Identity Research

IDEO, Identity cards- http://www.ideo.com/identity/introduction.htm


I found this website very interesting and helpful for my research on identities. The first thing you see on this website is a list of different business cards that people have created to show the identity of the owner of the card. For example the “hair card” a strand of the owner’s hair will be implanted onto a standard business card. The hair strand contains the unique DNA of the owner so if the receiver scans the hair strand, all the details such as qualifications, authentication will be displayed. The same goes for the blood card. Another reason why these cards are good for providing identification, it’s because there is no risk of identity theft as the owner’s hair strand contains his own unique DNA that no one can ever copy

Now coming to digital identity, I came across a business card which I personally think is a really good idea. The “lightstick” by designer Duane Bray where a business card can reflect new information by bending or shaking the card. It is done electronically, at first the card can hold personal information of the owner, and then shaking it will reveal other information such as qualifications.
Moving on, I discovered another really good idea by designer Steve Heron called the Pin Box. The Pin Box is shaped like a business card but can recapture moments in meetings like the pin-hole camera idea in photography. The owner will peel off the cover to produce a photograph.



Second Life is a 3D virtual world where people can create new identities (avatars) and live their 2nd life in this virtual world. This is their second identity where they might not be able to do the things they can do in their first life (reality world) which they can do here e.g. a disabled person can be a superhero in second life. In second life you can create a character to look whatever you want your avatar to look like. You can make your avatar do whatever you want it to do, you can explore, meet new people etc. Second Life is a great idea as it gives people two identities, so if people are not happy with their first identity they can always go on second life to live out their second identity.