Zhu Clever, the artistic duo of game developer twins Zhengyang and Zhengzhou Huang, have devised an Artificial Reality (AR) piece titled Secondhand Life to contemplate the idea of future secondhand digital assets and smart furniture ownership. The piece was done in collaboration with data researcher Wendy W. Fok’s work, Live with Data, where data servers are integrated into everyday home furniture to bring people’s lives closer to the digital world.
In Secondhand Life, viewers explore a future where used smart furniture is sold in digital secondhand markets. These assets contain data of their previous owners, creating the digital equivalent of a dent in a used sofa cushion. However, as digital gadgets tend to be synchronized, these furniture contain more than just data of when a person would sit on a particular sofa. These data include where its owners lived and what they did throughout their day.
At a time when the digital world is increasingly merging with physical reality and shared, and secondhand ownership is increasingly becoming the norm, Secondhand Life by Zhu Clever raises crucial questions about the privacy and ethics of these practices. This is why the project is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Responsible Consumption and Production and Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
A study by Stellar Data Recovery has found that seven out of ten devices are vulnerable to data breaches and privacy risks when resold for secondhand use. Out of a sample pool of 311 devices, 45 percent were resold with no data protection and precautions taken by users and resellers. Fifty devices held personal documents such as passports, visas, and other government-issued IDs. This is why artworks such as Secondhand Life by Zhu Clever matter, as they raise people’s awareness of how they should protect and manage their data, especially when planning to resell their devices.
Today’s trend of smart devices has inserted the internet to everything from electricity circuits to refrigerators. Soon enough, the future that Zhu Clever imagines, where the internet is connected to every home furniture and appliance, will become a reality that everyone must be prepared for.
Secondhand Life by Zhu Clever presents a thought-provoking exploration of a future where the boundaries between the digital and physical worlds are increasingly blurred. By imagining a world where secondhand smart furniture carries the digital footprints of its previous owners, the piece raises important questions about privacy, data security, and the ethical implications of living in an interconnected world. As people’s lives become more intertwined with technology, the considerations brought forward by Zhu Clever’s work become ever more relevant, urging everyone to reflect on how we handle and protect our digital identities.
Find out more about Secondhand Life and other works by Zhu Clever on their website www.zhuclever.github.io/zhuclever/ or Instagram @zhu_clever.