Prototype 

Ultimately, we designed a prototype that would convert a digital object like a photo and transform it into a physical object that would aid in the forgetting process. 

Users would find a photo they wanted to delete, connect their phone with our prototype so the photo appears on the screen, and then be shown a sequence where the photo is being burned on the screen. As the photo burns, there is a physical act of burning happening "behind the scenes" within our prototype. After the photo finishes digitally burning, a vial filled with ash is released from our prototype, which the user can either dispose or keep. 

Our prototype consists of a screen placed within a laser-cut wood structure. The "behind the scene" burning would occur in the bulky portion of our prototype. Additionally, the little space underneath the screen would be where the vial is dropped down and collected. If the user didn't want to keep the vial themselves, then cycling the prototype would send the vial back into an internal storage area.

We named our prototype "Vestige" because of its definition and its relation to the concept of forgetting. Vestige is essentially a remnant of a former object because it "is disappearing or no longer exists." We believed the ash within a vial would be a more personal means to help us forget the experiences represented in the digital images.