Art Digital Jewellery as Atmospheres: An autobiographical RtD exploration into IoT for poetic contexts

In a process of Research-through-Design two art digital jewellery pieces were created on the same bespoke IoT device that connects a person with the sea: a hand-held piece (SeaVessel) and a necklace (Thalassa). Drawing on the notion of atmosphere, the design development (2020-21) and the first author’s lived experience with the pieces (2021-2022) are illustrated and narrated. We share insights into how the pieces augmented intimacy with a significant place and offer a space for self-reflection for the first author to explore their connection with the sea and ultimately the self. We offer insights gained from working with IoT, live data and online servers in such a poetic context. We contribute to experiential approaches to designing reflective and curious ways of interacting with digital technology with the notion of atmosphere as a concept for aesthetics for interaction design and an understanding of data as poetic data.