5 weeks project about developing a screenbased channel for a community

The Community
The people who have chosen not to bring entertainment themselves while waiting for their washings to get done in the local launderette.
This community exists out of instant need and only in this space and the time it takes washing. The space encourages little action (the actual events connected to the washing) and no real interaction. The basic need of this community is getting the waiting time over

Aims
To apply a richer perspective to the waiting time in the launderette and maybe encourage people to interact and communicate more by introducing this service to talk, act and meet around.

Motivation for using the service is as well the curiosity to see what CCTV cameras record. We know they are there, and we have a right to request the video where we appear ourselves, but what if you had the opportunity to have them monitored while you wait for your laundry?

   See quicktime video of Soap Opera

CCTV

"It has become an almost journalistic cliche to note that from the moment we leave the privacy of our homes we are under allmost permanent camera surveillance."

"So what happens is, we have an enormous amount of surveillance cameras in this country but not enough people to watch them."

There exists a similarity in indifference and monotony between the "window" with the turning laundry and the monitoring of CCTV footage.

The service - Soap Opera

Because of the way the typical launderette is arranged/fitted you sit opposite the machines and end up spending quite a long time looking into the cycle – if you have not chosen to bring entertainment yourself - so it makes sense to use the washing machine as interface to entering the digital version of the launderette community.

How

You place the laundry, soap etc. in the machine as usual. After putting in coins the machine will call up the nearest CCTV central and allocate a camera that is currently not watched by the central. Now you can start operating the camera using the already existing machinery as interface. You will have to stand up and go to your machine to zoom and zap between channels/cameras. (Effort-reward)
This service will probably create a new thing to talk in the launderette. I assume people will get exited and attract other people’s attention if something interesting is happening on one of the screens.

Inspiration

Not only did this old launderette have the Soap Opera sign but I found it a nice methaphor to use for the service as the washing machine was earlier referred to as the poor mans television.
Furthermore takes an average washing cycle 30 min which is the same amount of time as an average soap opera episode.
Surveying daily life

Graphics are inspired by the cheap weekly magazines.