Peggy Weil

HeadsUp! A Global Design Challenge

A challenge to the design community to transform planetary data into a common sign combining the metaphorical power of the Doomsday Clock with the authority of data visualization and the immediacy of activist electronic billboards: a “Heads Up Display” for the planet.

CONCEPT
This is a difficult problem uniquely suited to designers: How to transform information about unfamiliar substances at unimaginable scales into recognizable and heart stopping news. We consult clocks, scoreboards, thermometers and stock charts, yet we simply aren’t accustomed to thinking in “parts per million” (of CO2 in the atmosphere) or “argonite saturation rations” (acidification of the ocean) or the “tons” or “millenia” required to comprehend climate issues.

Neither the cacophony of charts and graphs, nor the ceaseless images of oil-slicked birds and stranded polar bears, answer the need for a new and powerful metaphor to chart planetary trends. The rise in the use of social networks and locative and mobile platforms coupled with virtual and augmented realities offer new opportunities to create a shared sign, something to watch: a real-time display of live data reflecting the world.

This competition recognizes a range of examples from the corporate sponsored weather beacons atop mid-western bank buildings in the 1960’s to landmark art such as the Climate Clock Initiative in San Jose to desktop widgets and mobile apps. These initiatives are linked by the understanding that a clear signpost serves to bridge the gap between awareness and participation.

In 1947, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientist created the Doomsday Clock, creating the metaphor of nuclear midnight to describe nuclear catastrophe. Purely symbolic (it’s a clock that moves backwards and forwards) the clock has become a sober indicator reflecting our responsibility for holding the clock back – it doesn’t tell us what time it is, it tells us how much time we have left. Balancing alarm with the promise of change: We are the ones moving the hands backwards and forwards: We can push back the clock!

Early digital examples are the activist electronic billboards of the late eighties and nineties: An electronic billboard above the Beverly Hills Hard Rock Cafe tracked the shrinking rainforest (-20 hectares every minute) while a billboard in West Los Angeles tracked smoking deaths (+1 every ninety seconds.) Currently, the National Debt Clock on Avenue of the Americas in NYC(as well a an unrelated online project: US Debt Clock) charts the mounting U.S. debt.

NASA’s Vital Signs widget shows trends and links to detailed graphs. There are a number of initiatives aiming to combine the public sphere with social media: Code for America combines web developers with city officials to address urban issues; In Washington D.C., Apps for Democracy, solicits iPhone and Facebook applications for citizens to engage with their community. The city of San Francisco has made over a hundred datasets available to developers, showcasing their work in a website, DataSF.org. The Worldometer and Worldclock present world statistics in real time online, but lack a contextual framework for action. The WorldWatch Institute documents trends global trends in a subscription their subscription based site, Vital Signs. Games for Change, an annual conference in NYC, convenes activist game designers to promote and study the potential of games for social change. Takemura’s Tangible Earth installations combine real time data with a digital globe to display ongoing earth processes.

NasaVitalSigns & Smokers Death Billboard

T he Climate Clock Initiative of San Jose has sponsored an international call to designers for a public landmark to indicate climate change – to be unveiled in the 01JS Biennale in the fall of 2010.

The goal of a new series of Planetary Indicators is to promote awareness, discussion, hope and international action. These clocks are not physical, architectural monuments like the 10,000 Year Clock of the Long Now from the Long Now Foundation or the proposed Climate Clock Initiative in San Jose. They are not modeled after the alert systems used by the Dept. of Homeland Security or WHO Pandemic Phase Descriptions, but are portable and participatory. The design effort will be informed by the considerable scholarship on the display of quantitative data, the use and spread of data in social networking groups, and collaborative work via serious games.

