Design Process

Vending machines represent to us an increasing machination of society and the corresponding decrease in person-to-person transactions. Our intent was to explore a solution where the result of using the machine was more person-to-person contact rather than less.

Concept Development

Since we were designing a system of exchange as well as a device, we first explored types of marketplaces where human contact was maximized rather than minimized. We talked about types of brick-and-mortar stores that shared our goals, as well as online marketplaces for goods that had succeeded by connecting an unlimited number of potential buyers and sellers. The consignment shop model stood out in our mind for its novelty as well as for the highly local nature of the transactions that occur there­. Our solution then was to combine the best aspects of both of these models into an automated device.

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