Playful Self

Alex Rothera & James Krahe (US)

The anxiety of data, calmed with tea, 2015

In the future, biometric data will only become more ubiquitous. Look at your phone: your heart is 93 bpm, your watch says you’ve walked 10,020 steps today, a total distance of 7.8 km, and burned 450 calories. Your belt clip notified you to take more deep breaths at work and to consume more natural sugars. Before you realise it, your whole body is beeping and telling you to do three different things at once.

But what if our data didn’t overwhelm us, but helped us relax. Looked at the importance of taking a break, breathing, and having some tea? What if data could remind us to pause, reflect, and slow down?

In Playful Self, watch your data come to life as you touch every object. See if, by taking deep breaths, you can bring your heart rate as low as possible. Use your data to relax.

About Alex and James
We are long time collaborators. After sharing a studio in university we moved on together to become Disney Imagineers, inventing new rides, technology, and products for the Walt Disney Company. Recently we have both separately moved on to become full-time practicing artists and designers working to bridge future technologies, design and storytelling. Alex is a designer and inventor focusing on the intersection of future technologies and contextual design. His work looks to first understand people and contexts, to then design elegant and responsible products and technologies. James is a 3D artist and sculptor living in Richmond, Virginia. He has worked for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and is currently Lead Artist for 3dplus.me, working with clients like Marvel, Major League Baseball and Ubisoft.

@alexrothera
alexrothera.com
jkrahe.com

Concept and Direction: Alex Rothera and James Krahe
Technical Lead: Alex Rothera
3D Modeling: James Krahe
Product Design: Pascal Hien
Wearable Code: Yoshio Ishiguro
Camera Tracking: Mathieu Le Goc
Special Thanks to G&B Lamp Shop.

Support from:
Empatica
G&B Lamp Shop

Special Thanks:
Ivor Williams
Tomomi Maezawa