Tactical Tech
An interactive poster from a Glass Room exhibition

The Glass Room

An interactive exhibition on data and privacy that provides different ways of understanding how technologies and data are changing our lives.

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Why?

Today, more than ever, we need to reflect critically on our relationship with technology. How do digital technologies impact the way we get informed and make decisions? How can we as a society face the 'side-effects' of an increasingly data-driven world?
In the field of digital literacy, there was a growing need for public creative interventions and information about technology that enable communities and individuals to understand how technology works and affects us and our society. The Glass Room comes to life to demystify technology through immersive, thought-provoking, self-learning exhibitions.

What?

The Glass Room is a public intervention that provides an interactive, fun, and challenging experience, bringing to life the most pressing challenges facing people and the tech industry today. As technology reaches a global scale and becomes embedded in every part of our lives and our environments, The Glass Room examines its impacts and helps visitors explore practical solutions to mitigate them.
The Glass Room began as a large-scale exhibition, travelling from Berlin to New York, London and San Francisco between 2016 and 2019. Each Glass Room took the form of a space designed to look like a sleek tech shop, but where nothing was for sale. Instead, visitors found a place where they could freely and critically discuss technology. The objects presented explored data, privacy and our relationship to the technologies and platforms which have become so commonplace in our everyday lives.

  • The Glass Room London. Photo courtesy of David Mirzoeff, London, 2017.
    The Glass Room London. Photo courtesy of David Mirzoeff, London, 2017.
  • Visitors at The White Room installation part of the “Nervous Systems” exhibition at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, 2016.
    Visitors at The White Room installation part of the “Nervous Systems” exhibition at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, 2016.

The Glass Room is currently available in three formats:

The Glass Room Misinformation Edition explores how social media and the web have changed the way we read information and react to it. The exhibition consists of a series of posters, interactive apps, and animations which can be hosted in public or private spaces anywhere in the world. It also exists as a freely accessible virtual experience online – click here to try it out! The Misinformation Edition has been translated into 30 languages.
  • Person Interacting with The Glass Room Misinformation edition posters. Photo courtesy of Ahmad aAlNemr, Cairotronica, Eygpt, 2021
    Person Interacting with The Glass Room Misinformation edition posters. Photo courtesy of Ahmad aAlNemr, Cairotronica, Eygpt, 2021
  • Visitors of the Glass Room Misinformation edition outdoor exhibition. Image by San3a Tech Egypt, Maker Faire Egypt 2022
    Visitors of the Glass Room Misinformation edition outdoor exhibition. Image by San3a Tech Egypt, Maker Faire Egypt 2022
The Glass Room Community Edition was developed as a result of high demand from visitors of larger Glass Rooms in London and New York, who also wanted to set up similar exhibitions in their cities. This smaller, portable version comes in a lightweight and adaptable format that can be set up in a variety of different spaces from libraries and schools to conferences and metro stations.
The Glass Room Plus is a curated exhibition that can be set up at large cultural events in Europe. The Glass Room Plus features 15 art objects, a Data Detox Bar and a training programme for a team of ‘Ingeniuses'.
  • The Glass Room exhibition Plus Edition.
    The Glass Room exhibition Plus Edition. Image by Monika Kryszczynska 2018.
  • The Glass Room at the Lodz Design Festival and the Copernicus Science Centre Warsaw. Photo courtesy of Alexander Alistair, Warsaw, 2018.
    The Glass Room at the Lodz Design Festival and the Copernicus Science Centre Warsaw. Photo courtesy of Alexander Alistair, Warsaw, 2018.
Visit website of the project

Assets, resources and materials you can discover, use and adapt:

  • Interactive posters in different formats and in digital versions
  • Animations in different languages
  • Educational Apps in different languages
  • Exhbition pieces
  • Partnerships Showcase pages where you can get inspired

The Glass Room is interesting for:

  • Civil society organisations & rights groups
  • Educators, facilitators, schools & universities
  • Librarians, museums, community and cultural centres
  • Other organisations and individuals who want to promote digital and media literacy.

“The exhibition and educational outreach activities, in collaboration with Tactical Tech, with clear and understandable promotional designs and relatable real-life examples, profoundly enhanced information literacy, promoted technology ethics awareness and fostered social discussions among Taiwanese audiences.”Dimension Lab
“To move through the Glass Room...was to be reminded of the many ways we unwittingly submit ourselves and one another to unnecessary surveillance, with devastating consequences…I left the Glass Room invigorated by the ways artists are exploring the dark side of our digital footprint.”New York Times Magazine
“More than 100,000 people have seen our exhibition "Artificial Intelligence - Machine Learning Human Dreams". Many of them have told us that they gained a better understanding of AI and learned something new. Here, Tactical Tech definitely contributed to the museum's role as a place for science communication. Thank you again for a wonderful collaboration.”Dr. Doreen Hartmann, Deutsche Hygiene Museum Dresden DHMD

The Glass Room Highlights

Disseminating resources and organising interventions with local partners to encourage reflection and proactive actions.

