the streets but we cannot let ourselves be overcome with sadness or despair as we strongly feel we have a message to deliver, namely, a message of potato love.

We hope that with time, more potatoes can be sown in different places and cities, and also hope that the logistics and touch points–so primitive at this point–can evolve to render a most meaningful and potatolicious experience.

This Halloween night, trust no potato.

Potatokind and mankind’s paths have been intertwined for millennia. Through history, besides their delicious and nutritious qualities, potatoes have been used as effective weapons against predators and enemies, and have even helped us unwind at the end of a long day, when the only thing we want to do is to play a little potato-ball or perhaps get a rolling potato massage.

As depicted in 2001: A Space Oddyssey (remember the giant black rectangular potato monolith), potatoes played an instrumental role in the origin of civilization. Were it not for these magnificent tubers we would still be living as pets and fodder for dinosaurs*. Perhaps some would think that we are being too bold in saying that potato stamps were the first form of graphic communication, perhaps that’s debatable. But what no one can deny is the insurmountable debt humanity owes to the spud kingdom.

As part of our opportunistic retro-inventions series, the image above shows the potato print system with a carved stamp depicting a funky dancing LED that uses glow in the dark ink, not out of place at all in prehistorical, post-apocalyptic or Halloween party scenarios, among others.

*Hyperbole added for dramatic effect only. Zazaziza is a firm follower of the theory of evolution.

Everything is made of potatoes, even you and i.

All we need is a high-tech feature and we can start tickling that little guy. In terms of interaction design, physicality, and our behaviour, the Solanum tuberosum is the perfect type– we feel all good with potatoes.

The keratin watch is a low tech bioscreen that displays the passage of time according to personal rhythms. It works by taking advantage of the fact that fingernails are completely renewed every 2 to 4 months, in average. As new cells are born at the root of the nail, older cells get compacted and pushed outside. Drawing a permanent mark next to the cuticle makes clearly visible the nail’s growth through time.

In a constant growth rate scenario, several keratin watch cycles could be used to keep track of relatively long periods of time (semesters to years); conversely, if growth rate changes, a keratin watch can be employed to measure nutritional changes in the wearer.

As a replacement of regular watches or other forms of contemporary time keeping, the keratin watch isn’t probably the most accurate option, save for a castaway island or Guantánamo bay prisoner type of situation, nevertheless, a keratin watch can be used as a subtle form of personal reminder system, (think of a real slow hourglass). A wearer, for instance, could set personal goals that should be fulfilled before the mark gets to the edge of the nail.

Shown above, the moving Sharpie mark travels outbound over a 1 month period. The mark was drawn next to the cuticle 70 days ago.

Ask not what potatoes can do for you - ask what you can do for potatoes.

Being 2008 the international year of the potato, as declared by the United Nations, Zazaziza–never ones to shy away from delicious foods–want to officially join this celebration of the king of tubers.

We know you might be asking how are we exactly going to join this celebration. Well, truth is we don’t really know. There must be a way of making potatoes look related to interaction design, somehow. God Bless Us. And the potato.

Official site: http://www.potato2008.org/

Neither interactive nor reactive.

Instant film pictures taken with the Polaroid sheet camera and put inside felt photo corners sewn on a t-shirt.
Thanks to N. Hayakawa for the photo session assistance.

As part of the Somethingscopes series, the Zazaziza optical department has been sketching and testing a concept for a motorised forensic camera that takes instant film snapshots of computer screens.

How it works - so far

The Polaroid sheet camera uses the basic principle of light polarisation to mimic the behaviour of a camera diaphragm and shutter. LCD screens emit polarised light which allows a Polaroid sheet in the camera to take on the diaphragm behaviour.

By changing the rotation of the Polaroid sheet, the amount of light that passes through can change from almost nothing (diaphragm closed) to nearly the full intensity that is being beamed by the source (diaphragm fully open.) In this way the “Polaroid diaphragm” adjusts the amount of light reaching a photosensitive material–a single sheet of instant film*–that will become the final picture.

A stepper motor controls the rotation of the camera body, from the light blocking position to the fully open position (90 degrees), in which the instant film is exposed for a predetermined amount of time before the whole camera body is rotated back to the blocking position.

After being exposed, the instant film sheet is taken out of the camera body (in a dark room) and developed normally by making it pass through a roller mechanism. Hopefully, all this explanation will make more sense after watching the video of the camera in action:

As of now, Zazaziza has no idea what problem this camera is the answer to, nevertheless we hope it can be seen as a small homage to the genius of Edwin Land, one of the greatest inventors of the 20th century.

Zazaziza has no affiliation whatsoever with the Polaroid Corporation or the FujiFilm Corporation, we’re just instant film groupies.

*Instant film FujiFilm FP-100c was used, although other references of Fuji or Polaroid should also work fine.

Polaroid filters rock.