HUM

HUM

Translating Emotion into Urban Atmosphere

Translating Emotion into Urban Atmosphere

VISUALIZATION

Berlin · Spandau · Pankow — each district feels different.

Cities have moods, but we don't see them.

What everyone else measures

TEMPERATURE: 23°C

NOISE LEVEL: 65 dB

LOCATION: Mitte, Berlin

POPULATION DENSITY:

13,000/km²

HUM shows how
a place feels right now.

WHAT WE MEASURE

TEMPERATURE: 23°C

NOISE LEVEL: 65 dB

LOCATION: Mitte, Berlin

POPULATION DENSITY: 13,000/km²

How It Works

Step 1 — Free Expression

Users share how they feel — by voice or text, in whatever words come naturally.


Step 2 — AI Interpretation

HUM's AI distills the input into a 1–2 word emotional tag. Original entry never stored.


Step 3 — Collective Atmosphere

The tag maps to the user's location and merges with others — building a living city mood.

CONCEPT

HUM - A shared emotional layer of the city

VISUALIZATION

Berlin · Spandau · Pankow each district feels different.

How It Works

Step 1 — Free Expression

Users share how they feel — by voice or text, in whatever words come naturally.


Step 2 — AI Interpretation

HUM's AI distills the input into a 1–2 word emotional tag. Original entry never stored.


Step 3 — Collective Atmosphere

The tag maps to the user's location and merges with others — building a living city mood.

Anonymous

Emotional inputs are shared without history, or traceability.

Collective

Individual expressions are

never shown on their own. AI aggregates inputs into a shared emotional atmosphere.

Abstract

Emotions are translated into abstract forms and sound, avoiding literal labels.

How It Works

Step 1 — Free Expression

Users share how they feel — by voice or text, in whatever words come naturally.


Step 2 — AI Interpretation

HUM's AI distills the input into a 1–2 word emotional tag. Original entry never stored.


Step 3 — Collective Atmosphere

The tag maps to the user’s location and merges with others — building a living city mood.

Key Takeaways

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Anonymous

Emotional inputs are shared without history, or traceability.

Collective

Individual expressions are never shown on their own.

AI aggregates inputs into a shared emotional atmosphere.

Abstract

Emotions are translated into

abstract forms and sound, avoiding literal labels.

Opens the app and takes

in the intro animation.

Shows how the current area feels,

and saves it using the icon

in the top right.

Checks the rest of Berlin — Mitte looks

calm, so heads out to see it in person.

Gets to Mitte and spends some time on

the streets, doing a bit of shopping.

After some time in Mitte, opens the

feeling page to log how it feels

being there.

Taps the mic icon and talks

through the feeling.

HUM listens in to make sense of it.

HUM suggests a feeling and

turns it into a short song.

Later, checks back on Pankow —

the place saved earlier —

to see how it's feeling now.

Key Takeaways

Designing for collective, not individual

Most UX focuses on personal journeys. HUM required thinking about groups without exposing individuals.


Abstraction as a UX tool

The orb communicates more than a chart ever could.


Ethics built into the system

Anonymity wasn't a feature — it was the foundation of every design decision.

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