IDENTIFIED
A critical exploration of the datafied self in future identity-mediating systems

Identified is a body of research and work that spans over 2 years of the graduate design program at the California College of the Arts. It focuses on a number of investigations around how we capture and use digital identities today and speculation around how it could be used (or misused) in the future. I conducted a number of experiments to test how citizens feel about the capture and use of digital identity and developed probes and artifacts that synthesized those findings.

The videos shown here are both conceptual and documentation of some of that research. The film was my final project which was meant to be a narrative in the future. The cosplay videos are investigations into the life of a current-day cosplayer to understand appropriation of multiple identities within sub-culture. The game, and interactive installation were both probes and experiments to understand how people respond (literally) to their data through play.

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See more videos and examples here

Futures
This is the final film which was shown at the exhibition. The resulting narrative became a co-creation by me and actors Marisa Gregory and Albert Thakur. It is “designed” to feel like a erratic and dreamlike flipbook that shuffles through the lives of three characters who interact with future identity-mediation systems.

Research Documentaries

Coser
Character Research – These are a series of documentary shorts examining Cosplay culture. Cosplayers are anime fanatics who transform their physical and behavioral appearances to mimic their favorite characters from animations or manga. I spent two days with coser “Pril Pril” (Shuya “April” He). We attended the AOD 2011 convention(Animation On Display).

Cosplay
Character Research – Pril Pril explains her process and methods for transforming into the character Masaomi from the anime Durarara.

Interactive Installation – Identity Probe

Built in MaxMSP. This application scrapes the web for images and text related to a name then projects the results into floating and pulsating clouds. The cloud of images follow the user in space using a webcam and blob tracking algorithm.

Bits are forever and the artifacts of our identities have a longevity in cyberspace—one that we don’t always have control over. This probe investigates the relationship people have with the data that represents them. What initially began as an experiment and metaphor concerning the public display of personal information became an act of play as each user felt compelled to control and manipulate the images.

Concept: Phil Balagtas

Cubelord – Interactive Research Probe (game)

There’s a phenomena that exists with how people relinquish or privatize their data. For further investigation, I collaborated with my classmate Jason Linder to create a game probe called Cube Lord. The object of the game was simple: buy money and buy cubes. The cubes, mimicking the desk layout of the Graduate Design studio, became the property players could buy.