Reiterating Greenfield’s insights, what was once relegated to the confines of our unspoken thoughts now has the ability to be broadcast to the world via tweet, post, share, pin, snap, gram and more. This is specific for intentional media posts, but what if there was a constant stream of relevant user data circulated in a safe and established network of like-minded citizens, all pertaining to the well-being of their community? Communal totems, communal beacons.
This network allows for one’s participation to be turned “on or off” at the discretion of individual users. Here is where the SUN initiative separates itself from the others. While a user doesn’t have to use any other piece of technology beyond their app, for the dedicated local citizen, there is a next level of involvement: The Connected Totem.
With the SUN initiative, one must support the notion of a UX in addition to that of accessing the internet via a screen, and it is the connected totem device that will serve as the go between with IoT sensors in the surrounding community which will automatically create social content via the app’s feed.
Once enabled, a user’s connected totem data will be streamed to a social feed indicating what tasks a specific user is currently tackling, and where. Here too, is an opportunity to implement a form of transmedia storytelling at the community level. The SUN initiative supposes the same functionality can work in a non-fiction narrative, that of a community, and that each individual may choose to add to the unfolding story of their community, “Community Convergence.”