Since 2008 we have been investigating participatory environmental sensing and experimental information visualization through Public Design Workshop projects and classes. Although sensing and visualization are often cast as distinct fields and efforts, we chose to bundle them because from a design perspective sensing gives way to visualization: the data collected must be expressed.
In particular, we are interested in exploring environmental sensing and visualization as both mediums and practices. As mediums, we are interested in how sensing and visualization are structured by both the material and expressive qualities of computation and the material and expressive qualities of the environment. As practices, we are interested in how sensing and visualization operate as social and political endeavors situated within multiple cultural contexts and agendas.
Our initial 2008 Project Studio is documented online and provides an introduction to our work in this area. You can access it at: http://publicdesignworkshop.net/ecoviz
