Anders Mellbratt

Connected things Studios & programmes 2015

Sensor Smörgåsbord

Making the hidden infrastructure more delectable

With air-quality sensors (PM2.5, CO₂) noise / sound level sensors temperature / humidity sensors

I’m involved with Quantified Planet, a newly started foundation indexing data streams related to SDG #11 — the urban development goal. Urbanisation is a megatrend; we need new ways to keep the planet, and the people who’ll soon be living in cities, in good shape. One way: monitor environmental indicators in our surroundings and learn from how the data changes over time.

The “Smart City” and the data streams powering it are abstract — even to some of the decision-makers responsible for making it happen. So I wanted to show the actual hardware: how ugly and mundane it is, how it might be worn or carried by citizens themselves. Also a way to start a conversation about which sensors we want around us, and where.

Assembled for QP’s Healthy Cities Summit at Openlab in Stockholm.

Thanks to Hanna and Manika for collaborating on this.

Presenter standing beside a projected grid of the UN Sustainable Development Goal icons during a talk
Presenter standing beside a projected grid of the UN Sustainable Development Goal icons during a talk
Tabletop display with two small wooden house-shaped sculptures and a rolled orange-patterned object in the foreground
Tabletop display with two small wooden house-shaped sculptures and a rolled orange-patterned object in the foreground
Exhibition stand with a printed information panel and a wooden tray holding small white sensor cylinders
Exhibition stand with a printed information panel and a wooden tray holding small white sensor cylinders
Long white table with rows of glass vases holding green stems, interspersed with small electronic sensor devices
Long white table with rows of glass vases holding green stems, interspersed with small electronic sensor devices
Detail of the exhibition table with a glass vase of grass stems surrounded by small electronics, coloured blocks, and prototype objects
Detail of the exhibition table with a glass vase of grass stems surrounded by small electronics, coloured blocks, and prototype objects
Four visitors in business attire viewing the long sensor exhibition table from the side
Four visitors in business attire viewing the long sensor exhibition table from the side