Kōyū「朋友」

Kōyū project is our result of an 'Intensive Program : Internet of Things' in Amsterdam. In groups of 7 international students we worked out a small device, helping people to lead to each other in case that they fit together by sharing same interests and hobbies. The idea behind the 'Hōyū' is to get people physically linked by using the web because nowadays most people communicate only digital. Facebook for example ensures that all communication takes place only by typing. This is where 'Kōyū' takes the advantage of Facebook but then goes a step further by actually merging people.

The unit saves the key Facebook-data such as hobbies, 'likes' and some user information such as gender and age and compares those dates with other 'Kōyū' devices in the vicinity. If the device detects a person with similar interests and hobbies it shows the user the direction to a possible friend by vibration.

The accompanying app connects to Facebook and sends the data to the device. Then 'Kōyū' can be used independently from your smartphone - also when you are offline. In addition, you can customize the app search behavior. For example, one person might look for another of a particular sex or age.