[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":270},["ShallowReactive",2],{"work-en-databloom":3,"work-cards-en":183},{"id":4,"title":5,"approach":6,"body":88,"brief":95,"card":101,"description":92,"extension":105,"gallery":106,"hero":135,"heroAlt":136,"meta":137,"navigation":138,"outcome":139,"path":143,"problem":144,"reflection":148,"resources":149,"role":164,"seo":178,"status":179,"stem":180,"summary":181,"__hash__":182},"work_en\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom.md","DataBloom",[7,20,32,45,74],{"label":8,"title":9,"prose":10,"artifacts":13},"Research","Why physicalize the invisible",[11,12],"The literature on eco-feedback points consistently in one direction: data that lives in the room people inhabit changes behavior more reliably than data behind a tap. The Fogg behavior model frames it precisely. A behavior appears when motivation, ability, and a trigger meet at the same moment. A quiet object in the home can be that trigger.","Energy visualization tends to fall into three families. Statistical (charts and dashboards), which is precise but ignored. Eco-visual metaphor (a tree wilting inside an app), which is engaging but still trapped behind a screen. And ambient physical, objects that change with consumption. The third family is the smallest and the most promising, because it earns the attention the room already gives the object.",[14],{"src":15,"alt":16,"caption":17,"decision":18,"width":19},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fapproach-1-matrix.jpg","Comparative matrix of tangible energy projects plotted on two axes: interaction (passive to active) and representation (symbolic to analytical).","Comparative matrix — energy interfaces by interaction and representation.","Mapped the design space. The calm, intuitive quadrant (passive and symbolic) was nearly empty, and became the target zone.","wide",{"label":21,"title":22,"prose":23,"artifacts":26},"Ideation","Two metaphors worth testing",[24,25],"An ideation workshop turned the abstract brief into concrete directions. Two concepts went forward. A small expressive character whose world reacted to consumption, and a flower whose stem wilted as digital use climbed. Both fit the Calm Technology brief, each in a different register: one anthropomorphic, one drawn from nature.","Rather than choose on paper, the mandate and supervisors made a deliberate call: let a user test decide between them. That turned the first iteration into a comparison instead of a commitment, and kept the decision grounded in how people actually read each object.",[27],{"src":28,"alt":29,"caption":30,"decision":31,"width":19},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fapproach-2-concepts.jpg","Two early concept renders side by side: a small anthropomorphic character with an animated screen face, and an artificial daisy in a terracotta pot.","The two concepts — expressive character and wilting flower.","Both carried real emotional potential. Choosing between them by intuition felt risky, so the choice was handed to a comparative user test.",{"label":33,"title":34,"prose":35,"artifacts":39},"First iteration","Let the users choose",[36,37,38],"Both concepts were built as low-fidelity, 3D-printed prototypes. Just enough form to read clearly as a character and as a flower, with the complex electronics left out on purpose. The point was to test the metaphor, not the engineering.","The flower's prototype did double duty. It tested whether people understood the wilting as a warning, and whether the motion was even feasible: a cable run through the stem, pulled to straighten it and released to let it bend, as a simple proof of concept of the movement.","A comparative user test put the two side by side. The flower won clearly. Its metaphor was understood without a word of explanation, where the character needed to be read and interpreted first. The flower became the object to build for real.",[40],{"src":41,"alt":42,"caption":43,"decision":44,"width":19},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fapproach-3-lowfi.jpg","Two low-fidelity 3D-printed prototypes side by side: a white character with a screen-face slot, and a white daisy whose segmented stem has a cable run through it to actuate the flower.","Low-fidelity prototypes — both 3D-printed for the comparative test.","The flower's metaphor read instantly; the character had to be decoded. Comparative testing made the choice evidence-based, not personal taste.",{"label":46,"title":47,"prose":48,"artifacts":52},"Functional prototype","An ESP32, a servo, a flower",[49,50,51],"The flower became a functional prototype. The cable proof of concept was upgraded to a servo, driven by an ESP32 that also runs the center light and a deep-sleep circuit, with a local server holding the consumption logic and the device executing posture and light. The stem is segmented, 3D-printed, and joined with M2 screws so it can be taken apart. The petals are felt, chosen for a warmer and less technical feel. The pot is an ordinary terracotta one, so the whole object reads as something that already belongs on a shelf.","Two signals carry the information. The stem's posture shows the household's cumulative digital consumption for the week against a personal threshold, set at install and meant to tighten over time, nudging consumption gently downward. The light at the center signals the instantaneous data rate on a green-to-red scale. The week resets every Monday. That is the entire interaction