Ki - future packaging for ashes
We truly believe that future packaging will enable us to enjoy new experiences, making the relation between customers and products more interactive. With these premises we designed a new packaging for deceased that is able to read the chimical composition of the ashes and transform these datas into projections of colours and shapes combined with sound effects.
In a future dominated by the fear of overpopulation and lack of space, we will be forced to use cremation in order to have a physical memory after the death of a loved one.
An urn is an ancient container which has been almost unchanged throughout the centuries, and it does not represents the singularity of each defunct. People ashes are unique and differs from one another, depending on how, and where that person lived. Ki is able to detect the percentage of chemical elements that are present in a cube of synthesized ashes. Foreseeing that in the future holograms will be visible to the naked eye, screened through common lenses, the urn converts the data in holograms of different colors and shapes combined with a musical background representing the defunct. When the urn is touch, the interactive surface picks up your unique heartbeat and pressure. This data animates and alters the projection creating an intimate experience between the person living and their loved one.
Children will be educated to death by an early age throughout this direct experience and will be able to have a visual memory of people that they maybe never met before.
To create the structure we started by studing the different types of urns from the past and decided to keep some common elements. Using Rhino we created a 3d model implementing future technologies and then realized the prototype. To create the shape of the model we carved a cube of polyurethane and then thermoformed it. Inside the product we inserted a led buttun.
People where very surprised of the solution found to an increasing problem. As designers we are always trying to find new solutions to expand our limits, this project gave us the chance to break down barriers thanks to future technologies.
This project was presented at Drupa Print Media Fair and won the second place during a contest for EPDA.
