Visual Representation of the Internet Consumption in the European Union
Information Aesthetics & Interaction Swarm Intelligence, 2022
The impact of internet usage on the environment is a contradictory topic. While it can help reduce carbon emissions, with smart grids or the automation of services and resources, it can also increase e-waste that end up affecting the environment.
To draw attention to the impact of energy consumption on the environment, we proposed and developed a computational artifact that unites the areas of Data Aesthetics and Interaction Design.
The artifact, displayed in an interactive installation, was divided into three panels: (i) the left panel, which represents the countries—from the European Union (EU)—with the lowest energy consumption impact on the environment; (ii) the central panel, which use swarming boids to represent the internet usage at the installation site and its impact; and (iii) the right panel, which represents the EU countries with the highest energy impact on the environment.
The arrangement of the three panels in a single interactive installation aims to establish a visual connection between the energy consumption in the EU and the energy consumption in the installation’s site and to promote awareness of its impact on the environment.
Visualising environment indicators
Installation on site (FeedNPlay @ Department of Informatics Engineering)
Our project consists of an interactive installation divided into three panels. The installation was developed in Processing, which is an open-source tool developed by artists and designers that uses a simplified language built on the Java language. We chose this tool as its main focus is the creation of visual and interactive media. In the first and third panels, left and right sides of the installation, respectively, we represent the EU countries. This focus is due to the response of the 27 countries in the fight against climate change and environmental degradation.
In the second panel, central panel, we visually represent the energy consumption of the EU countries and data from the internet networks at the installation site through an ecosystem. This ecosystem aims to explore the creation of a narrative of boids that evolve and change to characterize the EU energy consumption impacts on the environment.
Publications
In Proceedings
T. Rodrigues, C. Maçãs, and A. Rodrigues, “Visual representation of the internet consumption in the European Union,” in (to be published in) Artificial Intelligence in Music, Sound, Art and Design - 12th International Conference, EvoMUSART 2023, Held as Part of EvoStar 2023, Brno, Czech Republic, April 12-14, 2023, Proceedings, 2023.
Authors | Telma Rodrigues, Catarina Maçãs and Ana Claúdia Rodrigues.
