Kim Colin from Future Facility in conversation with Max Fraser

**Exploring the Susa Device: A Glimpse into Future Facility's Innovation**

**Introduction**

At the London Design Festival, a thought-provoking exhibition titled "Design You Can Feel" showcases the Susa device, designed by Kim Collin from Future Facility. This article delves into the details of this innovative creation, focusing on its design philosophy, material innovation, functionality, and user experience.

**Design Philosophy: Embracing Calm Technology**

Kim Collin emphasizes the concept of "calm technology" in his work, aiming to create devices that do not demand constant attention. The Susa device is a testament to this philosophy, designed to provide guidance and assurance without overwhelming users. This approach resonates with younger generations who are increasingly aware of how modern technology can be mentally taxing.

**Material Innovation: Introducing s Aluminum**

The heart of the Susa device lies in its unique material, s aluminum—a fusion of ceramic and aluminum. Developed over four years by Asus, s aluminum offers a warmer, more tactile feel compared to traditional sleek devices. Its matte surface and grainy texture provide a comforting touch, marking a departure from conventional smartphone materials.

**Functionality and User Experience**

The Susa device features a perforated screen that reduces visual stimulation, presenting information in a less intrusive manner. While the screen's resolution is lower than typical smartphones, it serves the purpose of dampening sensory overload. The device incorporates haptic technology, allowing interaction with a softer surface, thus enhancing user engagement without being overly demanding.

**Conclusion: A Call for Reflection**

Kim Collin hopes that the Susa device will inspire curiosity and reflection among users. By challenging traditional design norms, Future Facility aims to spark discussions on how technology can serve users in a more mindful and less invasive way. As we rush towards faster and more convenient tech, the Susa device offers a thoughtful pause, encouraging us to consider a different approach.

