Personal data is recorded about every person who uses the internet. Many feel that this is an invasion of privacy, while some post photos, tweet thoughts, share locations and more without restraint. There are many strong or even overlapping opinions about how intrusive or helpful data collection can be, and every person is entitled to their own unique interpretation.
As a designer, I understood that data collection isn't going away, and whether a person embraces it or rejects it, the most impactful thing I could do is make the data useful to the person who created it.
This project "gives back" to the person who created the data in the first place.
This is GLANCE.
Glance is a beautiful display of a personal data point to motivate, inspire, track, or mirror your life in a meaningful way.
At the heart of every GLANCE is an Arduino Yún, which queries different API datasets using Temboo Choreos. The first prototype used FitBit data, but it could be configured with any data set. The data that is returned triggers a motor behind the display that moves a marker along a track to indicate progress. There are two different track types—one a straight line and one an arc of a circle—but both terminate in a painted area representing the “goal zone.” The display casing itself, within which the Arduino is contained, is wood with plastic backing, and is subtly lit by a set of internal LEDs that illuminate only at the moment the goal is reached.
Glance is configured with an app to connect the chosen data set.
“What started as an experiment to acknowledge my fitness progress opened my eyes to the larger conversation around data ownership. I find myself on the optimist side of the spectrum, hoping to enhance our human experience with personal knowledge, not to intrude on privacy. I don’t have all the answers in this conversation, but I do have a desire to create beautiful art objects that are useful as well. I hope this project can benefit both our relationship with data and a desire for beauty in technology.”
