Could your kettle do more than just boil water? The Karma kettles are part of an effort to explore the social impacts of algorithmic transactions within decentralised systems of energy generation and consumption. In contrast to traditional centralised national grids, distributed systems allow for smaller enterprises and households to produce and sell energy in a free market economy. They are supported by technologies such as blockchains, smart contracts and programmable batteries, and enable more flexible energy production, distribution and trade, which are key to wide adoption of renewable energy sources.

The Karma kettles were designed to elicit reactions towards potential outcomes of distributed energy systems and support discussion on expectations of control over automated system more broadly. The connected kettles mimic a scenario of domestic energy storage and local distribution, allowing people to track how much energy is currently stored in regional batteries (e.g. their neighbourhood) and how much energy is currently available in the overall grid (peak or shortage of supply). Users can then choose to boil, pull (store) or push (give) energy into the grid, receiving “karma” points according to how much their actions benefit the state of the grid.

The kettles have been used in public engagement workshops, exhibitions and with groups of residents in a large block of flats in Edinburgh. Interviews with participant groups reveal the potential for IoT devices to support end-consumer energy trade and bottom-up energy generation which could help support a transition to more sustainable sources of energy. Insights will help inform best practices for future applications and governance of the algorithmically mediated energy transactions.

Karma Kettles setup at the TATE Modern event: Living with the Internet of Things

The project was part of the IoT in the Home PETRAS demonstrator, led by Larissa Pschetz, with contribution of researchers Luis Soares (studies), Billy Dixon (design), Esteban Serrano (programming) and Ella Tallyn (ideation).