Visualising networks
The final part of the triangulate project is composed of a series of smaller iterations, testing and exploring how creative coding and visual systems can be used to interrogate our relationship with technology. The subject is too vast to tackle within one work so I’ve attempted to look at different aspects of digitisation in daily life and how that can be visually represented and interacted with. Most of these tests are led by what information I have access to quickly and easily, and thinking about how I can use that data meaningfully. The following visualisations are quite simple and only represent small-scale inquiries, however they aim to make the viewer think about algorithmic culture more actively and critically by making the seemingly intangible digital landscape somewhat more concrete.
Live Data 01 and 02 are visualisations that scrape data from a local WiFi network to display what kind of data (emails, messages, music, etc.) is being sent and received on the network in real time. The type of data is distributed along the X axis (colour in Live Data 01) while the direction of movement implies if that data is being sent or received. The fact that the input is pulled in real time means that the visualisations will be determined by which WiFi network has been accessed, who else has accessed it, and what it’s being used for.
The Screen Time Generator is an adaptation of the approach used in the mental health pictogram of triangulate 01. In the spirit of the Conditional Design Manifesto, I wanted to try to involve the user directly in the process - interacting with the code in order to generate the visuals - as I felt the process of making is more important and valuable than the actual final visual product. The resulting work is somewhat performative: the user is presented with the coding interface (below) and must follow a set of instructions to input values from their screen time app on their phone. If successful, they will generate a visualisation based on their relationship with their phone.
The coding interface with instructions for the screen time generator.
The generated visuals are effected by 3 parameters for any given day - total screen time (hours/min), pickups (how many times the phone has been unlocked or interacted with), and number of notifications. The higher each of these values are, the more complex the resulting visual becomes.
The final iteration, Live Data 03, is a combination of the previous sets. The main visual elements from the Screen Time Generator were taken and set into a fixed grid with some rules for motion applied to it. The degree of motion is modulated by the same WiFi data scraping as in Live Data 01 and 02, with data sent represented by the circles and data received by the line grid. This sketch is less valuable in terms of conferring information - for example, you can’t tell what type of data is being sent or received - however during tutorial feedback more people found it more visually evocative, leading the viewer to spend time just gazing at it and the data flows it represents.
As stated previously, these iterations are very light-footed and only serve to test if there is potential in exploring this area. I think they serve as a starting point for larger (and by necessity more complex) future projects. I’m interested in navigating this line between creating evocative and interactive graphic works which are nonetheless able to communicate specific critical ways of thinking about our relationship with technology. I’m also very conscious of something Tim Rodenbröker said during the interview - that creative coding is associated with an aesthetic and, while that can be very impactful, it can also cause people to put it into a certain niche box. I’d like to work to bring these methodologies into more mainline graphic practice and to start to demystify the barrier that many have when it comes to interacting with code-based technology.
