C/O: Interaction Design Institute Ivrea Where: Ivrea (Italy) When: 2004-2005

“I still have the old approach…the book approach. I don’t know what I have to read and what not [reading from a webmail page], so I read everything. It takes me ages to find what I need.“
Bettina, teacher, 40.

“I receive a lot of spam and I have eight accounts that I check everyday. I’d like to have an assistant, one of those who prints certain e-mails for you and lets you find them on your desk”
Anonymous, Interaction Design Institute Ivrea interviewee.

The Phymail is an information appliance that checks and prints important e-mails, according to the user’s preferences.
It is a wireless device, therefore it can be used anywhere the user has access to wireless internet connectivity, be it at home, in a city location or in a public place.
It is pocket-size and it can warn the user, with a buzz, on his mobile phone if an e-mail has been delivered.

The object receives and prints only incoming e-mails according to pre-defined filters (coming from a specific address, having a specific subject, having importance set as high, etc.).
The user interacts with the object physically to perform or change temporary functions.
For instance, by turning the Phymail Box upside down it goes off-line, or by laying it on a specific side you select an individual or specific group from which to receive e-mails.