Weekly Sprint 6
Spring break always seems like the ideal time to get catch up on work that is piling up and getting ahead for the rest of the semester. But, alas, it never does work out that way, does it? I mean, how can it, when there is an abundance of new movies out and when the temptation of doing nothing always seems the better option at the time? Despite the lack of motivation during the break, I did manage to pump out some work for my thesis and clean up some of my designs. I now have seven designs, and I think I will be adding one or two more, but, to be honest, I feel as if I am becoming quite lazy in my designing. Because I do not want my senior-itis to affect the work that I am doing, I think that I better put designing on the back burner and start to work with augmented reality. Over the break, I played around with the Blippar app, which is so easy to use! For the sake of time and my own personal sanity, I think that I will use this program, as opposed to Unity, which has a much more difficult interface and learning curve. Not to mention, I also should start cutting together some veteran interviews and gathering all of my augmented reality assets.
With my project, and data visualization in general, I am given the chance to relay information, facts, and figures in a way that is clear and comprehensible. Especially with social media and technology today, people have the tendency to gloss over reality with fancy filters and inspirational quotes; this has gotten to the point where people do not even know if what they are seeing online is in fact real or not. Because technology and social media is how most people receive their information, it is easy for people to control and mislead their audiences. Data, despite the inherent truth in its numbers and statistics, can also be misused, altered, or manipulated to change the story and truth behind the interpretation of those numbers and statistics. A recent study might suggest that coffee is a carcinogen that also causes wrinkles, cataracts, ulcers, and blood clots, and hundreds of people will likely kick Starbucks to the curb as a result, but the true source of this information will probably not be completely revealed; no one may find out, however, that this particular study was conducted with a test group of 10 elderly nursing home patients. I am, of course, giving the most dramatic of examples I could muster, but, I am not being hyperbolic when I say that people do unquestioningly believe anything that they read or hear, which is why data ethics is so important in an age where people receive nothing but copious amounts of data. Therefore, it is super important to make sure that data comes from reliable and verifiable sources, the data analysis is honest and complete, leaving no information out in order to benefit the underlying story, and the designs are accurate and understandable.
In the media, there are the creators and the consumers. It is safe to guess which one has the most power and control over the other. Every content creator has a specific driving force behind what they are doing, whether that is social, governmental, or economical. It can be very tempting to manipulate information, or, even worse, exclude information in order to make a point or appeal to a certain demographic. I am always reminded of my favorite novel, 1984, which covers issues such as information manipulation. To me, the truth is so important because it is so easy to live in the dark, but it is much harder, yet so much more rewarding, to question and challenge and learn.