This article captures the essence of the Susa device, highlighting its innovative design, material science, and user-centric philosophy. It invites us to rethink our relationship with technology and embrace devices that support, rather than overwhelm, our daily lives.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe're here at design you can feel an exhibition in London during the London design Festival I'm joined by Kim Collin from future facility welcome Kim thanks so much um for talking to me today because we are going to discuss this wonderful piece in front of us called Susa which you designed especially for this exhibition working with uh a material that Asus developed um called s aluminum tell us what you what you've designed here Souza is an AI device uh an assistant that is entirely wrapped in s aluminium it has a perforated screen it slightly suppresses some of the stimulation that we get and it's really adheres to the principles of calm technology it's a bit of a provocation about those ideas so let's talk about the material because this stems from a a development four years that Ace has put into creating s aluminum which for the context of everyone watching is a merging of the words ceramic and aluminium which I think says a lot we've been describing as a ceram sized aluminium tell us about the material itself okay and indeed what were your first impressions when you encountered it I bought it to your studio however many months ago to talk about this project you know what was some of those initial reactions I think what we all did was pet it you know initially I think we were all just feeling feeling it and wondering what are the possibilities and watery feeling sometimes ceramic can be cold you know like a China Cup this is a very different a much warmer feel and it's slightly grainy but the surface is matte normally future facility doesn't start with a material to start a project I would say we try to balance all the ideas in a project to try to get an equilibrium between its production it's meaning and culture it's function it's etc etc we don't start normally with the material and so this was a very different case for us and it was an interesting experiment so we used the idea of Sal aluminium a warmer uh more tactile surface as a way to say hm what would it be if we had a handheld device and that device was an AI device a guidance device let's say or an assistant device so we thought well serinium offers us this opportunity to make a device that is different in the hand than any other device we've seen um most devices as we know are slick they're quite shiny they all have uh lovely radiuses they're glossy and those are you know the purpose of them smartphones Etc is to take our attention right and so we've been talking a lot in the studio about this idea about calm technology and also my students are thinking about it a lot younger people are thinking about it a lot where they're quite conscious that these devices are are taking our attention right what are they giving they're giving maybe convenience guidance um Assurance but they're taking things too and of course there's the whole mental health aspect to that too so which I won't go into anyway we said what an interesting experiment to talk about if a material can actually give a device a different feel that has a different purpose to it so the purpose and the material started to come together for us and therefore it's resulted in this suet device and as you can see it's very matte it has a tactile feel that others don't have it's not glossy it's not shiny and especially the screen which is the taker right is takes takes the attention is now slightly repressed a nicer word is probably dampened a lot of people have said well I don't know if I I like that I can see high resolution everything on my phone this is low resolution so purposefully low resolution and it's purposefully I guess you would say someone would choose to live with a device like this because they want to dampen that sensibility for themselves they don't want to be sucked in all the time by the algorithms Etc so it's a very different point of view yeah and then in terms of its functionality of course there's a concept yeah at this stage but you have built in some haptic technology as well yes in terms of how you you interact with the screen we're used to touching and scrolling on a device like this does that still correlate does that yes we're used to touching and scrolling on glass generally yeah uh and so this is very different we're touching and scrolling on something that's much softer and and perforated so you can still see images you can still see guidance you can still see navigation you can still see even Graphics that talk about sounds or that somebody's calling and you can still touch and scroll the screen yeah but it's just not on glass and I would say it's maybe it's not physically slower but I think it's conceptually a bit slower it's this dampening yeah dampening is the best way I could say it so of course we're about to debut this during the London design festival and I wanted to get your thoughts on how people might react to the device what are you what are you hoping will be the response I hope people are are curious about it I hope they touch it and think about what it could be and how it's different than what they have and just let that engage with the mind of of of all of us as we're on this kind of quick rocket to faster more convenient everything Kim thank you so much for explaining the project pleasure thank you Max for having me and thanks to Asus for Sly minionwe're here at design you can feel an exhibition in London during the London design Festival I'm joined by Kim Collin from future facility welcome Kim thanks so much um for talking to me today because we are going to discuss this wonderful piece in front of us called Susa which you designed especially for this exhibition working with uh a material that Asus developed um called s aluminum tell us what you what you've designed here Souza is an AI device uh an assistant that is entirely wrapped in s aluminium it has a perforated screen it slightly suppresses some of the stimulation that we get and it's really adheres to the principles of calm technology it's a bit of a provocation about those ideas so let's talk about the material because this stems from a a development four years that Ace has put into creating s aluminum which for the context of everyone watching is a merging of the words ceramic and aluminium which I think says a lot we've been describing as a ceram sized aluminium tell us about the material itself okay and indeed what were your first impressions when you encountered it I bought it to your studio however many months ago to talk about this project you know what was some of those initial reactions I think what we all did was pet it you know initially I think we were all just feeling feeling it and wondering what are the possibilities and watery feeling sometimes ceramic can be cold you know like a China Cup this is a very different a much warmer feel and it's slightly grainy but the surface is matte normally future facility doesn't start with a material to start a project I would say we try to balance all the ideas in a project to try to get an equilibrium between its production it's meaning and culture it's function it's etc etc we don't start normally with the material and so this was a very different case for us and it was an interesting experiment so we used the idea of Sal aluminium a warmer uh more tactile surface as a way to say hm what would it be if we had a handheld device and that device was an AI device a guidance device let's say or an assistant device so we thought well serinium offers us this opportunity to make a device that is different in the hand than any other device we've seen um most devices as we know are slick they're quite shiny they all have uh lovely radiuses they're glossy and those are you know the purpose of them smartphones Etc is to take our attention right and so we've been talking a lot in the studio about this idea about calm technology and also my students are thinking about it a lot younger people are thinking about it a lot where they're quite conscious that these devices are are taking our attention right what are they giving they're giving maybe convenience guidance um Assurance but they're taking things too and of course there's the whole mental health aspect to that too so which I won't go into anyway we said what an interesting experiment to talk about if a material can actually give a device a different feel that has a different purpose to it so the purpose and the material started to come together for us and therefore it's resulted in this suet device and as you can see it's very matte it has a tactile feel that others don't have it's not glossy it's not shiny and especially the screen which is the taker right is takes takes the attention is now slightly repressed a nicer word is probably dampened a lot of people have said well I don't know if I I like that I can see high resolution everything on my phone this is low resolution so purposefully low resolution and it's purposefully I guess you would say someone would choose to live with a device like this because they want to dampen that sensibility for themselves they don't want to be sucked in all the time by the algorithms Etc so it's a very different point of view yeah and then in terms of its functionality of course there's a concept yeah at this stage but you have built in some haptic technology as well yes in terms of how you you interact with the screen we're used to touching and scrolling on a device like this does that still correlate does that yes we're used to touching and scrolling on glass generally yeah uh and so this is very different we're touching and scrolling on something that's much softer and and perforated so you can still see images you can still see guidance you can still see navigation you can still see even Graphics that talk about sounds or that somebody's calling and you can still touch and scroll the screen yeah but it's just not on glass and I would say it's maybe it's not physically slower but I think it's conceptually a bit slower it's this dampening yeah dampening is the best way I could say it so of course we're about to debut this during the London design festival and I wanted to get your thoughts on how people might react to the device what are you what are you hoping will be the response I hope people are are curious about it I hope they touch it and think about what it could be and how it's different than what they have and just let that engage with the mind of of of all of us as we're on this kind of quick rocket to faster more convenient everything Kim thank you so much for explaining the project pleasure thank you Max for having me and thanks to Asus for Sly minion\n"