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Intro

COLLECTIVE MEMORIES

Every person generates vast amounts of data every day through their actions, thoughts and feelings. Over the last years the percentage of it that is collected is growing exponentially.  We collect more and more of what we have always collected, but suddenly also take things that have always contained information but have never been translated into a data format. This amount is being stored and retrieved faster than ever before, becoming an endless flow of information.

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Your Data

So we come into contact with data anew every day. How often you think of something specific or feel something during the day remains unmeasured, however, because only a fraction of all information is collected.
Namely, those that seem important to the collectors. These extraneous entities exert a great deal of influence on us, often without us being aware of it.
We benefit almost every second from GPS, weather data or algorithms that make recommendations based on our user profile.
A large part of the data generated by you and your environment is also used by you.

Covid Sculpture:
Generated from population figures, weekly infections and death figures. Each network and node is a representation of a country's weekly data on the Corona pandemic. The dataset includes all globally available information for the year 2020.
Dataset:
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-source-data
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Dimensions

In order to process the ever increasing amount of data, more complex representation methods are necessary. Big Data forces us to think beyond our original 2-dimensionality to accommodate more possible variables in information graphics. Multi-dimensionality, as well as the use of the classical means of design, form and color, give us the possibility to create over-complex data sculptures.

Use the mouse to navigate and rotate the data visualization. The visualisation form is a heightmap. In this case, each extreme of the object stands for a certain numerical value. The data used here are render times and benchmarks of the 3D software Blender. It can be compared with a three-dimensional table.
Dataset:
https://opendata.blender.org/
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Emotions

Numbers and data are often accompanied by emotions like fear or hope. Although none of us can directly imagine anything about them, we trust these numbers, surveys and statistics. The form of visualization plays an important role, because data sets can be manipulated consciously and unconsciously.
Shape, color and extremity communicate information without changing anything about the truth of the data set. So everyone should be aware of the responsibility that comes with creating, reading and disseminating.

If you have the opportunity, try the website in a VR headset. When you are at your computer, move the mouse to look around and use w+a+s+d to move. Explore the abstract city around you. It was created from population data of Germany and shows which are the most populated regions of the country.
Dataset:
https://simplemaps.com/data/de-cities
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Virtual Reality

Modern technologies are the key to cope with this multidimensionality and over-complexity. For example, virtual reality technology can guarantee a completely different user experience, not only helping to provide a better overview of the data, but at the same time turning it into an alien interactive experienceFor example, it can be used to display the population density of a country.

The website can be accessed on a smartphone or tablet and enables amodel of the visualisation to be placed in the visitor's environment. The object can be scaled microscopically small or so gigantic that one can stay within the data cloud and examine the individual particles or existing nametags more closely.
The particle cloud used here was generated from air quality measurements of the Polish city of Katowice and indicates the heavy air pollution in large parts of the city centre.
Dataset:
https://github.com/cables-gl/coding-with-cables/tree/master/11-Data_visualization
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Augmented Reality

AR Augmented Reality can add another emotional level to installations and graphics.
Via tracking, objects can be placed freely in their own environment and thus also gain a new meaning through an individually selected environment. Open Collective Memories on your phone and try it yourself.

The random walker code shown here is a well-known model for generating purely random movements from an algorithm. In this way, a completely random path can be drawn on an empty canvas. By the movements of your mouse and the settings in the sidebar you can further influence the image. The generated data from the x- and y-axis change hue, brightness and density, creating a unique image from the algorithm and your interactions.
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Data Art

Every civilization, will use the maximum level of technology available to make art. And it's the responsibility of the artist to ask questions about what that technology means and how it reflects our culture."
Through algorithms and machine learning, data is now even starting to become autonomous and take on a life of its own. Data is and makes things alive, can be used as "paint" for art, and can be drawn as a "brush" on a canvas or in a room using algorithms.
So in what way do you generate data here on the web; which exactly can be used and how do you thus perhaps even generate art.

You can navigate in the digital exhibition space with the left, right and middle mouse buttons. Influence the generative sculpture with your personal information by entering it in the sidebar. If you have given the website access to the webcam, you will see that the object also reacts to your movements in front of the camera. To improve the performance, you can lower the quality or even improve it on a powerful PC. Make sure that the FPS remains above 25.
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Your Datasculpture

This is your personal data portrait. The sculpture is generated from browser- and your location data, but also from time and date of your visit and everything you are willing to provide. All this information and your personal data, as well as webcam textures, influence different mechanics in the object. What emerges in the end is a highly individual portrait of your visit. These collected images map the interactions between man and machine and become the website's memory of your visit.

Collective Memories



If you want to be part of collective memories save a screenshot of your personal Data Sculpture. Upload your file here and you may find your Data Portrait on our Instagram!

You may replace your name with your Instagram-username to get tagged, but please don't change anything else in the filename as it will be part of a future data art piece.

Thank You for Visiting!
Feel free to come back.

01. Intro02. YOUR DATA03. dimensions04. emotions05. Vr06. Ar07. data art08. sculpture09. COLLECTIVE MEMORIES
01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06.07.08.09.