Feeling climate data with new design medium.
Inspired by Wagashi, the traditional Japanese confection art regarded as a microcosm of time, space and nature, DataWagashi is a new medium aiming to make climate data tangible, accessible and fun by blending taste, smell, touch, texture, and physical interaction into the vocabulary of data communication.
2023
YEAR OF CREATION
300K+
IMPRESSIONS
The DataWagashi project was conceived in response to a growing need to raise awareness about environmental issues. These global crises often seem overwhelming and distant, detached from the realm of our immediate senses. Our project aims to bridge that gap by bringing ecological data into a more intimate, approachable, and even palatable sphere.
Meet the team
TIANGE WANG
Multidisciplinary Designer
Creative Technologist
Creative Technologist
i-yang huang
Multidisciplinary Designer
Computational Designer
Computational Designer
eXPERIENCE THE DATA.
Data visualization is a powerful tool for making sense of complex information, but it often solely relies on the visual to communicate insights. DataWagashi is an experimental approach of creating and sharing data stories through additional sensory elements like taste, smell, texture and physical interaction.
Wagashi are traditional Japanese confections deeply rooted in the idea of capturing the transience of seasons and the beauty of nature. Considered a microcosm of time and space, it is a perfect medium to embody the otherwise intangible information about the world. Its vegan nature also aligns with environmentally conscious and inclusive values.
By embracing a sensory upgrade from data visualization to data physicalization, DataWagashi turns data into an experience that is sharable among people and accessible to those with different sensory capabilities.
Wagashi are traditional Japanese confections deeply rooted in the idea of capturing the transience of seasons and the beauty of nature. Considered a microcosm of time and space, it is a perfect medium to embody the otherwise intangible information about the world. Its vegan nature also aligns with environmentally conscious and inclusive values.
By embracing a sensory upgrade from data visualization to data physicalization, DataWagashi turns data into an experience that is sharable among people and accessible to those with different sensory capabilities.
CRAFT THE EXPERIENCE.
Our process involves a custom pipeline that integrates data analysis, data-driven climate narrative building, digital algorithmic prototyping, physical prototyping, and experience design. This unique approach is central to creating simple, rigorous and delightful DataWagashi experiences. It pushes the edges of using experimental multisensory mediums in data communication, where the synthesis of food attributes and data yields a vivid, more profound communication of insights and messages.
MULTISENSORY DATA EXPERIENCE FOR THE PLANET.
