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Tech for Good (T4G) Declaration

Projects

Collected below are critical design projects, speculative artifacts, games, interventions, performances, and more created at the Critical Media Lab.

A phone rests inside a weaved basket, while a digital sensor displays the amount of time it sits within. — Basket Case

Speculative Approaches to Chimney Swift Habitats

A poster displays the phrase: "AI IS WHAT IT EATS," with an image of a monstrous mouth eating words like racism, ableism, sexism, and classism. — AI Protest Poster

A poster features the phrase, "ATTENTION: AI LIES IN BIAS" with the word LIES written in red. — AI Protest Poster

This pillow is constructed from the remnants of handmade, pandemic masks and it is stuffed with pressure activated devices which play disjointed news stories from 2021. Before interacting with the pillow, please use the sanitation spray provided to ensure a complete experience. By Cat Esdon. — PILHO (Pandemic Infiltrating Home-Life Objects)

Strands of macrame knots hang together on a wall. — Knotsomuch

A fabric pouch lies next to a phone. The front of the pouch has realistic photos of children with black circles covering their faces. — SOS – The Resistor Case

An assortment of hand-drawn cards lie on a table. Each card features a different fictional creature with a description of an exclusionary barrier. — Exclusimon

A silver pendant sits on a grey, cardboard pyramid. A smaller one sits next to it. — DePendant

A case designed to hold a cell phone, made out of vinyl, duct-tape and rivets, with a resistor fastened to the top. — The Anxiety of Resisting

Conductive playdough shaped like hands — Monstrous Hands

A basket woven from vinyl strips, with a Grove-LCD screen, attached to an Arduino microcontroller. The screen reads "Phone: I miss you." — Smartphone Basket

A laser-cut wooden box with words scrawled over it like "danger", "do not use", and a toggle switch set to the "off" position — Useless Box

A series of images are presented side-by-side, including a man, an octopus, a computerized representation of molecules, and two men squatting. — A Program for Posthuman Fitness

Project poster with an illustration of an owl whose eyes are censored by a bar. — Thinking with Owls

Screenshot of fictional blog "A blog in the Park", on the page asking visitors to sign a petition to stop the sale of Earthband — EarthBand

A screenshot from the text-based game. The screen features dialogue from a character discussing the exclusion of diverse people from tech design, while the player has options to respond in a defensive or understanding manner. — Prometheus

A tablet screen displaying a zen garden with miniature statues of Buddha. — Technically Buddhist)

A retro-style digital game showing rooms containing representations of different, obsolete typewriters. — Museum of Typewriter History

A retro-style digital game depicting figures on a road. — No Print Media!

A retro-style digital game interface showing directional buttons and the prompt, "Catch the Fish!!" — Directional Input Museum

A retro-style digital game depicting a farm with horses, cows, fields, and wagons. — Farming Evolved

The device is made from a hollowed out computer containing notes about climate change alongside sensor chips. A tall wind receptor sticks out from the top. — Weather Station

A woman is shown moving in front of a screen that is reflecting the movement back at her. — Greyfield/Brightfield

A phone sits inside a locking case on top of a pillow. A red light makes it seem like the phone is alive. — Sleep Mode

A woman is wearing the mindflUX band, which is connected via multiple wires. — mindflUX

A poster that shows gathered data defining different user types and their modes of transportation. — Waterloo Region Cyborgs

A browser is opened to a Daily Wire article about Ben Carson, while a toolbar at the top reveals false claims from the article. — Sifter

Several quilt tiles are presented with digital sensors. — Quilters Can’t Be Users

A phone rests inside a weaved pouch with two small digital displays attached. — iAbstain

A laptop is connected to a black box with a pile of raw meat sitting atop. The screen prompts the user to select a word to match their response to the stimulus. — Pace-Taker

A poster for the project featuring TV screens stacked atop pylons. Each screen displays a person acting like a train. — Every Day I Am a Train

A fake game controller with awkwardly placed buttons and all the wiring hanging out. — (Re-)Making Things Perfectly Queer

Several images of hands handling a fabric pouch. — Resistor Case

Several images of a man playing a shooter videogame and folding screenshots of moments from the game. — Assembly: Peacemaker

An image of a woman peddling fiercely on a stationary bicycle. — Cycle of Dread

Several images depicting a funeral for different pieces of technology, including a phone resting in a small coffin. — Critical Media Infrastructures

An image of a man running on a treadmill as a screen next to him projects a distorted display of figures running. — Dreadmill

Cover of the zine, with the words "techno criticality" printed in a retro-pixel font. — Technocriticality

Images of cows standing in a barn while connected to an automated milking device. — Teat Tweet

Several images depicting a funeral for digital devices, including a phone resting in a small coffin. — Digital Rituals

A corkboard displaying strange, awkward images of a white man, a black man, and a razer. Surrounding the images are sticky notes with questions surrounding racial bias in AI. — Stephanie Powers

An open photo album features pictures including a lava lamp and Christmas tree. Next to the photos are hand-written descriptions where the object describes its lack of use. — R.I.P. Useless Things: Tech Graveyard

An open binder presents a page asking the reader if they prefer "Escaping into different worlds?" or "The joys of reality?" Depending on the response, the user is asked to flip to a different numbered page. — “What Do I Want?”: Data Collection Quiz

Two paintings are featured on either side of a folded cardboard display. The first features a black man with a British red coat soldier standing on his arm; the second has a light-skin woman holding a phone in front of a webcam on a monitor. — Echoes of Colonization

Four cellphones with broken screens are attached to a wooden board.

Someone points a motion-tracking pen at a digital display. The screen highlights an image where the pen is pointed. — Hidden Narratives

A small, wearable device shaped like a bear made of micro bit components. — Fortune Teller Bear

A corkboard features rules for the scavenger hunt, photos of Kitchener monuments, and an old list of suggested alternative names from the City Council. — Kitchener is Not Kitchener – A Digital Scavenger Hunt

A box with three buttons sits next to a page describing how to use it to play a game. — Luddite Lights

A black box features five small levers next to labels, which include "Black," "Bad Neighbourhood," and "Income." — Honest Police-Shooting Decisionmaker

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