The Digital Civilizations Interviews

…That could become an everyday tool

In its current complex form, ecological impact calculators can only really serve to make us more aware. But could we use them in a more everyday way, to guide how we act, and measure the impact of small, concrete changes? Could they become a social or economic tool, or a game? For that to happen, we have to simplify the formula and automatically provide them with information from various sources, such as counters, various collectors, supermarket registers, geolocation, etc. We have to be able to monitor ourselves as we evolve, and get advice. And we have be able to share our questions, projects, and progress with other people. Everyone should have a permanent means of visualizing, comparing, and discussing their ecological impact, to know what produced this or that change or decision, to try different options, and to make this practice a pleasure, a game, something we’re proud of, something we discuss every day. Which is where our proposed project comes in. While MIT’s Mobile Experience Lab is certainly its intellectual father, subsequent developments extend and modify the initial model considerably: we give you the Ecogotchi.