Knock, Knock is a way to link two disparate parts of Oxford in a unique and playful way. A mysterious front door would appear over night in two locations in Oxford and invite passers-by to knock on it.
When someone knocks on a door, the knock will magically be heard on the linked door and if someone in the other location hears it, they can reply by knocking back, creating an instant and surprising conversation.
The doors will also include small video peepholes that let viewers teleport themselves to the other location and chance a glimpse of their new friend on the other side of town.
I really like the use of an interior door in the public space. I was just wondering how this conversation takes place: is it just that they can hear the knock, or will they be able to see each other at the same time? What are the different user experience scenarios?
Hi, Vanessa, I created Knock, Knock. I’m glad you like the idea. We’d like to experiment with just how much the user can see through the peephole. It might be quite obscured, so you just get a hint of the other place and have to rely on knocking to communicate – tapping out rhythms and having them answered.
Always in support of encouraging connectedness through being curious! Reminds me a little of the Artichoke Telectroscope that ran under the Atlantic and joined London with New York. Great ideas – provoking interaction by also creating suspense…
Hi, Becca, I created Knock, Knock. We’re glad that you think it’s a great idea. The Telectroscope was such an amazing project that we were well aware of. We wanted to come up with an idea that was less open to mischief and abuse. Communicating only through knocks and a small peephole hugely reduces the opportunity for strangers to troll each other whilst retaining the mystery and intrigue of the project. We wanted to play with the idea of Oxford being a place where things happen behind closed doors but flipping it on it’s head so that the closed doors become something fun.
Hi – I’m hearing impaired – how would I get to play too?
Interesting BUT city centre is congested and personally feel that this will exacerbate the problem
Which locations do you have in mind? How long would the work be in situ for?
I really like the idea of a domestic door suddenly appearing in a street somewhere, but don’t people use Skype/Facetime/Whatsapp to connect with one another already?