Kerry Bodine, a designer with a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction has developed a new idea to alert people of incomming messages and calls when their mobile phone is buried inside a purse. Basically, she prototyped the “Phone Purse,” which would produce light patterns on the surface of the bag.

The urge to produce this high-tech purse was very simple. For example, I am always missing calls when I place my phone in my purse. As a girl, stuffing my phone into my pocket is sometimes not very attractive, not to mention those outfits I wear that are not even equipped with pockets. So, what if I am out walking around in a loud and busy mall or am out clubbing with my friends… if I have my phone stashed away I could miss that important text message from my boyfriend telling me he’s late. Kerry Bodine came up with the solution by using light to alert for new calls/messages, instead of sound or vibration. The key idea was having the light on the purse, not the phone.

The patterns on the purse are not just a flash saying “you have a call,” they are actually more useful. You can assign a light pattern to identify your caller as being someone you know, a blocked call, or an unknown caller. That way, if you are in the middle of dancing to a good song and your bag starts lighting up, you don’t necessarily have to halt your groove to answer your call.

Have a look at Kerry’s portfolio; she has some amazing ideas for integrating technology in new and inventive ways. For example, she has a Kinetic Instant Messenging (KIM) client, taking advantage of the ability of Kinetic Typography to convey emotions, personality and tone of voice in test messaging. Her concept of a bracelet calendar is also pretty cool.