I had to speed through my presentation for the sake of time, and I know I forgot to say a lot of the things I had prepared. Feel free to download the PowerPoint and peruse through the notes.

Download the .PPTX (about 12MB)

Here is the Prezi of my Conceptual Module. (WARNING, YOU MUST USE SAFARI TO SEE)

During my Max/MSP class, I observed Alex — a notorious user of Facebook — for 2.5 hours. She checked Facebook constantly instead of paying attention in class. According to her, it is boredom that drives her to frequently check the internet.

Thanks, Bobby. I’m a star now.

Thesis Statement:
Ultimately, my end-goal is to break the wall of physical anonymity between the computer interface and living interaction, integrate the technological and the human-organic, and reveal the human face behind the digital masks that the internet and its components generally provide. By exploring the concept of personal identity and tangibility in an otherwise digital environment, the project will make the relationship between the user and technology more transparent; in other words, the final iteration will bridge the physical and emotional gap between the identity of an individual and the computerized services and devices he or she uses everyday.

Design Questions:
The primary design question, based off the thesis statement, explores the connection between the user and the interface: how can an individual establish a positive, almost altruistic relationship with technology through a physical and tangible artifact without hiding behind such technology? By analyzing the psychology of the user and his or her use of the internet – coupled with my research in technological ethnography and sociology – it is my intention to investigate the motivation why any given individual is so attached to the web-based services, electronics, and telecommunications he or she utilizes daily. Essentially, what is the psychological and social rationale as to why an urbanized population uses the internet and other electronic devices? Is it convenience? Is it status quo? Is it because such things like smartphones and MacBooks provide some sort of status symbol? There is a social – and ultimately psychological – science involved, and in several cases these devices and services are both inherent and beneficial to every aspect of everyday living: politics, communications, human-to-human interactions, and the economy. However, technology sometimes provides a harmful and almost parasitic relationship with the user: why do certain individuals who are too deeply attached to video games and applications like Facebook, Twitter, and blogging as a whole use technology as a deterrent to personal intimacy and physical activity? Why would they rather be at home updating their Facebook profile, browsing the web, or playing video games than interacting, physically, with reality? Moreover, do these things serve as an emotional pacifier? Certainly, companies profit from the usage of their products and services, but at the cost of – in rare and severe cases — the user’s emotional and physical well-being; hence, a parasitic relationship.

Although they are not physical drugs, addiction to such technology is apparent. In the episode of A&E’s “Intervention,” there was one case where a young man was so addicted to videogames, he became gaunt, malnourished, and refused to interact with the outside world. Of course, he has had a history of depression and suicide attempts prior to his intervention, but are mental and emotional issues prior to an addiction to technology the cause of his unhealthy fascination with technology? Again, the psychological and emotional reasoning behind such individuals is worthy of research and academic exploration, especially when the artificial world of technology is readily accessible.

Prototype Concepts:
Prototype #1: Parsons Trading Cards
The first prototype I made for studio is a set of Parsons Trading Cards that I distributed during class. The series contains a total of 100 cards of 23 students (primarily of my studio and a few other MFA DT 2011 students) and simulates – in both design and function – the standard baseball trading cards I collected as a child. Each card contains a picture taken from their Facebook profile and statistics of their social networking usage.

Of course, how did I calculate such statistics? After going to the Bobst and Fogelman libraries and doing research on the Nielsen and Pew Internet Center websites, I found the following, national statistics:

• Twitter: 15 million active users, 75 million tweets a day, a user averages 12.74 tweets a week and has an average of 126 followers
• Facebook: 10 million login each day in the US, user averages 130 friends, spends 7.01 hours a month on Facebook
• Foursquare: 300K users, 1.2 million checkins a day, an average user checks in 4 times a week
• Last.fm: an average user has 10.41 friends
• Tumblr: an average user has about 190.48 followers on his or her blog
• The average active user blogs 3-4 times a week
• The average user has over 10,000 songs in their iTunes library

The next step was sending out a survey to my user group and collecting numerical/quantative data:
1) If you can have a superhero name, what would it be?
2) What is the URL of your thesis blog?
3) What’s your age?
4) If you can narrow down one skill/specialty that you’re good at, what would it be?
5) How many songs are in your iTunes?
6) Do you use Last.fm, and if so, how many friends do you have?
7) How many pictures are in your Flickr account?
8)How many pictures are you, yourself, tagged on Facebook?
9) How many hours a week do you spend on Facebook?
10) How many friends do you have on Facebook?
11) How many times a week do you checkin into Foursquare?
12) How many times a week do you use Twitter?
13) How many followers do you have on Twitter?
14) How many times a week do you post onto a blog (Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr)?
15) If you have Tumblr, how many followers do you have?

Using the given statistics and mathematical equations that I had devised (basically, dividing the MFA DT user’s averages over the standard US user’s average), I quantified the common MFA DT student’s usage of social networking sites, blogs, and technology via percentages:

•FACEBOOKALITY: Usage of Facebook
•TWITTEROCITY: Usage of Twitter
•FOURSQUARINESS: Usage of Foursquare
•BLOGGABILITY: Amount of blogging
•MUSICALITY: Amount of MP3s in iTunes Library, Last.fm usage
•PHOTOBILITY: Amount of Facebook photos, Flickr usage
•FRIENDSHIBILITY: Summation of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Last.fm friends.

