Squeeker: The Mouse Coach

Hundreds of millions of mice are used annually in biomedical research to understand human health—they get fat, depressed, or glow in the dark, all for our benefit. Squeeker inverts this dynamic: what if mice controlled our health instead? This project encompasses a mobile app, interactive installation, and running program where mice become human's fitness coaches. When my pet mouse runs on a smart wheel, people receive a notification to exercise. If they match the mouse's distance, they both earn rewards—treats or toy for the mouse, social media scrolling distance for the human. Leveraging habit loop theory (cue-action-reward), Squeeker creates reciprocal interspecies fitness relationships. As an interactive installation, visitors are invited to ran on mouse-controlled treadmills, collectively attempting to match the mouse's daily half-marathon distances. Through public installations and global running events, Squeeker demonstrates how embodied, tangible media and more-than-human design can challenge anthropocentric assumptions while building multispecies communities around shared physical activity.