In today’s society, the disposal of consumer goods is easily accessible and constantly practiced in the context of the household. We disregard these objects because we believe that they are in the state of beyond repair, aesthetically outdated or futile for the sake of personal convenience. Smart Bin was a project conceived from provocations on technology that would force us to think more critically about our gestures around the utter disposal of objects, and to find new paradigm shifts in the way we use, design and enable technology itself. Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby argues that the role of critical design is “raising awareness, exposing assumptions, provoking action [and] sparking debate”. In addition, they describe the important role of humour as a catalyst to perplex and enforce a viewer to question. Influenced by this attitude, Smart Bin used the feeling of frustration and time to inhibit people the luxury of attainable disposability. Through found guidelines from Instructables, we used sensors and mechanical latches to give users the convenience of automation. However, the lid will stay closed for one hour in between each disposal. This forced people to think more critically about the implications of their actions and relationships with objects. The use of wood, as well as the understated design are a critique against the ubiquitous, metallic and plastic automated bins—whose materiality glorify accessible disposability.

The prototype was created with mixed media including rubber plywood, eastern maple veneer, an Arduino board, wires, LED, a solenoid latch, proximity sensors and a hydraulic gas hinge.

This project was conceptualized, designed and crafted in great partnership with Shraeyas Massey and Mrinmoyee Ghose.

Dimensions

38 cm x 30.5 cm x 25.5 cm.

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