Journalism audiences are no longer solely reliant on traditional forms of media distribution such as print, radio and television to learn about relevant news. Internet-based platforms and digital technologies have reshaped how individuals can receive important news information. This shift has changed the physicality of how audiences engage with news, audiences have moved away from the use of news delivery devices, such as televisions and radios, that were reliant in varying forms on tactile buttons and knobs.
The Newsomatic project explores how digital technologies are changing news distribution through a lens of the changing physicality of news consumption, through the creation of an audio-based digital news device which plays custom news bulletins whose subject matter and playback is controlled through tactile analog knobs and buttons.
This prototype examines how digital technologies such as single board computers, artificial intelligence and digital content can be combined with tactile controls such as knobs and buttons, to both embrace a new mode of journalism distribution while reintroducing an element of physicality to media consumption.