1 2008-01-29T19:13:30Z 24 Ladies and Mens Room Mixup 621 How do you approach someone at a night club? In an effort to facilitate contact between people at a night club, we created a need for people to communicate: to clarify a confusing situation. We developed a prototype for a restroom gender sign switcher, which operated both automatically and as a result of human interaction and input. We explore aspects of communication, question social norms, and explore how critical design can be used to change the dynamic of communication in the context of a night club. false Creating a social connection with a stranger in a night club is difficult. This is a paradox to us since socializing is a primary purpose of a night club. Social norms tell us to have a reason to initiate contact. As a result, people look for excuses to engage in social activity. With this project we ask: *How can contact be facilitated at night clubs?* Awkward situations create the need, rather than the desire, to communicate. This can be used as an excuse for creating contact. Normally restrooms in public spaces are divided between genders. Only two signs, male and female, define the difference between these two rooms. These signs are treated with great respect; it would be controversial if a male entered the room with a sign of a female on the door. By switching the signs females would involuntary walk into a restroom filled with males and vice versa - they would unknowingly and unwillingly be victims of our design. This project explored how such confusion creates social interaction between the different genders and amongst individuals. This project was developed by several students from Malmö Hogskola K3 and Half Machine artists. LED Matrix displays show male/female signs on toilets, and switch according to how many times doors open, user controlled wheel input, and electrical currents passed through people when they touch. Created by: <ul> <li>Vanessa Carpenter (vanessajcarpenter@gmail.com)</li> <li>Mads Høbye (madshobye@gmail.com)</li> <li>Daniel Brynolf</li> <li>Jonas Eriksson</li> <li>Nicolas Padfield</li> </ul> <br/> Photos of the creation process and the prototyping nights can be seen here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8517602@N08/sets/72157603418301107/" TARGET="_blank"> photographs</a>. <br/> Video documentation of the prototyping nights can be seen here: <br/><a href="http://blip.tv/file/639960" target=#_blank"> Prototype Night 1</a> <br/> <a href="http://blip.tv/file/633061" target=#_blank"> Prototype Night 2</a> <br/> Full project documentation is here: <a href="http://halfmachine.dk/pictures/0000/0641/LadiesandMensMixup.pdf"target=#_blank">Documentation PDF</a>