Overview

Smart home products can sometimes be a nightmare for users, as they can unknowingly surrender control of their personal devices and information. A frightening example of this is ‘Cryptojacking’ - a form of cyberattack where digital devices are secretly used to mine cryptocurrency, leading to data security issues and spine-chilling energy consumption.

The project seeks to imagine a modern lamp advertised as 'free' that only requires an attached mobile phone to illuminate. That would be awesome, right? But beware, as the lamp hides a sinister secret. It quietly uses your phone for Bitcoin mining in the background, slowly draining its power and reducing its lifespan without any noticeable signs of the haunting effects. Once it has its claws in your device, it’s already too late..

Once the user arrives at the interaction, situated as a home office workspace environment. The participant will be immersed in a dark space where he/she is searching for illumination. He/she then noticed there is a lamp with an illumination feature, which requires a mobile phone to be placed on top for activation. Over time, the lamp is secretly draining the battery life since it is using the participant's mobile device for Bitcoin mining in the background - generating a sizzling and unsettling noise from inside of the device. The participant is triggered to remove his/her mobile phone from the device, but he can't live without illumination in the space - causing panic in the participant's mind. Once the battery life is drained to a certain point, the lamp will deactivate and prompt the participant to use another mobile device to renew illumination.