Text Wall is a design research project looking at the role of streaming, real-time media in daily life.

Text Wall was a custom Flash application linked into the Twitter API. Family members send text messages to an assigned number (via Twitter) which in turn is sent to a server. In Flash, a color, size, and path of animation was assigned to each text sent to the server. Using a projector and a Mac-Mini that connected to the server's IP address, the texts were projected onto the wall inside the home. Family were encouraged to send in messages about anything, anytime, from anywhere.

There were many unexpected outcomes. These behaviors included family members using the Text Wall in real-time to comment on television programs, and giving the wall anthropomorphic qualities such as a name and a personal history. Texting the wall also became a game where families members would text to be first or last so their messages would remain on the board. Finally, family members stayed up late a night to watch the wall "clear" at midnight and rose early to be the first to text it in the morning.

Most interesting was how "sticky" the wall became. In both cases, family members texted the wall even after it had been removed from the home.