Mountain View, California, USA
Led by Stefan van der Hoff and the team at Samsung Research America’s Think Tank Team (TTT) in Mountain View, California, Afterlife is a new innovative product concept that gives old devices a final purpose as beautiful artifacts.
Samsung Think Tank Team is a small group of interdisciplinary researchers, scientists, designers, strategists, and engineers from different cultures across the world, sharing how they leverage their interdisciplinary and international approach to bring new business opportunities to Samsung.
The team’s new project, Afterlife is designed to work with any phone, regardless of size or manufacturer to promote a circular economy and reduce waste in the world through elegant design.
A new purpose is given to many legacy devices, reducing the long-term negative environmental effects of smartphones.
Designed for sustainability and longevity, Afterlife was awarded a historic Good Design award for 2023 by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
E-waste is the most rapidly growing waste problem in the world.
On average, there are 1.7 unused phones per US household—unused, living in drawers, and hidden in boxes.
They often have cracked screens, scratches, and old batteries—yet they are still functional.
Sometimes they even hold emotional value.
To add to the problem, only 15% of discarded phones in the US are recycled.
Afterlife is functional and timeless and designed to be treasured forever.
The Afterlife body is beautifully constructed out of a single piece of recycled plastic, with a recycled brass knob for additional input and rocking effect, making it sturdy and eco-friendly.
The companion app allows the device to be switched between three delightful modes. The “Endless Clock” generates a new, unique clock face with every movement.
“Timeline” brings your memories to life with past photos, letting you relive your best experiences.
“Moment” transforms your photos into stunning abstract art, adding a new dimension to your cherished times.
Afterlife is innovative by requiring no additional sensors to enable its interaction modes.as it requires no additional sensors or devices to enable these interactions, as everything relies on the phone’s internal IMU sensor to detect position and orientation.
Afterlife is also designed to work with any phone, regardless of size.
It takes advantage of the phones existing internal sensors to detect position and orientation, transforming it into a unique addition to your home.
Building physical prototypes and testing ideas with real world users was a critical step in choosing a design direction. As a concept, the possibilities for Afterlife are virtually endless, as phones can be retrofitted into an infinite number of products and artefacts.
Project: Samsung Afterlife
Designers: Samsung Think Tank Team (TTT)
Design Team: Stefan van der Hoff, Philipp Schoessler, Curt Aumiller, Hanna Fuhrmann, Cathy Kim, Daeeop Kim, Tara Sriram, and Jiawei Zhang
Manufacturer: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
