The Datacatcher

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a field trial of 130 bespoke devices as well as our methodological approach to the undertaking. Datacatchers are custom-built, location-aware devices that stream messages about the area they are in. Derived from a large number of 'big data' sources, the messages simultaneously draw attention to the sociopolitical topology of the lived environment and to the nature of big data itself. We used a service design consultancy to deploy the devices, and two teams of documentary filmmakers to capture participants' experiences. Here we discuss the development of this approach and how people responded to the Datacatchers as products, as revealing sociopolitical issues, and as purveyors of big data that might be open to question.

On Speculative Enactments

“…In contrast, stage-setting of Speculative Enactments requires a constant translating and reframing of the speculation, from specific participants to broader audiences. We see parallels to Gaver et al's [37,39] description of the translational work required when involving on-street marketers, documentary filmmakers or other 'cultural commentators' in their projects. We see this as a highly productive constraint on speculative design; we are forced to repeatedly reflect on and rationalize how circumstances or materials should be designed to become plausible to real-world participants.…”

“…Speculative approaches in HCI have since been deployed for: critique [8,9,16,25,47,52,56]; exploring emerging 'upstream' technology [e.g., 11,12,25,39,44,52]; and opening up areas for future research [e.g., 9,40,57]. This selection of work exemplifies speculation as a form of Research through Design; and as a form of provocation that "create[s] a discursive space" [48].…”

My Naturewatch Camera

“…In previous projects, some researchers have turned to batch production to increase the number of people who can try the research products they create, both to permit large-scale field studies and to disseminate the ideas they embody [5,15,31,35]. Batch production, however, is costly and time-consuming, and for digital devices typically remains quite limited in the numbers of devices that can be made-for instance, even the large scale Datacatcher project only produced 130 devices [15].…”

Do You Have to Pee?

“…Bringing data into a design space is not an unusual practice for designers and is exemplified through a diversity of design research that has explored a multitude of ways in which data can contribute to or be a result of a design process. The Datacatcher is one such example in which the location-curated output of sociopolitical data is inherent to the design research artifact as a product [23]. Through its deployment, the project surfaced challenges of working with data sets and distribution at scale.…”