Atmos
connecting communities
through social currency
The Problem
The residents of Savannah, Georgia find themselves in divided communities with a polluted ecosystem and limited access to fresh produce.
Our Goal
We intend to improve resident's experience living in Savannah by making a progressive change in a traditional city.
Research
Primary Research
For primary research, our team conducted interviews and observations around the city in order to help us identify the problems of Savannah, Georgia. Our interviewees consisted of Savannah residents, urban designers, and former local officials. These interviews provided insights that helped shape our final design solution.
Insights
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Many residents of Savannah want to eat healthy, but have difficulty finding consistent access to fresh produce.
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Residents have many different thoughts and opinions regarding the future developments of the city, and their neighborhoods, but have no way of impactfully unifying their voices as the people of Savannah.
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Many residents express they want to be sustainable, but don’t know how to or what their impact will be.
Observing interactions at The Forsyth Park Farmers Market
Observing the land on Skidaway Island
“I think we have to be [sustainable]. There’s no question about it. It’s a coastal city, we need to be more resilient in order to survive. As much as we can do kind of sustainable things like recycling and superficial stuff like that, but how good are we going to be at actually creating resilient communities?”
- Ryan Madson | Professor of Urban Design
Secondary Research
For our secondary research, we explored different types of public technology. Our team found inspiration in the case study WallBots by Stacey Kuznetsov, Eric Paulos, and Mark D. Gross. This study explores the use of WallBots, which are autonomous, wall-crawling bots, placed throughout a city as a research probe for public expression. We saw potential for this idea for public technology as a tool to connect and educate communities.
Insights
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People have trouble connecting with other residents in different neighborhoods and cultural communities.
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Cities have unique qualities that the residents are mindful of preserving
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Technology based solutions can create discussions and interactions.
WalBots Design | Images courtesy of Stacey Kuznetsov, Eric Paulos, and Mark D. Gross
WalBots Deployed | Images courtesy of Stacey Kuznetsov, Eric Paulos, and Mark D. Gross
Affinitization
Affinity Mapping
After gathering insights from primary and secondary research, our team synthesized these findings to identify the problem. We identified three major problems that we wanted to solve: divided communities, lack of fresh produce, and a polluted ecosystem. We then identified opportunity spaces that would address each of these problems, framing them as “How Might We” questions.
Opportunity Areas
How might we provide the citizens of Savannah with a platform to feel empowered & more connected to each other?
How might we provide a way for the city to be improved, so that it can be a better place for families to live?
How might we address the educational and awareness gap around the impact of people’s behaviors on the environment?
How might we provide fresh produce to people in Savannah who do not have easy access?
Concept Development
After identifying the opportunity spaces, our team of 10 split into three groups to begin concepting. We assessed the ideas as a whole and brainstormed where separate ideas of Public technology, social currency, and produce delivery could be connected.
We created a system map to illustrate how the separate parts of the system worked together. We also created a causal loop diagram to map cause and effects of the system.
System Map
Causal Loop Diagram
Design Solution
Atmos is a platform for making city improvements while enabling positive social interactions to create a connected community using social currency. Atmos uses residents to better supply the demand for fresh produce and uses data to bring awareness to environmental conditions.
Social Currency
Atmos is a platform in which local residents are able to earn social currency by lending a hand in events generated by the people around them, through artificial intelligence, as well as through collecting data with a state-of-the-art biosensor ecosystem made specifically for Savannah.
Biosensors
Atmos has a variety of biosensors that users can interact with. By interacting with the biosensors, users can earn social currency, as well as gain awareness of their environment through data reports, and become educated on the many components that make up both the water and air quality of Savannah.
AI Generated Community Events
While constantly monitoring air and water quality, the public biosensors have the ability to generate community events on the Atmos app such as picking up litter in the park or beach.
Atmos Produce
Atmos Produce uses a supply and demand system to provide the people of Savannah with easy access to fresh produce. The produce comes from nearby Savannah farmers and personal resident gardens in relative proximity to the user at hand.
Timeframe
10 weeks
Collaborators
Leah Van Proeyen | Nicola Brandon | Jordan Brown
Jackson Bryan | Emma Fowler | Will Garlen
Liam Maheu | Harsh Singhal | Jahi Thomas
My Role
UX Research | UX Design