Powers Of X
An immersive experience designed to raise awareness around the climate crisis by visualizing the invisible impact we each have on the planet.
Role
Executive Producer
Medium
VR / AR
Year
2021
Project
Powers Of X is an immersive experience designed to raise awareness around the climate crisis. It aims to visualize the invisible impact that we each have on the planet by using the power of augmented reality to demonstrate the scale of our consumption footprint.
The project centers around a series of spatial infographics that demonstrate how our seemingly small, individual choices can lead to large-scale, collective impact. The user is presented with a series of objects that have been created or affected by human activity, and then juxtaposed with that object’s invisible cost to the environment. From the food we eat to the clothes we buy to the amount of data we use, the experience will reveal the true cost of our daily choices, many of which we would never expect.
The experience is currently in prototype stage (iOS) and was the winner of the 2021 Unity For Humanity Grant.
Spatial Infographics
The experience covers a number of ecological issues through the lens of the objects we consume (and the waste we create) in our day-to-day lives. Each object is framed by a three-dimensional reference cube that establishes its size relative to the play area. The space around the object and user is then populated by 3D animations that provide context to the object’s ecological costs and the scale of its impact.
For example, the average American consumes over 2 cheeseburgers per day, so it is vital that we understand the impact of such consumption on a large scale. Crucially, the production of a cheeseburger requires over 2,000 liters of water, but the person eating it never sees how much water that really is. By contextualizing this visually with 2,393 bottles of water, we are able to show the user true cost of their consumption in a more tangible and visceral way.
Scale
The subject matter of Powers Of X deals with the consequences of our actions, from the very small, to the very large. By using AR, we are able to tap into the technology’s unrivaled ability to demonstrate scale across a wide array of sizes in ways not possible in traditional film or television.
Positive Change
As we hurtle towards a global population of 10 billion people by 2050, the need to influence actual positive change on a collective level is becoming evermore urgent.
There are many projects that aim to highlight the dire and catastrophic nature of the climate crisis. However, awareness without a tangible call-to-action does not yield results. Therefore, for every problem presented in Powers Of X, there is also a proposed solution or alternative path for the user to consider. By doing so, we believe we will help accomplish our goal of not just raising awareness, but encouraging action as well.