813eventswere hosted worldwide together with our partners.
71countrieswhere exhibitions, workshops and Training of Trainers took place.
480thousand peoplewere engaged through the events and interventions.

Impact Stories

  • One of the team leaders of Development Three Sixty opening up discussion around misinformation and digital rights at the Ngwenya Community in Livingstone

    Development Three Sixty: engaging policy makers and communities to protect citizens' digital rights in Zambia

    Development Three Sixty decided to implement the “Right to Click or Not to Click Project”, which included several policy engagement and awareness-raising events with which they promoted conversations around digital rights and misinformation and engaged policymakers and decision-makers of the region. They hosted awareness-raising and knowledge-sharing events that included theatre performances, exhibitions, community dialogues, one-to-one engagement and guided lectures.

    Read more →
  • People visiting the Glass Room misinformation edition. Picture courtesy of DataFest Tbilisi 2022

    ForSet : Promoting digital literacy among youth and educators across Georgia

    ForSet, a creative enterprise based in Tbilisi, empowers change-makers through data, design, and technology. They translated The Glass Room: Misinformation Edition and What the Future Wants into Georgian, showcasing the Misinformation Edition at DataFest Tbilisi 2022 with over 600 attendees.

    Using these translated resources, ForSet organized an event at the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. It brought together university students, journalists, employees from private companies, artists, civil servants, and digital literacy stakeholders, including NGO representatives and the...

    Read more →
  • The Misinformation edition exhibited in Brazil by Thydêwá. Photo courtesy of Thydêwá.

    Casa Hacker: Co-developing education and digital inclusion programs in Brazil

    Meet Casa Hacker, a Brazilian organisation that empowers communities to transform their realities through digital inclusion and STEAM Education. Their dream is to make the internet and digital technologies an inclusive space for everyone in Brazil.

    During the last year, Casa Hacker collaborated with Tactical Tech’s initiatives: The Glass Room and What the Future Wants to run three capacity-building events in 3 cities: Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Over 100 young people and educators actively participated in dialogues and debates on privacy, security, disinformation and...

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  • The exhibition was shown again on the Day of Human Rights in Rio de Janeiro, on a public square. Photo courtesy of data_labe.

    data_labe: Using art and creativity to promote conversation about digital rights in Brazil

    data_labe is a media and research organization based in Maré Favela in Rio de Janeiro. Their work intersects human rights, race, gender, urbanism, data and technology. Driven by their creative approach, they adapted the Data Detox Kit into several posters that were shown at their annual festival, Criptofunk.

    The festival brought together activists, favela dwellers, and individuals interested in digital care. The theme was "deceleration," a call to pause, reflect, and reconnect with our collective past. Amidst this gallery, a character emerged: Sankofa, a majestic bird drawn from...

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Explore other projects

  • people interacting wuth the data detox kit resources

    Data Detox Kit: Practical steps and tool to improve your online life

    The Data Detox Kit, available in over 45 languages, offers tips, tools, and concrete steps to improve your online life, enabling informed choices and personalized digital habits. It includes over 30 guides, workshop outlines for educators, an alternative App Centre, and a resources page on digital privacy, security, environmental impact, wellbeing, and tackling misinformation.

    Read more →
  • Young people interacting the What The Future Wants cards

    What The Future Wants: Educational resources to empower young people

    This youth initiative from Tactical Tech aims to empower young people to take control of their digital futures through education, co-creation, and capacity building. It features playful, youth-focused exhibitions, interactive activities, learning resources, and tools and methodologies for educators to engage young people in conversations about AI, technology, and their impacts.

    Read more →
  • user exploring the Digital Enquirer Kit website

    Digital Enquirer Kit: An E-learning platform to navigate the internet safely

    This e-learning interactive course advances and disseminates knowledge on media literacy, verification, and safe Internet navigation. The course contains simple explanations and real-world examples illustrating secure research and information-gathering methods. The modules feature engaging and creative formats, such as tutorials, quizzes, and interactive games.

    Read more →
  • People using the Exposing The Invisible kit

    Exposing The Invisible: Advancing the investigative community's capacity

    The project offers comprehensive resources, workshops, and institutes on investigative tools and methodologies for civil society actors such as media organizations, experts, researchers, academics, investigators, and journalists. It fosters spaces for collaboration and exchange to enhance the capacity of today’s global community of digital and OSINT investigators.

    Read more →