surface: no screen, no app, no sound.","Routing the wiring through a stem that has to bend was the build's longest quiet fight. The first stem was a single printed piece and broke on the third assembly. Splitting it into screw-joined segments let the cables flex without snapping, and made every part replaceable by hand.",[53,59,64,69],{"src":54,"alt":55,"caption":56,"decision":57,"width":58},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fapproach-4-stem.jpg","Two close-ups of the 3D-printed stem: an early one-piece joint held with masking tape, and the final segmented version articulated with small M2 screws.","Stem iterations — one-piece (broke) → segmented with screws (final).","Segmented assembly cost more parts and longer build time, and bought greater sturdiness plus cable routing. For an object meant to live in a home, durability won.","half",{"src":60,"alt":61,"caption":62,"decision":63,"width":58},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fapproach-5-flowerhead.jpg","Close-up of the flower head: cobalt felt petals around the pale 3D-printed center that houses the light.","Flower head — light diffused through the 3D-printed center.","Diffusing the light through the printed center rather than exposing it kept the object calm; the felt petals are there for a warmer, more natural feel. A dimming curve was added once it proved too bright at night.",{"src":65,"alt":66,"caption":67,"decision":68,"width":19},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fapproach-circuit.jpg","KiCad electrical schematic of the digital flower: an ESP32 Feather, a 74HCT08 logic buffer on veroboard, an MT3608 boost converter, an MG90S servo, a WS2812B LED, and a Lipo battery.","The circuit — ESP32, servo, boost converter, addressable LED.","Drawing a full schematic before soldering kept the veroboard build honest, and made the electronics reproducible rather than a one-off tangle of wires.",{"src":70,"alt":71,"caption":72,"decision":73,"width":19},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fapproach-assembly.jpg","Exploded 3D assembly render of the digital flower: the full body with the ESP32 and veroboard exploded out at the base, with a numbered parts list.","Mechanical assembly — the whole flower, exploded.","Documenting the build as a step-by-step exploded guide meant any part could be reprinted and the whole flower reassembled by hand.",{"label":75,"title":76,"prose":77,"artifacts":82},"Evaluation","What the flower changed",[78,79,80,81],"The functional prototype went into a second user test. Four participants, with deliberately varied living situations (a shared flat, living alone, a couple, a family) so the feedback covered a range of homes rather than a single profile.","The protocol compressed a week of digital use into ten minutes. Each participant set a personal threshold, worked through a daily activity grid, and watched the flower respond live. The stem was read correctly by everyone, with no explanation needed.","The light was the opposite. It drew the eye every time, but its color code needed explaining, and in the sped-up simulation it ended up echoing the stem instead of showing the live rate. Its real role could not really be observed, and it became the first thing to test properly in a longer study.","The most useful finding was emotional. When the stem visibly bent after a heavy-streaming choice, participants changed their next action mid-task. One stopped and said \"ça m'a un peu freiné quand j'ai vu la réaction.\" Another reframed her own habits: \"je pourrais télécharger la musique et l'écouter en local.\" That register of attention, felt rather than calculated, is the whole point of the object.",[83],{"src":84,"alt":85,"caption":86,"decision":87,"width":19},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fapproach-6-usertest.jpg","The simulation's threshold-setting screen from the second user test, where each participant set a personal weekly digital-consumption limit before the run.","Second user test — setting the weekly threshold, a week compressed into ten minutes.","Watching real reactions mattered more than any score. With four participants, the qualitative signal was the honest one to trust.",{"type":89,"value":90,"toc":91},"minimark",[],{"title":92,"searchDepth":93,"depth":93,"links":94},"",2,[],{"role":96,"year":97,"host":98,"scope":99,"shipped":100},"Bachelor thesis, solo","2024 — 2025","Media Engineering Institute (MEI), HEIG-VD","4 research + 11 build weeks","Functional prototype + thesis paper",{"title":102,"image":103,"alt":104},"DataBloom — making the energy impact of digital usage visible","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fadjacent.jpg","The DataBloom flower: ultramarine felt petals on a green segmented stem in a small terracotta pot, on a white studio backdrop.","md",[107,111,115,119,123,127,131],{"src":108,"alt":109,"caption":110},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fgallery-1.jpg","DataBloom on a wooden wall shelf beside a woven basket, its stem bent partway down, in a home interior.","At home — on a shelf, stem partly bent.",{"src":112,"alt":113,"caption":114},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fgallery-2.jpg","DataBloom on a desk beside an open laptop and a small live plant, its stem gently bent.","On a desk — beside the screen time it reflects.",{"src":116,"alt":117,"caption":118},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fgallery-3.jpg","Looking down into the flower: cobalt