Author: maa1050

For my final project, I will make a Riddle Game. A monster will pop up on the screen and ask the player a riddle, and the player will have three guesses. If the answer is correct, the player will proceed to the next level, otherwise, they will lose. One of my main inspirations for this project is the story of Oedipus and the Riddle of the Sphinx. I like the idea of Oedipus trying to enter the town of Thebes and being stopped by the Sphinx, and that he could only enter if he answered the Sphinx’s riddle. It helped me come up with the idea of having a monster ask the riddle instead of it just popping up randomly on the screen. Another inspiration I had was Gods of Egypt (2016) – The Riddle of the Sphinx Scene. The atmosphere of the scene was very eery which inspired me to make my game on the scarier side. I also remember this scene very vividly since I found the idea and sound of the Sphinx monster very cool. 

One more main inspiration I had was The Riddler from DC comics. The Riddler, a riddle-obsessed supervillain, is one of my favorite characters in the show and I always wanted to make a project that had to do with riddles. The idea of having riddles be a timed thing that could lead to consequences was very unique and intriguing to me.  

Oedipus and the Riddle of the Sphinx

Gods of Egypt Riddle Scene

The Riddler (Picture Source)

One main idea that caught my attention is how training sets can cause bias in the machine learning algorithm. An example that was mentioned multiple times was the inability of facial recognition software to detect faces of Black people due to the lack of diversity in the data set that was used to train the machine learning model. I find this very interesting because I never thought of machine learning algorithms possibly being biased, this showed me how a bias from a coder can be seen in their algorithms and how it can lead to serious issues such as misidentifying criminals. Thus, it is important to always factor fairness and have inclusive code.

Pathways was a data collection/storytelling project made by Mimi Ọnụọha in 2015 showcasing the importance and beauty of data collection. She completed it as a part of the Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship. The project showcases real mobile data that has been collected for a month from four groups of people in London. These groups consist of a couple, co-workers, a family, and roommates. Using the data, Mimi investigates and studies these groups of people through their personal data. For instance, the image below showcases the data of the family. The mother (blue line) is pregnant meaning she does not move a lot and goes to the hospital, which is consistent with the logic. A lot of the family members also go to the hospital (the same area) at some point which was when the mother gave birth. The father (orange line) moves a lot around the city because of his work.

In the image below, the data of three co-workers can be seen. The main reason that co-workers 1 and 2 are spending more time together than with co-worker 3 is that they started dating. 

The main reason I love this project is that it teaches a variety of lessons such as the importance of considering the collection process. It also shows us each person can have their very own lives where they do their own things but in the end, they will still make time to see others. This project just showcased the lives of four different groups of people and it showed how different they are in their own ways and how people behave in different dynamics. Additionally, it was only for one month, so imagine how nice it would be to collect data for other groups for longer periods of time to analyze their behaviors and try to understand their motives and what they do in life.

Mimi Ọnụọha is a Nigerian-American artist and researcher that focuses on the implications of data collection. She graduated from NYU Tisch’s Interactive Telecommunications Program with a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in 2013. She is mostly interested in creative interrogations and the idea of data collection, specifically how data was rendering people’s worlds and ideas of themselves. One of her well-known projects is *69, which is a piece that was created to fight back against catcalling. One summer when she was living in Brooklyn, she would get catcalled and begin to think about the reasons behind catcalling and whether it was her fault which inspired her to start this project. She made a phone number and using Twillio, an American cloud communications platform, she connected the phone number to a server so that whenever someone would call the number it would not work since the voice box was full so they would have to text it. Whenever someone would catcall her she would give them a piece of paper with a phone number on it. If a catcaller did indeed message her (first image), they would get one of a series/stream of messages that Mimi programmed such as the one in the second image. Sometimes, the catcaller would feel bad (such as in the third image) while others would just cuss at her.

The numbers would then be saved to a database. Mimi was giving the papers throughout the summer and realized that she was creating a ‘catcaller database’. Mimi then worked on another project she called Pathways which showcased people’s subjectivity around the collection. She collected one month’s worth of data from four groups – 3 coworkers, roommates, a family, and a couple. Using the data, she was able to investigate and study ordinary people through their personal data. For instance, in the image below which showcases the data of the family, one can see that the mother did not travel a lot which was obvious since she was pregnant. Moreover, when the mother gave birth a lot of the family members were usually in the same area and Mimi was able to figure that out only using the data. 

Projects like these taught Mimi important lessons such as the importance of considering the collection process, and that if you haven’t considered the collection process you aren’t really considering the data. She also talks about how those with resources lack incentives and that collection takes more than it gives. This inspired her to make The Library of Missing Data Sets which is a mixed-media installation that showcases things excluded from society. Using this project and working with other small groups to work on different articles such as how people of color weren’t represented on Broadway (since there were no datasets that proved that this was true). She was able to see how small groups can collect data and make an impact. It also showed how people are better than machines when it comes to figuring out what isn’t being collected. One major issue in society is when it comes to selection and who chooses what is being collected and how information can also be manipulated. This is why it is exceedingly important to dig underneath the surface and try to think outside of the box. People like Mimi just show the importance of under-represented datasets and how they can be used to impact society positively.