Peggy Weil
June 2009

Doomsday Clock announcement

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: Doomsday Clock Announcement January 2007

PWEIL CURRENT GAMES WEBSITES/CD-ROMs ARCHIVE BIO Gone Gitmo Wall Jumpers Mauerkrankheit/Wallsickness MrMind / The Blurring Test USC-IMD Blog The Redistrcting Game E.L.E.C.T. Roden Crater Website Moving Puzzle TSFF Commission Silly Noisy House Five Past Midnight Weatherium Asphalt Poetry M.I.T. Architecture Machine Camera Obscura Spectacolor At Sea House 11A Animation 3D		HeadsUp! A Global Design Challenge A challenge to the design community to transform planetary data into a common sign combining the metaphorical power of the Doomsday Clock with the authority of data visualization and the immediacy of activist electronic billboards: a “Heads Up Display” for the planet. CONCEPT This is a difficult problem uniquely suited to designers: How to transform information about unfamiliar substances at unimaginable scales into recognizable and heart stopping news. We consult clocks, scoreboards, thermometers and stock charts, yet we simply aren’t accustomed to thinking in “parts per million” (of CO2 in the atmosphere) or “argonite saturation rations” (acidification of the ocean) or the “tons” or “millenia” required to comprehend climate issues. Neither the cacophony of charts and graphs, nor the ceaseless images of oil-slicked birds and stranded polar bears, answer the need for a new and powerful metaphor to chart planetary trends. The rise in the use of social networks and locative and mobile platforms coupled with virtual and augmented realities offer new opportunities to create a shared sign, something to watch: a real-time display of live data reflecting the world. This competition recognizes a range of examples from the corporate sponsored weather beacons atop mid-western bank buildings in the 1960’s to landmark art such as the Climate Clock Initiative in San Jose to desktop widgets and mobile apps. These initiatives are linked by the understanding that a clear signpost serves to bridge the gap between awareness and participation. In 1947, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientist created the Doomsday Clock, creating the metaphor of nuclear midnight to describe nuclear catastrophe. Purely symbolic (it’s a clock that moves backwards and forwards) the clock has become a sober indicator reflecting our responsibility for holding the clock back – it doesn’t tell us what time it is, it tells us how much time we have left. Balancing alarm with the promise of change: We are the ones moving the hands backwards and forwards: We can push back the clock! Early digital examples are the activist electronic billboards of the late eighties and nineties: An electronic billboard above the Beverly Hills Hard Rock Cafe tracked the shrinking rainforest (-20 hectares every minute) while a billboard in West Los Angeles tracked smoking deaths (+1 every ninety seconds.) Currently, the National Debt Clock on Avenue of the Americas in NYC(as well a an unrelated online project: US Debt Clock) charts the mounting U.S. debt. NASA’s Vital Signs widget shows trends and links to detailed graphs. There are a number of initiatives aiming to combine the public sphere with social media: Code for America combines web developers with city officials to address urban issues; In Washington D.C., Apps for Democracy, solicits iPhone and Facebook applications for citizens to engage with their community. The city of San Francisco has made over a hundred datasets available to developers, showcasing their work in a website, DataSF.org. The Worldometer and Worldclock present world statistics in real time online, but lack a contextual framework for action. The WorldWatch Institute documents trends global trends in a subscription their subscription based site, Vital Signs. Games for Change, an annual conference in NYC, convenes activist game designers to promote and study the potential of games for social change. Takemura’s Tangible Earth installations combine real time data with a digital globe to display ongoing earth processes. T *he Climate Clock Initiative of San Jose* has sponsored an international call to designers for a public landmark to indicate climate change – to be unveiled in the 01JS Biennale in the fall of 2010. The goal of a new series of Planetary Indicators is to promote awareness, discussion, hope and international action. These clocks are not physical, architectural monuments like the 10,000 Year Clock of the Long Now from the Long Now Foundation or the proposed Climate Clock Initiative in San Jose. They are not modeled after the alert systems used by the Dept. of Homeland Security or WHO Pandemic Phase Descriptions, but are portable and participatory. The design effort will be informed by the considerable scholarship on the display of quantitative data, the use and spread of data in social networking groups, and collaborative work via serious games. Peggy Weil June 2009 Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: Doomsday Clock Announcement January 2007