Sheldon.studio srl
Via dei Portici, 70
39100 - Bozen-Bolzano, IT
PI 03061940213
a project for Pisa Internet Festival
Gamifying data on teen internet’s dark side
An interactive installation featuring nine glowing QR codes that lead to unique questionnaires exploring challenges, cyberbullying, and hikikomori through innovative behavioral interactions.
the challenge
The dark side of the internet data
The Internet has transformed our relationships, bringing people closer together while simultaneously pushing them apart, for better or for worse.
The Pisa Internet Festival seeks to explore the implications of the web on society, including its darker aspects.
Blurm3Not was designed to offer young participants a genuine opportunity to reflect and delve into the phenomena of challenges, cyberbullying, and hikikomori.
the idea
Qr from the dark
With the aim of captivating a younger audience, we envisioned a dim and cozy setting featuring nine glowing QR codes that flicker unpredictably in the darkness.
The idea for QR codes stemmed from the fact that smartphones are a primary way for teenagers to explore the world around them, and they offer a discreet way to participate in shared experiences such as the BlurM3Not installation.
how
The survey with steroids
Each QR code leads to an online questionnaire, but this is not your standard multiple-choice survey!
The answers to the questions are provided through unique behaviours that symbolize the phenomenon discussed.
For example, Challenge questions require facial expressions from the front camera of the phone, as a metaphor of the performative aspects of Internet. Cyberbullying questions are answered through a chat with a BOT that responds with memes and emojis to reproduce the experience of bullying through messenger apps.
Finally, Hikikomori questions are answered through a dark interface that symbolizes the darkness of the rooms Hikikomori isolate in. As a reward, participants receive a set of fantastic stickers with blurred emojis at the end.
visual metaphor
Why blur?
Blurriness highlights the participants' perception sharpness of data. The project displays real-time answers on two big vertical circle-based data visualizations.
The sharpness of the circle represents the participants' focus and precision. If the participants overestimate or underestimate the numbers, the circle becomes blurrier.
The size of the circle varies based on the data and the dots above it represent the answers of each participant, color-coded by gender. Blur serves as a memory and verification tool to assess young people's knowledge and perception of the data they are involved in.
After the festival, it becomes a survey tool in the educational sphere to validate it scientifically and from a citizen science perspective.
impact
Next steps
3104 responses from more than 600 participants who discovered how far their perceptions of Cyberbullying, Online Challenges and Hikikomori deviate from reality.
The data tells us that awareness of these issues still needs to be spread: 1 in every 3 answers is correct. Interviews and conversations during the event also showed how Blurm3Not was an engaging system for detecting and raising awareness of complex phenomena.
Data gamification is an approach that we want to continue and take forward into new areas towards new forms of social use of data!
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