Spring 2019

Made in collaboration with Søren Sjøstrand Madsen

This project is the result of attending the course Design as a Critical Practice during my master’s.

The Undertaken App was created to critically reflect on how we want to take care of the peoples closest to us when they die, as well as how we want to be taken care of when we die ourselves.

By using the app we get a look into a potential future, where you can skip calling the doctor if your friend or family member dies, and declare the person dead yourself with the app. This projected was presented as a government initiative, so all citizens with this app would be certified to declare people dead.

The app has a cute-looking skeletal avatar that guides the user through the steps to declare a person dead:

  1. BREATH: Check whether the person is breathing
  2. HEART RATE: Check whether the person has a pulse
  3. BRAIN ACTIVITY: Check whether the person’s brain is still reacting
Step 1: Check breathing Step 2: Check pulse Step 3: Check brain activity

All these three steps are either confirmed or declined through sensors in the users phone.

If no life is registered during the three steps the person has been declared deceased and an undertaker has been sent the location to pick up the body.

This project was exhibited at dokk1 during Internet Week Denmark 2019 as part of a collection together with the death plan.