felt petals around a pale 3D-printed center, the green stem entering the pot.","From above — felt petals and center.",{"src":120,"alt":121,"caption":122},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fgallery-4.jpg","Printed parts from across the project laid out on foam beside a shipping box: the white low-fidelity daisy alongside the final green stem links, servo arm and electronics.","Parts across iterations — the low-fi daisy beside the final printed components.",{"src":124,"alt":125,"caption":126},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fgallery-5.jpg","The web simulation interface used in testing: a weekly grid of daily digital activities with a consumption threshold.","Simulation interface — used during testing.",{"src":128,"alt":129,"caption":130},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fgallery-6.jpg","DataBloom with its stem bent fully forward at the end of a simulated heavy-use week.","End of a heavy-use week — stem bent forward.",{"src":132,"alt":133,"caption":134},"\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fgallery-7.jpg","Hand-drawn ideation sketch of the flower concept: the felt bloom, the segmented stem with its pull-cable and servo, and a small screen interface, annotated in French.","Ideation — the flower, sketched by hand.","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom\u002Fhero.jpg","The finished DataBloom flower in a small terracotta pot — cobalt-blue felt petals, a pale 3D-printed center, a segmented green stem — on a white studio backdrop, surrounded by the 3D-printed parts and electronics it is built from.",{},true,[140,141,142],"A working functional prototype: stable mechanics, electronics, and firmware, reacting in real time to simulated household data.","Strong recognition. Every participant read the wilting without help, and all of them said they would place the flower in their own home, mostly in a passing spot like an entry table or kitchen counter.","At the thesis defense, the MEI saw a use for it beyond the project: a teaching object, in schools or with children, to make the energy cost of internet use tangible. I handed over a set of recommendations for taking it further, and the MEI later published a write-up on its research blog.","\u002Fwork\u002Fdatabloom",[145,146,147],"Around 8% of Switzerland's electricity goes to digital infrastructure, and the digital sector accounts for 3 to 4% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, a share that could double or triple by 2030. Half of it comes from data centers and networks, the other half from the devices in our hands. Yet to the person using the network, none of it has a body.","Streaming a film, scrolling a feed, backing up to the cloud: all of it feels weightless. The infrastructure that carries those gestures stays invisible, so the cost stays invisible too, and there is nothing to react to. When an energy bill arrives it is a total with no story, and the detailed data, where a portal exists at all, stays out of sight.","The intuitive response (build another app) doubles down on the same problem. It hides the feedback behind a tap, in a phone already full of notifications, and only reaches people who cared enough to install it. So the brief narrowed. Give a household's digital energy use a physical presence in the room where life happens, without asking anyone to sign up, open an app, or remember to check.","The timeline was the real constraint. With the build compressed into eleven weeks, I never got to run the second iteration the tests pointed to: a gentler wilting curve, a clearer light, and a way for the flower to recover when a household does better. A flower that only ever droops eventually stops motivating. Letting it stand back up again is the next version's job.",[150,154,157,160],{"type":151,"title":152,"url":153},"pdf","Travail de Bachelor","\u002Ffiles\u002Fdatabloom-thesis.pdf",{"type":151,"title":155,"url":156},"Affiche du projet","\u002Ffiles\u002Fdatabloom-poster.pdf",{"type":151,"title":158,"url":159},"Project poster","\u002Ffiles\u002Fdatabloom-swissviz-poster.pdf",{"type":161,"title":162,"url":163},"web","Article du blog de recherche du MEI","https:\u002F\u002Fblog.comem.ch\u002F2025\u002F10\u002F03\u002Fdatabloom-une-interface-de-visualisation-de-limpact-energetique-du-numerique-dans-un-foyer\u002F",{"led":165,"contributed":172,"notTouched":175,"team":177},[166,167,168,169,170,171],"Project planning and methodology, a waterfall structure hybridised with Research through Design iterations","Background research and positioning across tangible interfaces, data physicalization, and Calm Technology","Concept and industrial design of the flower","Mechanical design of the articulated stem","Electronics integration and embedded firmware","Two rounds of user testing: a comparative low-fidelity test, then an evaluation of the functional prototype",[173,174],"Methodological calls taken with the mandate and supervisors, such as choosing the first concept by comparative test rather than by decision","Framing the project against CarbonViz Home, the MEI's existing measurement work",[176],"CarbonViz Home, the MEI system that measures a household's real digital energy use through a modified router. DataBloom runs on simulated data modeled on it, not on a live feed.","Solo thesis. Supervised by Olivier Ertz and Jonathan Favre-Lamarine (HEIG-VD), mandated by Stéphane Lecorney (Media Engineering Institute).",{"title":5,"description":92},"live","work\u002Fdatabloom","A