By David Steele Overholt (February 18, 2009) (week 4 non-human post)

Questions. Find something non-human.
A really interesting idea to me is the integration of “smart object” sensors into less-assuming places. For this post I’ll focus on the idea of using sensors and communication with my bath/shower mat and its owner (me).

If it had a sensor and datastream, what voice, personality, and intention might it have?
I think my bath mat would best be served as a twitter bot. Telling me how long ago it was since I took a shower, or telling me its been far too long since I washed it. It would also obviously be able to give me my current weight and could serve as a diet/exercise monitor.

What might it want to say to us?
Pumping out routine statistics in the perspective of an inanimate object, instead of just numbers, would make the most sense.

Would it use voice, text, or another human communication protocol?
As a twitter bot it would obviously be test, but I think the ability to take pictures from the POV of the floor would add a really unique perspective (pun intended).

What would it want for itself?
To be washed, dried, be used, and not stepped on so hard. It definitely wouldn’t want to be peed on by cats like it is now at times.

If it tried to appeal to us emotionally, what emotion would it appeal to?
Humor/self-esteem and confidence. A bath mat is furry, so the idea of having a bath mat telling me what to do or what i do is akin to having a new pet.

How might it attempt to disguise itself as ‘human’?
The twitter bot would mimic human communication, and it would be very easy to speak from the first person (as the mat) and disguise the pre-determined language used.