Product Display Stand / 2007 / Velocitek

Overview: I was approached by Velocitek to design a product display stand for one of their new sailing speedometers. The company was interested in creating a portable desktop display stand that would highlight their new product, the SC-1 It was also important that the display stand work within the context of a boat show and that the story of the product be coherently communicated through the display's design. The new product was a very high end speedometer for professional sailers and racers who would not only use the device to determine how fast they were going but also what direction to steer in order to sail faster. The idea that this product would help sailers infact sail faster was a vital message that needed to be communicated.

Skills: creating the fabric interface involved taking code written for the Malleable Surfaces Project by Florian Vogt et al at the Human Communication Technologies Lab and customizing it by reworking some java as well as some python in order to have the mesh size and resolution fit the dimensions of the stand.                     the python code was also edited in order to make the surface behave more like a sail with wind blowing into it. This involved adding some averaging functions to smooth out the overall motion. Video: pokey dots - a video explaining the customized interface created to design this display stand with.

working process

I was intrigued by sails, and sailing fabrics and 
thought that the visual imagery of sails blowing
in the wind could make  a powerful backdrop for the
product itself.

sketching on different concepts, I began to see that infact the relationship between the sail and the product was both visually
strong as well as conceptually. It was because of the information that the speedometer would provide that would help put more
wind into the sailboat's sail.

Understanding that portability of the tradeshow stand was vital since the company would have to transport this
stand from tradeshow to tradeshow. I looked at how different items are tranpsorted on airplanes. The form
factor of a wakeboard was the most appropriate for both allowing for the stand to be transported easily
as well as providing a familiar form factor to people who sail.

I produced some 1 to 1 scale foam models to
understand how the display would relate to the
product and the desktop. This was also useful to
determine the location of the brochure on the stand.

From here I looked at different interfaces that would allow
me to engage with the 'sail' surface in a very natural manner.
I came across the malleable surface touch interface by
Florian Vogt et al from the H.C.T. Lab, an old colleague

After getting the source code, I began to set up the system and  experiment with
different configurations, trying to find the set up which would most closely
resemble the geometry and effect I was looking for. This involved both manipulating
the physical set up as well as rewriting sections of the code.

The Fabric Interface allowed me to manipulate a digital surface as if it were a textile. This image is of an interaction
where I am deforming the spandex fabric which, as a result is deforming the digital representation of the surface.
The deformation information was recorded like in motion capture, and the data was reviewed after the fact, allowing
me to select the still frames that were the most effective for the concept.

The 3d data points were imported from there
into Rhino and integrated into the rest of the
3d surfacing.

The mesh contours were given thickness to create
a webbing. This webbing would be a rubber
texture that would contrast the high gloss white
outer body.

The digital model was iterated on several times until I
was able to tweak the surfaces to acheive what I had
in mind. The stand has similar surfaces to that of the
speedometer.

The main body getting built in the cnc mill

The main body getting built in the cnc mill

The main body completed. Holes were drilled into it
to reduce weight and make transport easier.

The completed display stand.

The aggressive contours of the surface
create a feeling of the speedometer releasing
a wave of energy around it.

A close up of the company logo extruded out of the surface.

The brochure was also designed in order to echo the same bold design language of the display itself.

The back of the display had a transparent stand
that would allow it to stand up. There were also
hanging mounts designed into the body to allow
it to be hanged