Living Wall by James Costello from usa

The Living Wall is a communication board, storage unit, organizational wall, and charging station all in one. It is made specifically for the home, but it could potentially be useful in other settings.

The Living Wall is divided into six sections, and allows family members to charge their smart phones and hang their keys in the same place. When people leave in the morning they are always grabbing their keys and smart phone before they walk out the door. Sometimes they misplace one or both and spend valuable time searching for them. Most often the smart phone is out of juice so you have to search for a cord too. Now the smart phone is all charged and the keys are hanging right above their smart phone, and you are ready to walk out the door.

The top panel is an electronic information center that gives basic daily information concerning the current time, date, temperature, and weather. We all want to know the time, weather and temperature in the morning before starting our day. We see the time and realize we need to leave in 15 minutes to be on time for school or work, and knowing the current temperature and weather forecast let us know we need a coat or umbrella.

The second panel is a white board which is a communication hub between family members. For example, Dad may write things he needs from the store, Mom will write what time she will be home tonight, and the children may write activities they have that day, e.g. “Don’t forget I have soccer practice at 4:00 PM!” While all family members can see the message on the white board, the message can also be sent to an individual’s smart phone. Simply touch the white board button to send the message to the smart phone below. While we still get the tactile feeling of writing the message, there’s the convenience of having the information saved and sent to the smart phone.

The third section is the the Charging Station for smart phones. Above the smart phones are hooks for keys. The Living Wall enables a family to keep these important items quickly within reach and in the same place so they know where to quickly find them. The third section also incorporates a sound system so music can be streamed through the speakers from your smart phone. No need for an extra docking station for music!

The sections directly below are storage units for umbrellas, pens, paper, scissors, tape, etc. All things we use often, but are scattered in different places around the house, making them difficult to find.

The Living Wall is 72 inches tall and 48 inches wide. The Living Wall will have a metal back structure attached to the wall. Module units will be attached to the metal back structure. The front panels and modules can be fabricated from MDF and then painted with white lacquer. Another option is to make the front panel and modules injection molded with white ABS plastic.