Exploring Augmented Reality Waste Data Representations for Eco Feedback

Abstract

In this demo, we show how Augmented Reality can be used to visualize waste accumulation data in an engaging and visceral way. The negative impact humans have on the environment is partly caused by thoughtless consumption leading to unnecessary waste. A likely contributing factor is the relative invisibility of waste: waste produced by individuals is either out of their sight or quickly taken away. Nevertheless, waste disposal systems sometimes break down, creating natural information displays of waste production that can have educational value. We take inspiration from such natural displays and introduce a class of situated visualizations we call augmented-reality waste accumulation visualizations or ARwavs, which are literal representations of waste data embedded in users' familiar environment. We implemented examples of ARwavs and will present them at the venue.