roger ibars: hard wired devices

‘HWD corporation 098’ (2010), part of the ‘hard-wired devices corporation’ series by roger ibars sony controller (1994) with IDEA ‘jetlag’ travel alarm clock (2009)

in his ongoing project series ‘hard-wired devices‘ and ‘hard-wired devices corporation‘, spanish-born, berlin and tokyo -based designer roger ibars has modified over a hundred alarm clocks to be controlled by classic joysticks and video game controllers from decades past. in the world created by his designs, jumping on floorpad digits might turn your alarm on and off, and firing light guns or shifting sega steering wheel gears could set the clock time.

‘HWD-C-05’ atari joystick (1977) with philips’s clock radio (1978)

the conceptual foundation of the project is an exploration of interface design. recognizing that useful objects need to firstly attract our attention and secondly be intuitive to use, ibars began rethinking the design of the alarm clock, selecting joysticks and controllers as his counterpart medium for both their entertainment and design value.

he elaborates: ‘if you take a look at a regular alarm clock, you’ll see quite a sense-making interface, which tells you what to do. to redesign the interaction I didn’t simply use another “rational” interface but one from our existing interaction design culture.‘

‘HWD corporation 099’ (2010) ASCII ‘dance summit’ hand controller (2001)with IDEA ‘jetlag’ travel alarm clock (2009)

at the same time, the projects function as a kind of archive of popular culture and industrial innovation. each piece has been meticulously documented with information about its component parts, including interesting historical notes about the devices used. the collection thus documents the changing evolution of gaming, and of design innovation more generally.

ibars adds: ‘emotional attachment to objects is another driving force– I feel I have to rescue all this material culture before it’s too late.‘ in this sense, ‘hard-wired devices’ becomes an intervention to the continual disposal of old devices in our increasingly consumerist and tech-obsessed culture.

‘HWD corporation 100’ (2010) redoctane guitard (2007) with IDEA ‘jetlag’ travel alarm clock (2009)

in ‘HWD corporation 100’, users can either push the yellow button or strum upwards on the guitard to step the minutes down for the alarm, or instead the blue button or strum downwards to step the minutes up. other buttons control the remaining clock functionality, whose light is turned on or off by pressing the whammy bar.

‘HWD-C-04’ (2993( nintendo light guns (1985) with philips’s clock radio (1986)

in ‘HWD-C-04’, shooting the left gun advances the clock time, while the right gun controls the alarm setup. for either, full fire shooting advances the minutes quickly and half fire slowly.

‘HWD corporation 048’ (2010) mattel ‘power glove’ controller (1989) with IDEA ‘jetlag’ travel alarm clock (2009)

‘HWD corporation 045’ (2010) nintendo control pad and suncom joystick (1985) with IDEA ‘jetlag’ travel alarm clock (2009)

‘HWD-C-22’ (2006) amstrad ‘magnum light phaser’ light gun (1987) with panasonic alarm clock (1980s)

in the almost gesture-based ‘HWD-C-22’, turning and firing the light gun at a 90° angle turns the alarm off. a 135° angle increases the hours for clock set and a 225° angle those for alarm set, while turning and firing at a 45° angle steps the minutes for clock set and 315° controls those for alarm set.

left: ‘HWD corporation 042’ (2010) – bandai ‘family trainer’ floor mat game controller (1986) with IDEA ‘jetlag’ travel alarm clock (2009) right: ‘HWD corporation 050’ (2010) – nintendo ‘super famicom’ control pad (1991) with IDEA ‘jetlag’ travel alarm clcok (2009)

‘HWD corporation 042’ uses the ‘power pad’ (also called ‘family trainer’ and ‘family fun fitness’) for nintendo to power the alarm clock. stepping on numbers 1 or 2 increases or decreases the clock minutes respectively, while stepping on 3 or 4 sets the alarm time. the alarm is turned on or off by stepping on number 7 for three seconds, while number 6 switches the light on or off.

‘HWD corporation 078’ (2010) atari ‘jaguar’ hand controller (1994) with IDEA ‘jetlag’ travel alarm clock (2009)