Global Project Shines Big Light on the
Human Face of Big Data, Invites People All Over the Planet to Share, Connect
and Engage for Seven Days
Rick Smolan, co-creator of
the groundbreaking “Day in the Life” series and other globally crowdsourced
projects, today launched a free mobile app enabling people to share and compare their lives
for seven days (September 26-October 2) using the sensors in their phones and
by responding to thought-provoking questions with others around the globe about
their dreams, interests and views on family, sleep, trust, sex and luck. The Android version is
currently available and the iOS version will launch later this week.
The app represents the launch
event of The
Human Face of Big Data, a series of initiatives aimed
at inspiring a global conversation about humanity’s new ability to collect,
analyze, triangulate and visualize vast amounts of data in real time.
On October 2, Smolan and team
are hosting a series of invitation-only media events in London, Singapore and
New York, where leading Big Data experts will interpret and visualize seven
days’ worth of information streaming in from participants using the mobile app
all over the world. In addition, leading data entrepreneurs, scientists and innovators
will share examples of their work in an interactive “Big Data Lab.” A live
webcast will allow people around the world to watch the briefings as the day
unfolds.
“Big Data is beginning to affect every aspect of our
existence,” said Smolan. “Everyone carrying a smartphone has become a human
sensor, and this new ability to sense and measure the world in real time is
something our planet has never seen before. From curing diseases to
conserving precious resources such as water and energy, Big Data may be the
tool we need to address many of the most pressing issues of our time.”
Beginning today through
October 2, The Human Face of Big Data mobile app invites
people to share ideas and compare their responses with others around the world.
People can map their daily path, share the objects and rituals that bring them
luck, get a glimpse into the one special thing that others want to experience
during their lifetime and discover hidden secrets about the world in which they
live. The app is available in eight languages: English, Mandarin (simplified),
Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Korean and Russian.
The Three Main Elements of The Human Face of Big Data App:
·
Passive data: Information that your phone gathers in the course of a
day. For instance, how far you travel and your average speed, or what time of
day you are most active.
·
Questions and real-time results: Topics include Me and Myself; Family;
Trust and Safety; Sleep and Dreams; and Sex and Dating. People can see how
their answers compare to others around the world and sort answers by age,
gender and general location.
·
Activities: Submit photos, map your daily travel and find your “Data
Doppelganger.” App activities include:
o
Lucky Me: Asks people to share their “lucky rituals”—the things
they do before a sports event, test, company pitch or other important event to
turn the odds in their favor. They can then use filters to compare their own
lucky rituals with others around the world.
o
Map My World: Maps people’s daily travel patterns, which can be
shared on Facebook and Twitter, including total distance, average speed and
most active time of day.
o
Data Doppelganger: Gives people the opportunity to find their Data
Doppelganger—a combination of their own face (if they choose to upload a photo)
and that of the user who is their closest data match. People will also be able
to see the age, location, gender, percentage of questions answered, passive data
stats and completed activities of themselves and their doppelganger.
o
Before I Die: In an activity based on Candy Chang’s thought-provoking
interactive project and upcoming book, Before I Die, people of all ages
are invited to share the one thing they dream of doing during their
lifetime. Participants will be able to compare their own hopes and dreams to
those of others around the world.
At the end of the project, the anonymized data will be
available to researchers, data scientists and educators to study as a data
snapshot of a week in the life of humanity in 2012.
The Human Face of Big Data project is editorially
independent and is made possible through the support of EMC Corporation, which
serves as the primary sponsor. Supporting sponsorship comes from Cisco, FedEx, VMware, Tableau and Originate.
About The Human Face of
Big Data
The Human Face of Big Data, produced by Against All Odds
Productions, is a globally crowdsourced media project focusing on humanity’s
new ability to collect, analyze, triangulate and visualize vast amounts of data
in real time. Against All Odds, described by Fortune magazine as “one of the 25 coolest companies in America,” specializes
in the design and execution of large-scale global projects that combine
compelling storytelling with state-of-the-art technology. The company’s
projects have been featured on the covers of numerous magazines including Fortune,
Time, Newsweek and US News & World Report.
Privacy and The Human Face of Big Data App
The Human Face of Big Data app was developed with user
privacy in mind. The information gathered through the app will be used for
noncommercial, educational purposes and is intended to provide a fun look at
how each user’s answers compare with those of other users around the world. The
data fall into two categories: (1) information voluntarily supplied by users, including
photographs, and (2) information gathered automatically from users as they use
the app. We do not ask for users’ names, email addresses or other contact
information, and users will not need to create a username or password. We do
ask for age and gender and ask users to confirm the city or town that their
mobile device reports when they first use the app. We analyze the information
users provide on age, gender and location, and the answers they provide to our
questions, and compare it to the information provided by others to help users
learn more about the views and aspirations of users of the app throughout the
world. If they choose to do so, users can use the app without providing any
personally identifying information; they can choose not to upload photographs
and not to include personally identifying information in their activity
responses. The full App Privacy Policy is available here.
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