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Visual Voltage

Reflections on energy go world wide

External website: http://www.visualvoltage.se/

Visual Voltage is an exhibition where the Interactive Institute teamed up with the Swedish Institute to present a new and unique view of energy to the world. The exhibition shows groundbreaking concepts that are the result of several years of design research at the Interactive Institute as well as works from Swedish artists. Visual Voltage enables visitors to explore various forms of electricity and to reflect on energy consumption in everyday life.

Visual Voltage was inaugurated in Shanghai in October 2008 and has since then travelled to Washington DC, Brussels, Berlin, Beijing, and Tokyo which was the final stop for the exhibition by the end of 2010. In total, 165 000 people visited the Visual Voltage exhibition and participated in related program activities such as workshops, PechaKucha talks and other events. Through media, the exhibition has reached 147,5 million people, and the value of media exposure has been calculated to 36,5 million SEK.

Some of the more widely known design concepts in the exhibition that visualizes household energy use are the Power Aware Cord, the Flower Lamp and the Energy Aware Clock. Both the Power Aware Cord and the Flower Lamp have made it to TIME Magazine’s yearly list of the 50 best inventions in the world; the Power Aware Cord in 2010 and the Flower Lamp in 2006. The Energy Aware Clock is the first one of the Visual Voltage concepts to become commercially available through a partnership with the Swedish start-up company Pike Solution.

Visit Visual Voltage on Flickr!

Number of visitors at each stop:

Shanghai, Oct-Nov 2008: 19 000 visitors
Washington DC, April-June 2009: 12 650 visitors
Brussels, Sept-Oct 2009: 1 700 visitors
Berlin, Dec-Jan 2010: 13 191 visitors
Beijing, April-May 2010: 90 000 visitors
Tokyo, Oct-Noc 2010: 27 429 visitors