Fear Factor
video, modified consumer electronics
Fear Factor is a mock proposal made to the Department of Homeland Security. The pitch proposes a new network for broadcasting the current "threat level" into the household appliances of every home in America. The selling point is that the population can be kept in constant fear of terrorist attacks more easily than current methods provide.
The Proposal
"While some Americans are aware of the current terror threat level, the majority of the citizenry has become complacent and comfortable. In the incident-free years that have passed since the attacks of September 11, Americans seem to have forgotten this colorful indicator of the terrible danger that they are in. The Department of Homeland Security is hardly meeting its goal of instilling a sense of urgency and fear in the average citizen.
To refocus the nation's attention on the calculated level of terror, we are proposing a system, whereby the DHS can begin to maintain a respectable level of fear in every home, at the start of each day.
In the proposed system, existing residential telephone wiring (PSTN) is appropriated and used to communicate with the everyday household appliances found in homes across the country. Each appliance will display the current terror threat level as a reminder that its owner is in imminent danger.
In the prototype shown, a coffee maker is made to alert the homeowner that this cup of coffee could be his or her last, thanks to foreign terrorists.
Existing appliances can easily be retrofitted with the necessary circuitry and any new products will be required by law to carry this feature.
As it becomes subtly integrated with the comfort and familiarity of everyday homelife, this system should provide the Department of Homeland Security a new level of control with minimal resistance."
The System
The Prototype
The working prototype was made from a thrift store coffee maker. An RJ11 telephone jack was installed in its rear to accept a serial connection from a linux server. An Atmel AVR microcontroller monitors the serial connection for any updates to the current threat level and displays the most recent alert on a backlit LCD display. This prototype is the first in a series, eventually leading to an entire room filled with modified appliances and a flurry of activity at each change of the threat level.