1 week, 2018

Induvidual

What if....

you visualize the current energy consumption of Wifi as cups of tea.

My thoughts

Most people are not aware that their internet usage has a big carbon footprint. I think that this mainly is because it is invisible for people. So this installation visualizes the carbon footprint of the WiFi around them in a relatable way, cups of tea. It first drag attention by an abstract visual when the button is pressed the visual is explained to have a surprise moment. The main reaction that this installation provoked was astonishment.

How does it work

The hidden energy consumption is in sending the data request to a server and the servers energy consumption.

The setup of the installation displayed in the hallway of the Umeå Institute of Design for the public to interact with.

Inside the button cover a ESP-32 is placed which is sniffing the WiFi and by that monitors the traffic which is used to do the calculations.

*https://uk.pcmag.com/news/112540/how-much-electricity-does-google-consume-each-year
* https://smallbusiness.chron.com/wireless-packet-sizes-28283.html
* https://aceee.org/files/proceedings/2012/data/papers/0193-000409.pdf
* https://www.rensmart.com/Calculators/KWH-to-CO2
* Own calculations of class ohlson water boiler

A summary of the calculations done based on research.