Designing and Making the Datacatchers: Batch Producing Location-Aware Mobile Devices

In this paper we describe the Datacatcher, a location-aware, tangible and embodied mobile device that displays a continuous stream of statements about its location that are drawn from a large number of data sources and which speak to sociopolitical issues. We describe how the design and our underlying research interests emerged and changed over the course of three distinct phases of development: the device's conceptual design, its refinement to a final design, and the final detailing leading a batch production of 130 of the devices. We discuss the Datacatcher as resonant with many current issues in HCI, including augmented reality, environmental issues, political systems and using data as a design material.