Our project is shaped by the spontaneous intra-actions that occur throughout our research. After a coffee meeting with Shona Kitchen, we were inspired by her insights regarding the burden of knowing how our daily consumption habits impact the environmental crisis. This raised a thought-provoking question: Can we make this intangible heaviness tangible? Would doing so relieve us or make us feel more guilty? 

From these questions, we sketched the idea of “Data Suit”. This performative probe is designed to create an embodied experience of measuring our environmental impact based on our digital actions.

After tracking our digital activities for a week, we collect the data to perform with the suit. Each pocket of the suit is filled with stones, with each stone representing 50 grams of CO2 emissions (equivalent to half an hour of Netflix streaming). As we fill the suit with our CO2 consumption, it becomes heavier, symbolizing our impact on the environment. Although the suit remains in the conceptual stage, it sparked interesting conversations.

What if we had a suit that provided direct haptic feedback based on our CO2 emissions from our digital actions? Instead of merely measuring our emissions, what if we focused on how to reduce them? Can this reduction be framed as something pleasurable rather than punitive? For example, we could organize collective video streaming events to promote lower emissions.