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Device for urban data explorers

Device for urban data explorers.

Worn as a backpack – a universal symbol of the wanderer and dreamer – Backspace is outfitted with advanced technology that enables anyone who is in its vicinity to embed stories and memories into the urban environment.

Layered over time, these memories paint a vivid picture of human experience that stands in contrast to the seamless and frictionless vision of the datafied “smart city.”

Backspace is a provocative design proposal that imagines a future scenario where technology enables citizens to intentionally disrupt or “glitch” the urban landscape and thereby reclaim the city as a site for human interaction and expression.

The project was designed during the UrbanIxD Summer School by Matt Carreau, Olga Surawska, Niels Wouters under the guidance of Tobias Revell and Sara Bozanic.