For the Farewell of Mankind
A pregnancy advice test based user’s DNA data through 23AndMe API.
Collaborated with Shu-Ju Lin, 2018
Exhibition:
ITP Spring Show 2019
Tools:
ESP 32, 23andMe API
Special Thanks: Pedro Galvao Cesar De Oliveira, Mithru Vigneshwara, Yenan Chen
For the Farewell of Mankind is a critical object created in response to the phenomenon of institutions & government using bio-technology and big data to quantify, measure, monitor and control human bodies. In stead of telling users if they ARE pregnant or not, it is a pregnancy test that tell users if they SHOULD get a child or not based on their DNA data on 23andMe.
With the development of bio tech such as gene sequencing, the accessibility of bio-data through leading genomics companies such as Ancestry, 23andMe, or UK BioBank, monitoring individuals’ body has never been easier.
To whom are they giving our data to? And how will they be use against us? What are the possibilities of this behind bad intentions? Is it possible that eugenics exists in a different form?
Trailer
Design
We built an USB flash drive on top of a traditional, pre-existing pregnancy device to imply how accessible our bio-data is in present technology. Inside the object is a micro-controller with WiFi module and OLED display; that when plugged, acquires data from 23andMe, analyzes and sends it back to the device. User with mutant in their gene were advised not to have offspring and vice-versa.
Hardware Design
Website Design
Exhibition
Exhibited at When Black Swallows Red
La Galleria at La Mama
Curated by Dandi Gu
New York, May-July 2019
