2020
Role: Role: Original Idea, Electronics, Creative Coding
Is It Getting Better? is a kinetic sculpture changing its shape depending on the latest COVID-19 data received. The system interrogates an online data source once per day to collect the latest total number of cases and deaths in the UK. It then analyses the data to define if the % of increase is slowing down or not. If the number of cases is getting better, it shows yellow triangles, otherwise, it shows the black ones. The number of deaths is represented by a change of colour in the LED, from green to purple.
The sculpture is made out of paper triangles, opening and closing with the movement of a servo motor hidden inside the box. Each triangle is attached to a string, then attached to a side of the servo. When the servo moves from 0 to 180 degrees, it closes the yellow triangles to open the black ones, and vice versa.
Is It Getting Better? works as a simple data checker to indicate if the numbers are getting better or not. Its 2 states (good / bad) is a conscious decision to simplify the reading of the current data and go against the information overload that is served on the news and social media. If it stays in the yellow state for several days, one can hope that the decreasing phase of the bell curve has been reached.