tangible interface that makes the energy impact of digital usage perceptible at home. The flower's stem wilts as the household's weekly data consumption grows, and a light at the center signals the live data rate.","m699yokO4ka8Hv-OZnItbLYQ4G4vDTHDHQRWIxMfXJY",[184,190,196,202,208,214,220,222,228,234,240,246,252,258,264],{"path":185,"card":186},"\u002Fwork\u002Fa-ta-dispo",{"title":187,"alt":188,"image":189},"À ta Dispo — matching event volunteers with organizers","The hand-drawn À ta Dispo wordmark, a coral logo on a pink sticker shape, on a plain coral background.","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fa-ta-dispo\u002Fadjacent.jpg",{"path":191,"card":192},"\u002Fwork\u002Fan-aura-of-words",{"title":193,"image":194,"alt":195},"An Aura of Words — Lugano's parks, told by their reviews","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fan-aura-of-words\u002Fadjacent.jpg","Lugano's five parks shown on a map, each as a color-blended organic aura sized by review volume.",{"path":197,"card":198},"\u002Fwork\u002Fbeau-rivage",{"title":199,"alt":200,"image":201},"Beau-Rivage Eco-Redesign — a 95% lighter luxury hotel site","The redesigned Beau-Rivage Palace site: restrained, elegant, far lighter than the original.","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fbeau-rivage\u002Fadjacent.jpg",{"path":203,"card":204},"\u002Fwork\u002Fbereal",{"title":205,"alt":206,"image":207},"Re-coding BeReal — a dual-camera capture and image pipeline","Re-coding BeReal: the composed dual-photo post beside a friend's feed, on a dark mobile interface.","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fbereal\u002Fadjacent.jpg",{"path":209,"card":210},"\u002Fwork\u002Fbrushbuddy",{"title":211,"image":212,"alt":213},"BrushBuddy — a monster cube that guides two-minute toothbrushing","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fbrushbuddy\u002Fadjacent.jpg","A hand lifts the toothbrush from the dock on top of the BrushBuddy cube, which has a worried yellow monster face.",{"path":215,"card":216},"\u002Fwork\u002Fcultural-trails",{"title":217,"alt":218,"image":219},"Cultural Trails — a full-stack heritage walking app","Two screens from the Sentiers culturels app on the project's green, peach and blue trail ribbon: the explore map of trails across the Lausanne shore, and in-walk navigation following a route on a satellite map.","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fcultural-trails\u002Fadjacent.jpg",{"path":143,"card":221},{"title":102,"image":103,"alt":104},{"path":223,"card":224},"\u002Fwork\u002Felen",{"title":225,"image":226,"alt":227},"ELEN — a speculative camera for invisible wireless presences","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Felen\u002Fadjacent.jpg","ELEN, a handheld camera with a translucent orange body and twin white handles, lit on a gray studio backdrop, its deep-blue screen showing through the plexiglass.",{"path":229,"card":230},"\u002Fwork\u002Ffamily-space",{"title":231,"image":232,"alt":233},"UBS Family Space — a family's shared place to manage money","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Ffamily-space\u002Fadjacent.jpg","UBS Family Space concept: two phone screens on a soft red gradient, a parent's hub for the child's analytics, limits, and goals, and the child's savings-goal screen.",{"path":235,"card":236},"\u002Fwork\u002Fhuman-loci",{"title":237,"image":238,"alt":239},"Human Loci — a synesthetic listening object","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fhuman-loci\u002Fadjacent.jpg","Human Loci: a transparent acrylic listening box with three plaster disks for a park, a marina, and a train station.",{"path":241,"card":242},"\u002Fwork\u002Fmeeting-pond",{"title":243,"alt":244,"image":245},"Meeting Pond — connected light objects for distant presence","Two connected Meeting Pond units standing side by side, one glowing blue and the other pink, each showing ripples across a 32×32 LED grid.","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fmeeting-pond\u002Fadjacent.jpg",{"path":247,"card":248},"\u002Fwork\u002Fthea",{"title":249,"image":250,"alt":251},"Thea — a calm new sense for living with allergies","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fthea\u002Fadjacent.jpg","The Thea wearable suspended in a lattice of orange cords against a cobalt sky, its oblong gauge glowing, an editorial shot from the final presentation.",{"path":253,"card":254},"\u002Fwork\u002Fuefa-female-coaches",{"title":255,"alt":256,"image":257},"Why Not You? — the UEFA female coaches campaign","The Why Not You? campaign: bold display typography over a female coach, with the line Lead Your Passion, Shape the Game.","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fuefa-female-coaches\u002Fadjacent.jpg",{"path":259,"card":260},"\u002Fwork\u002Fwama",{"title":261,"image":262,"alt":263},"Wama — machine learning as a sink-side witness","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fwama\u002Fadjacent.jpg","Wama's built sink rig at an angle: a tap pouring into a clear basin, the phone in its laser-cut holder showing the character.",{"path":265,"card":266},"\u002Fwork\u002Fwematch",{"title":267,"image":268,"alt":269},"WeMatch — an AX matching service for the WeRoad world","\u002Fimages\u002Fwork\u002Fwematch\u002Fadjacent.jpg","WeMatch title card: 'WeMatch finds your group before you find your trip' in coral and ink on a soft white-to-pink gradient, with the round Matchy agent character.",1783535593582]