NOTICE

A Portable Observation Companion

NOTICE is a portable, AI-mediated observation companion that invites designers to slow down, look closer, and discover inspiration in everyday surroundings. Grounded in Kenya Hara’s notion of ex-formation, defamiliarisation, and reflective design, it treats observation as an active, personal practice rather than simply recording what is seen. Before a photograph is taken, NOTICE offers an open-ended perceptual lens, encouraging attention to overlooked details, relationships, and patterns. After capture, AI asks a scene-responsive question and invites a spoken reflection. The photograph and reflection can then be translated into design language and visual explorations, building a personal inspiration library to revisit over time. Developed using a research-through-design approach, NOTICE explores a different role for AI in creative practice: provoking curiosity and supporting reflection without prescribing meaning. The designer remains responsible for interpreting encounters, choosing what matters, and deciding what to keep — preserving personal judgement, ambiguity, and authorship.