The Solar Radiation Dowsing Rod is a device created for a space observatory that allows visitors to point it towards the sky and feel, through light, vibration and sound, the level of radiation coming from that direction.
The rod enables people to perceive data only during interaction (as data is not encoded in the shape of the artifact, but rather experienced through it).
”[…] crossmodal data-driven artefacts that represent live data streams using haptic-auditory feedback. The motivation for creating these artefacts was to offer casual users the opportunity to interact with data that would normally only be explored by experts, with the aim of stimulating curiosity, intrigue and awareness. […] created in collaboration with Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork, Ireland and the Irish National Space Centre.” (Hogan & Hornecker, 2013)
Sources:
- Hogan, T. (2017). Data and Dasein — A Phenomenology of Human-Data Relations [Bauhaus-Universität Weimar]. https://doi.org/10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.2905
- Hogan, T., & Hornecker, E. (2013). In touch with space: Embodying live data for tangible interaction. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, 275–278. https://doi.org/10.1145/2460625.2460671
- H3 & Solar Radiation Dowsing Rod. (n.d.). Retrieved August 12, 2021, from https://vimeo.com/47537809