In September CIxD wrapped up Designing with the Sun, a research project led by Design researcher Angella Mackey that explored bodily relations to solar energy.
Partnered with Biosphere Solar, Pauline van Dongen Studio, Amsterdam Energie, we were able to further develop our “Solar Ears” devices and show them at Dutch Design Week ’23, as well as build a larger consortium around the topic to make an application for a RAAK-MKB and paper submission to ACM CHI ’25. This has meant deepening the research topic over the past year, by refining our understanding of what is required for the Dutch energy transition, and pivoting our research questions slightly.
In short, we have learned that experimenting with different ways of perceiving solar energy can shift energy practices towards more balanced uses of it. Yet, this kind of shift requires more than raising awareness about energy systems. We’ve learned that it involves deepening a person’s sense of self in relation to their environment as complex ecologies—for example, by revealing unseen connections between them, their solar technologies, home, neighbourhood, work, and everything else in between. As such, designing for energy awareness must also be fundamentally about relatedness, or, a person’s relationship to their immediate environment including other people, and living or non-living things that come and go there. As we move forward, we therefore ask How do we design for relatedness in individual or shared energy environments?
Learn more about the Solar Ears
Learn more Designing with the Sun
