Intention

To create serendipitous moments between loose acquaintances 

So, we sit for hours each day in zoom rooms with classmates & co-workers but never really get to know them beyond an icon. This can be really isolating and it’s easy for us to fall into our same routines. What makes serendipitous interactions enjoyable is the feeling you had to be in the right time and place for the experience to happen. You don’t always plan coffee chats, happy hours, or impromptu tea times. They just happen.

With the concept of "lost serendipidity" in mind, we wondered - how might we bring back these moments between acquaintances and to foster social connections during COVID times?

We settled on creating an ambient device to spark serendipitous interactions between loose acquaintances by surfacing people’s availability through light and motion in order to encourage casual socialization in remote spaces. . Given our time scope we wound up focusing on motion n ambient device for acquaintances that presents availability as light and movement.