AWAKENING

150 MILLION BOXES

The average North American home has thirteen smart devices, each one a connection to the outside world. But none can do what the mailbox has done for centuries: be the entry point for physical mail and packages. The Connected Home Mailbox will take the ordinary home mailbox from analog to digital, giving Americans more control — while activating a new network of 150 million points.

…FROM SCRATCH

We worked with industrial design firm LeadOff Studio to evolve and realize the concept, creating a modern product design aesthetic for USPS that would fit in most free-standing mailboxes across the US.
Sketches by LeadOff Studio, Photography by Takamasa Ota

The design of the angles and grooves on top of the tech product allow any type of mail to fall over onto the sensor when the postal worker tosses it into the mailbox. We worked closely with electrical engineers and model makers to create the working models that showcased the concept at CES 2019.

COOL, BUT WHY?

The conversation was opportunity for both the brand and for the business. For the brand, the invention reminds us only USPS connects communities in such an integral way. For the business, as the sole entity with legal access to those mailboxes, this device offered a new wealth of data and functionality that only USPS could deliver (or license). Bringing it to CES and holding conversations with potential partners was the goal. It worked. We held meetings with Google Nest, SimpliSafe and more, while dialogue continues with ADT.

NEXT