Extreme Measures

One of six visual and technical studies for the series Everyday Experiments by IKEA research lab SPACE10 – exploring how new technologies will redefine how we live at home.

Extreme Measures, aka the Elephant in the Room – a perfectly non-rational approach to sensing dimensions and volume.

The experiment allows us to place elephants anywhere and everywhere, to get a sense of how much space we have: that space under your bed, that nook under your stairs. The Elephant inflates to the confines of your newly discovered spaces.

The metaphorical “Elephant in the room”, something we’re trying to ignore, is subverted into a way of seeing potential, of sensing space intuitively, non-metrically.

Why an elephant, you ask? Well, why not!

An augmented object inflates in a real space – and conveniently measures volume and dimensions for you: the basic mechanic of our Extreme Measures experiment.

By creating new ways of visualising size and space, FIELD experiments with our own perceptions of scale and find new and more useful ways to utilise, optimise and transform our spaces.

With Lidar-based scanning in our pockets on latest mobiles and tablets, augmented reality can finally grow up – from gimmick to reliable tool.