Mission
With ShoeVox I want people to explore everyday objects. Ordinary objects speak to us from the memories that we associate with them. These objects can evoke our sense of life under the surface, and provoke fascination with what one detects but cannot see. Storytelling helps us to understand how our personal histories affects and connects us to the rest of the world.

Vision
Roland Barthes says that an object "always carries its referent with itself" and "marks a signature of event". Barthes's idea can be applied to shoes. ShoeVox visitors are encouraged to immerse themselves in memories related to footwear. The stories
are entertaining and emotional at the same time. Our goal is to demonstrate that commonplace, even forgotten, objects like shoes possess memories. Not only are
they memory holders, but also their importance as objects of cultural identity is unmistakable. Our memories make us who we are today. They help us to make sense of the world we live in.

Project Description
Our memories create stories, and stories create memories. This project is about people telling personal stories about shoes, and preserving these stories in shoeboxes in the same way we keep old photos and letters.

People and shoes are bound together. They give us comfort, protection and personal pleasure. We buy shoes, wear them, give them a life to enjoy and afterwards discard them. They mirror our actions. They reveal who we are, what we do, where we came from and where we are going. Shoes tell a story about life, culture, a sense of self and spirit of personal history. Shoes are also a barometer of social status. They influence the way we regard each other and communicate with each other.

Conceived for a physical installation system on the topic of the archive and memory, the user will find three shoeboxes in a dark room. These interactive shoeboxes will be storytelling devices, each holding a recorded shoe memory. An interface will
be created that connects to a database of stories.

The user will open the box of their choice. A variety of personal objects will be found in each box. Opening the box automatically triggers the start of a video. Closing the box stops the video. The running time of each video is two minutes.

Our storytellers will be a variety of ages, wide, diverse audience and come from all walks of life. A request was sent out to friends and family to recall a special memory in regards to their favourite pair of shoes. The response was overwhelming. Everyone has a tale to tell.

User Experience
Will be entertaining and emotional at the same time.