Plastic Air
Description
“Plastic Air” allows viewers to imagine these particles as objects and see what we usually don’t see. The experience consists of a speculative “window” onto a data-driven approximation of plastic particles that exist all around us, but remain hidden to the naked eye. Users can drop identifiable objects like housewares and apparel to “pollute” the sky, and then see the items break down into the air. They can also adjust factors like location (cities vs. rural areas) and weather conditions like wind, rain and snow to see how these affect dispersal patterns.
The designers wanted the experience to be highly engaging, to encourage users to spend some time with it and share it with their friends. The project utilizes the principles of “data humanism”––using data to uncover a relatable human element behind the numbers and statistics, to help make the issue more accessible.
