White Spots is an app, made by Studio Richard Vijgen in collaboration with film maker Bregtje van der Haak and photographer Jacqueline Hassink, which allows you to seek out the limits of the Internet. Even though we in the prosperous Western world can hardly believe it, one third of the world’s population does not enjoy continuous and convenient access to the Internet. A new perspective on something which is all around us in everyday life, but of which we are hardly aware. White Spots makes the invisible visible and takes users to the white spots on the global coverage map in search of the answer to what it means to (not) be connected. You can use the app in two ways; as an interactive map and as a VR (Virtual Reality) experience.

White Spots translates successful research into a user-friendly app. It makes you conscience of the presence and invisibility of radio waves. In addition, the mini documentaries provide an insight into the effects of (not having) wireless Internet on human life. After years of research, the project has now taken on a concrete outline in the form of White Spots and draws our attention to an important social development in an impressive manner.

In today’s society, silence is vital, yet elusive. White Spots is an evocative, lyrical melding of technology and concept. In combination with the mini-documentaries, White Spots shows us the necessity of going offline. Where we once longed to be constantly connected through Wi-Fi, White Spots sparks our – latent or explicit – urge to step out of the information flow more often. In some cities, ‘white spots’ are as plentiful as unicorns. In which sense, White Spots is both mindfulness in an App, and a user-friendly internet navigation tool. As such, White Spots is relevant and prize-worthy both within Service and Systems.