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.

Design :.
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.).

Tilt Interface :.
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.