Atlas of Intangibles by University of the Arts London

Our personal memories of a place are situated in fleeting sensory experiences – the waft of the petrichor, bird songs scoring the background, bakery aromas, sounds of traffic and footfalls whizzing by. This interplay between our senses structures and mediates our sense of a place.

Atlas of Intangibles is a data experience designed to highlight the rich, interconnected web of sensory information that lies beneath our everyday encounters. Showcasing sensory data collected by me around the city of London through score-based data walks, the digital experience invites viewers to choose specific themes and explore related data as views — journeys, connections, and typologies. Each data point is rich in context, encompassing images & audio recordings.

To further augment the experience, I’ve integrated a tangible physical interface using Arduino and a RFID transceiver alongside the digital experience. Drawing inspiration from the analogy of a keepsake memory box, each card embodies a specific recollection. Tapping the card on a reader navigates the viewer to the associated data and interconnections on-screen. Through this gesture, I hint at the poetic interplay of the tangible and intangible in our sensory encounters.