Devious Devices

It started with the Volkswagen emissions scandal. What if smart devices turn against us? Will your toaster slightly burn your toast if you have a bad online reputation? In our exhibition 'devious devices' at the Dutch Design Week, SETUP researches a future where devices are not only smart, but also bold and sassy. The Volkswagen emissions scandal has proved that an increasing amount of our everyday devices takes decisions that are not always in our favor. Based on Big Data, those devices could make our lives difficult.

During Dutch Design Week, we will exhibit the provocative prototypes that are developed within this project. Involved artists include:

The Incredible Machine 

The Incredible Machine is one of the writers of the Internet of Things Manifesto and is involved in the Just Things foundation. For the exhibition, The Incredible Machine develops a dubious 'voice assistant' that promises to make our lives at home a lot more (un)comfortable.

Jasper van Loenen 

This artist became known for his "Drone it yourself" kit. In 2015, Jasper won (together with Rosa Menkman) the Crypto Design Challenge for the development of a bracelet that sends a shock when you visit a website that is unsafe. Anyone who doesn't want to listen has to feel the consequences. For the exhibition, Jasper researches how the reputation economy could work on a small scale (within the family circle).

Vincent Hoenderop

During his internship at SETUP, Vincent developed a coffee machine that makes the normally subtle forms of data-bias tangible. You get a cup of coffee by entering the digits of your zip code. Based on the status-score that is connected to this zip code, the device determines whether you get a good and tasty, or weak coffee.

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