Based off the percentage of social network usage, I produced a set amount of cards of a particular individual. For instance, Bobby Lin and myself are frequent users of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and other sites; we are the most common cards. Certain individuals and thus certain cards (such as George Bixby and Max Chang) were more rare due to their lower level of engagement in social media. After distributing a pack of 5 cards to each student, it was my hope that the rarity of certain cards would encourage the human-to-human interaction of trading. The desire to collect all cards and the narcissism of some individuals to collect all their own cards (Alex Stachelek) further promotes that human-to-human interaction. Overall, it was my intention to make a tangible artifact of data visualization; its data is grounded on internet technology, but its physicality as a tradable object endorses a tangible experience.

Prototype #2: Addiction
The next prototype I want to create is based off The Conceptual module. The idea of psychology behind the internet, for instance, is an ideal area to explore for a conceptual prototype, and addiction – namely to technology – is a notion that I would like to further research. According to an NPR interview with Dr. Hillary Cash, a Seattle-based psychologist who specializes in internet addiction, “We know that people tend to get hooked by things that are rewarding but unpredictable so, and the internet is built around that principle.” As previously stated, there was an entire episode of “Intervention” based on gaming addiction, and after watching it I’ve discovered that there is more to the user’s background – such as a history of depression or anxiety – that leads to these habits. Since Parsons’ MFA DT is based upon technology itself, I want to monitor and analyze students who are consistently and constantly on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. I intend to videotape them for an hour or so, calculate how many times they log in or check Twitter or Facebook, and interview them to generate an intimate portrait of their psychological profile. After reading The Social Net, Internet and Psychology, and The Inner History of Devices, I’m beginning to understand the psychology of the average user. For instance, in Sherry Turkle’s novel The Inner History of Devices, there is a dependency on technology that stems from idea of internet anonymity; people always feel the need to share their most personal details with the world, and while psychiatrists and psychologists build upon an intimate relationship with their patients, the internet is a quick and accessible way to express one’s emotions. On the other hand, the world that the internet creates is entirely artificial and superficial, and sometimes the idea of establishing a fantastic, unreal identity on the web is a way for the user to escape his or her problems. In both cases of escaping reality or finding an artificial confidant, addiction to the internet can be evident and ultimately digresses from interacting with reality.

As a sub-prototype, I intend to quit smoking. I’ve been smoking for approximately three years, and my own addiction to cigarettes has been amplified since thesis started. I know that cigarettes are a way, personally, to relieve stress, and the past few months have been indeed stressful. It is my goal to document my own experiences of quitting smoking and analyze the results.

Prototype #3: Arduino!
This past weekend, I ended up going to an interactive DJ set at Eyebeam and Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science. At Eyebeam, there was a comedy/music set by the band Electronic Animals who made a visually explosive video based on young, female tweens’ obsession on the singers Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. By incorporating Twitter hashtags “#justinbeiber” and “#ladygaga,” their music videos, scenes of death and desolation, and Max/MSP, Electric Animals provided a very conceptual audio/visual presentation. A day later, at Maker Faire, I explored the festival and bought a starter Arduino pack. Both the Eyebeam and Maker Faire events inspired me to create a conceptual prototype that is founded on addiction to the internet. Since I’ve never used Arduino before nor have taken any physical computing classes, I’m excited to create something that literally shocks people each time they log into or view Facebook or the hashtag #justinbieber is tweeted. In the case of the Facebook experiment, I wanted to simulate the Milgram Experiment where the subject was forced to believe into shocking an unseen victim. Dr. Stanley Milgram’s experiment measured the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. With Facebook, however, the subject would receive a slight electrical charge. It is my goal to see if the subject is conscience of his or her addiction to Facebook through a physical response. In the Justin Bieber experiment, I just want to see how many times a person can get shocked. My subjective disdain for mainstream media is indeed visible, and I would want to associate slight pain with Justin Bieber.

Evaluation:
My first prototype, I deemed, was successful. My user group did interact with one another by trading and collecting certain cards. I even hid two packs in the 10th floor computer lab, posted clues to their location on Facebook, and other students found them. Even though this is not my final thesis project, I intend to make more cards of every student and faculty in MFA DT as a fun side project. In fact, I’ve received about 15 more emails from students outside my studio class asking for their own card.

The second and third prototypes are currently in progress. Using my expertise in video-making and documentation, I feel that the second prototype of recording and analyzing addiction – albeit smoking or technology – would yield some interesting results. The third prototype, however, is merely a venture into physical computing; I am the type of person who loves to create things, and experimenting with new technology is a good way to learn about my capabilities and limitations as a designer. Since Arduino is completely foreign to me, I’d like to see if I am even able to use it.

Via Chris Choi/Ann Marie Kuo.

WANT.