WaSnake SMS & RSS Personal Flexible News Ticker

Jean Louis Frechin, who designed the strange chronopictographic digital photo frames, also has an idea of what you could keep your WiFi picture viewer on.  His bendy WaSnake shelving doesn't just stop at holding up the odd vase, though; it's a clever display in its own right.  Colored LEDs and optical fibres fill blocks periodically along the shelf, and these can display SMS messages and RSS feeds that scroll across its length.

Frechin describes it as "a discreet, fluid and visual experience (digital matter) in the home context" and "a hybrid, multi-functional object that is both physical and digital."  Whether you buy into the design-speak or not, WaSnake is undoubtedly clever.  The idea is that the house has it's own mobile number to which messages could be sent, as well as specific RSS news feeds that turn it into a personalised, domestic ticker.

A computer interface uses a straightforward "widgets" layout to create rules and programmes for what gets displayed.  Different widgets can be linked to different chunks of display.  Sadly it doesn't look like this will be a commercial release.

[via NewLaunches]