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Data Consumption Gif Thermometer Because data consumption is so seamless, we who frequently use information receiving devices overlook the amount of data we use and the time we spend consuming data. Xxx, inspired by Hélène Portier’s 20°C, a project that brings to light the labor required to fetch data, will seek to make users aware of their data consumption levels and how data consumption affects their behaviors through displaying gifs of increasing intensity the longer the user uses his/her screen. Plan: I will prompt users to recognize their data consumption by displaying gifs of increasing intensity the longer they use their device. For example, 10 minutes would display a chill gif, 20 minutes would display a heating up gif, 30 minutes would display a times up/alarm gif, and 60 minutes would display an explode gif. I will use processing to display the gifs, and arduino time variables/functions to capture the amount of time the user is on his/her laptop. I would also implement a buzzer and led that increases in pitch and intensity the longer the user uses their device, corresponded to the same time intervals a gif is displayed on the screen. The gifs will be displayed on a laptop monitor and the buzzer and leds will be housed in a laser cut box that acts as an alarm system. The issue I would like to focus on is the amount of data we consume and the amount of time we spend on our phones or laptops. The inspiration and insight for this project was largely from my research on creativeapplications.net, where I found Hélène Portier’s 20°C, a project that questioned our relationship to data by forcing users to complete a physical task before being able to access the newsfeed on their mobile devices. Hélène Portier’s project prompted its audience to recognize and realize the amount of work/electricity required for data consumption. Similar to Portier’s project, I aim to raise awareness of data consumption, but in terms of the amount of data being used and the amount of time we spend consuming data. So while Portier focuses on the labor of data consumption, my project aims to remind users of how much data they are using and how data consumption affects human behavior (the tradeoff of time we spend on our devices vs on other things in life). This project aligns to my definition of interaction in that information is inputted (the time we spend on our screen), processed (computer decides which gif to output and which pitch and brightness level to output), and outputted (a gif, pitch, and light intensity). The project also attempts to make a mundane task, data consumption, more humanized, by allowing the computer to react to a user’s data consumption with greater expression (gifs, buzzers, and lights). While there are already apps that track our data consumption, the uniqueness of this project lies in its multiple modes of expression and multiple possible actions, derived from the use of gifs, buzzers, and lights, which allows for more complex interaction, which prompts screen users to pay conscious attention to, and think about data consumption in new ways. I think that this idea of using expressiveness beyond words and keyboard input can be applied in many future instances, for example, implementing more expression into IoT devices and devices like google home/alexa.
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