Project Description:
Vaccines that prevent life-threatening childhood illnesses must be kept cool to remain effective. We feature PATH's heat-sensitive color labels for monitoring vaccines (white = viable; black = spoiled). There are three interactive venues that capture the challenges of keeping vaccines cool: 1)CENTRAL EXHIBITION-Avatars enjoy images from PATH and view a movie on vaccines and the vaccine vial monitor. 2)(To the left) URBAN CLINIC-A power outage ruins vaccines in a refrigerator, and raises awareness that power outages from rolling blackouts and unintentional outages due to natural disasters and energy overuse can occur anywhere, even in Silicon Valley. We pose a challenge to devise new ways for storing vaccines. 3)(To the right) VILLAGE--The avatar experiences the logistical difficulties of transporting vaccines to remote regions. There are three vaccine packs to choose from, each with advantages and disadvantages; 1-Single ice layer-cheap, heats up quickly; 2-Several layers of ice-lasts longer, more expensive, but heavier to carry; 3-Dry ice--optimal cooling, very expensive and not always available. The avatar selects a pack and carries it to a village and encounters harsh weather ranging from freezing cold to raging heat. After many trials, the avatar finds it hard to plan which pack is best without wasting resources. Global warming and deforestation seem to be causing harsher and unpredictable weather everywhere. PATH's color labels signal whether the vaccines have survived the journey, but ultimately we need to develop new and inexpensive ways for transporting vaccines.

SecondLife URL: