Shashwath Santosh is a
designer based in New York. 



0. Google Creative Lab Stuff
1. Knock On Wood
2. Portable Black Cat Radar
3. Time Lines
4. Desires of My Microwave
5. Open Source Salt Battery
6. Futures for Times Sq
7. Turnip Architecture for Deer
8. Climate Controlled Dosa Picnic Basket
9. IBM Quantum Brownies
10. Many Worldian Emotions
Secret Lab
 About

Shashwath Santosh is a designer based in New York. Currently at Google Creative Lab.


About
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2026


Knock On Wood


Role:
Hardware, Interaction, Manufacturing
Collaborator, Researcher




Some believe talking about good luck ruins it unless you knock on wood. But wood isn’t always nearby.

When wood is out of reach, this internet connected device knocks on wood for you.







DOCUMENTATION

Part of an on going series where we explore machines that respond to superstitions.















FIG 004: What is Luck? FIG 005: Using The Machine as a Story Telling Medium

BREAKDOWN OF A SUPERSTITION

Research indicates that our relationship to thought frameworks, such as superstitious luck, is a uniquely human experience resulting from thousands of years of evolution.

It is part of the complex web of stories we tell ourselves as a species to conveniently situate ourselves in a reality we designed. This guides our imagination around the objects we choose to make and prioritize.







FIG 006: Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration FIG 007: Using Power of Design to Tell Stories

MACHINES THAT RESPOND TO SUPERSITIONS

In the larger sphere of the stories we tell ourselves, what if we use design and its language to probe deeper into these cognitions? What if we treat superstitions as ‘challenges’ worthy of commercial design intervention?











Location: Canada












FIG 007. Sketches



FIG 008. Sketches



FIG 009. Prototyping 1

FIG 010. First Napkin Sketch FIG 011. Display Test










FIG 011. Travel Case








FIG 012. First Knock









Team:

Shashwath Santosh
Nithin Eluvathingal