The Breathing Mirror
Juste Peciulyte (Vilnius Academy Of Art), Adrian Clear (Department of Computer and Information Sciences at Northumbria University)
What if the air in our home could reveal its quality to us?
The Breathing Mirror is part of a future where the invisible atmosphere in our homes that is critical for our health (particularly in a more polluted world) is measured and monitored with sensors. The Breathing Mirror makes this visible through light. LEDs around the edge of the mirror light up becoming brighter and dimmer in a way that suggests breathing. The rhythm of this change varies according to the level of pollution (for example, CO2 or particulate matter) that is measured in the home. The mirror not only interacts with this virtual data, but it also interacts with the physical environment. It is coated in a material that accumulates dust from the environment. This has a visible effect when the LEDs light up, but also when natural or artificial light from the environment is shone on it.