The Search for Ecologically Intelligent Life on Earth

Ozone Watcher is a free screen saver designed to expand upon the efforts of leading scientists to raise awareness about mounting global environmental problems. It is also a democratic and collaborative communications tool for disseminating news about the state of the environment. In contrast to the dominant laissez faire entertainment focus in computer media, Ozone Watcher combines visual enjoyment with an important political purpose.

Our main target is to provoke a planetary consciousness from the Internet, using the screen saver like a news network for the Earth, focusing graphically on ozone. The software will access and represent the dynamic, public data from the NASA TOM's satellite. It will augment the visualizations already being made, however, because Ozone Watcher permits users to communicate using the screen saver. Ozone Watcher can evolve, becoming an efficient information exchange platform for people concerned about the Earth's environment.

The screen-saver is a downloadable installer running for Mac and PC. Naturally, it is active on the screen when the user is not using the computer. It models the density of ozone using information from the satellite that is updated regularly. Objects contributing to the destruction of ozone float across the screen in a reference to the famous After Dark screen saver.

 

A Tool for the Global Citizen: The "sit-in" mode and news wire

Whereas the popular SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) groupware has enlisted thousands of users in the search for intelligent life on other planets, Ozone Watcher looks for ecological intelligence on Earth. It is a powerful communication space. With the "sit-in" feature, users are virtually present on the map, registering their concerns from a specific geographic place. These icons are updated spontaneously whenever the user's computer is connected to the Internet. An analogy to protest in physical space, this global political action may help people to see that they are not alone in their convictions. Participants can join discussions in the included chat environment. Moreover, they are encouraged to submit news articles about the environment. Votes will be tabulated weekly about the importance of the news stories received. If the most popular story reaches the 66% threshold of approval from all the users, a FAX copy of the news item will be sent to an institution chosen by the users. The recipients will be urged to respect the environment and they will see the number of users who voted to send them the news article. The idea of this feature is to use the Ozone Watcher to apply political pressure against enterprises and institutions that resist ecological responsibility, and to target environmental problems.

Summary