NS Camera

Designing for the emotional experience of the commuter
Security plays an increasingly important role in public space. In train stations travelers want to feel safe, but without having the feeling that they are being watched by “Big Brother”. We applied a radically new form language in our new security camera design, resulting in a friendlier expression: a face or a kind, watching eye. The new cameras were tested at Duivendracht station, where the “Big Brother feeling” among travelers decreased from 34% (old cameras) to 12%. The aesthetic perception increased markedly (from 9% for the old camera to 80% for the new). 150 pleasing new cameras have been placed at the Schiphol Airport train station, with train stations in the rest of the Netherlands to follow.