Man In The Mirror
Narrative of a Quantified Self through Everyday Objects
This project explores the idea of ‘Self’ and investigates the current age of data and information. When one is continuously consuming content, the generated data becomes a part of the self, which in itself is a form of personal data. With the rapid advancement of technology, the Internet and the Internet of Things, we are entangled in this network of digital reality. We are represented by their ‘Data Self’ in this digital reality. While the data that represents us is mostly invisible, hiding in the maze of many servers, it still has a significant impact on our individual lives.
This data of an individual is highly valuable for companies. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Google, use it to provide better services to individuals. If these companies, as ‘Others’ are using this data to know a person better, then the same data can be used by the individuals themselves for the betterment of their own lives. This personal data reveals in-depth information but is often ignored by individuals and exploited by others.
The project aims to shed light on how this invisible personal data could be applied to reflect and improve, to raise awareness about it, and suggest why it needs care. This is accomplished by making personal data more easily visible to the one generating it.
For the process, personal data was collected using both manual and automatic means. The collected personal data was then processed into information to discover trends. Correlations were made using information from different sources. And this acquired knowledge became a picture of a data self. This data self can be applied to understand self, make better and more informed decisions, and guide people in their everyday lives.
This project achieved this using personal objects, which a person cares about, to have access to his data self. Having access to personal data, through these personal objects makes a person aware of it. This makes him care for it the way one cares for one’s objects and belongings.
This project achieved this using personal objects, which a person cares about, to have access to his data self. Having access to personal data, through these personal objects makes a person aware of it. This makes him care for it the way one cares for one’s objects and belongings.
Project Deliverables-
1. Adobe XD Prototype - GP Script Prototype
2. Android App Prototype
3. Short Concept Video - Script in project document
Additional Tools Used-
Adobe XD - for prototyping
Unity - for mobile app development
Google Data Studio - for understanding data & information visualization