Uniform launches internet-enabled football goalpost Pali to get people away from their screens

Date
6 June 2017

Design studio Uniform has launched its latest in-house digital product Pali, an internet-enabled football goalpost and accompanying app, that tells your friends you’re ready for a game.

Detaching the Pali goalpost cones automatically sends an instant message to your friend’s phones, letting them know your location and encouraging them to confirm they’ll be joining the match.

Uniform’s Mike and Leo created Pali, a name based on the Italian for goalpost and Scottish for friend, to “connect individuals back to the real world”. “It can be seen as a micro activity specific social network that encourages people to get out of the house, play football and see their friends,” the designers explain.

They set out to reimagine how people organise a game of football but also envision it as a platform for meeting new people. “Imagine going on holiday, throwing Pali down on the beach and all of a sudden you have summoned a team of like-minded locals to play with. Pali becomes a physical social hub.”

This follows its radio product Solo, that combines facial feature recognition software with Spotify to play a track that suits your mood. Pali works by connecting via Bluetooth to your phone. When the goalposts are broken apart, magnets trigger a switch that sends data to your phone to connect with the app.

“There has been a flurry of AR-related apps that try and get people out of the house. But the issue with things like Pokemon Go is that you need to be constantly staring at a screen. Pali is an app that gets you away from screens and focuses on getting out and seeing friends.

“Connected technologies tend to disconnect us physically from people. We wanted to explore how connected technologies can aid in the bringing together of people, without having to be constantly engrossed in a screen. The interactions with the Pali app happen in the real world with physical objects and physical people.”

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Uniform: Pali

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Uniform: Pali

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Uniform: Pali

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Uniform: Pali

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Jenny Brewer

Jenny oversees our editorial output across work, news and features. She was previously It’s Nice That's news editor. Get in touch with any big creative stories, tips, pitches, news and opinions, or questions about all things editorial.

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