The enormous volumes of data people generate could
help humanity as a whole to get a better grasp of such problems as the
increasing scarcity of resources by increasing our knowledge of the way
things work on a local and individual level.
Real-time access to data collected by
satellites and billions of sensors, radio frequency identification
(RFID) labels, cameras and GPS-enabled smartphones could help mankind to
grasp, analyse and then address some key existential issues. This is
the idea behind the
Human Face of Big Dataprogramme,
as explained at ‘Mission Control’ events in London, New York and
Singapore on 2 October. This multimedia participatory project, initiated
by photographer
Rick Smolanand sponsored by
EMC²,a
data management products and services company,is based on the
crowdsourcing approach. First of all a mobile app is being used to
collect basic data on how people move about and to put more personal
questions to volunteers. All this information will then be made freely
available, for example enabling companies or NGOs to obtain a better
grasp of basic societal problems and address them more effectively. The
aim of the project is to see how enormous volumes of data can nowadays
be gathered, analysed, and visualised in real time. The ultimate goal is
to draw real benefits from Big Data by getting close to people’s
day-to-day lives and improving the general response to issues in
society, such as addressing the increasing scarcity of resources,
forecasting and providing alerts on climate-related disasters,
regulating traffic and improving people’s behaviour.
Making sense of huge data harvest
Dave Menninger, Head of Business Development and Strategy at EMC Greenplum, a division of EMC², told L’Atelier that
“the
Human Face of Big Data concept is not about the size of the project but
the insights people can get from the data being created and packaged.” Rick
Smolan, the project initiator, points out that everyone carrying a
smartphone has become a human sensor, part of the central nervous system
for the planet.
“Our increasing 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 well be the exact toolset we need to address many
of the most pressing issues of our time,” he enthused. To achieve this sort of result, the
Human Face of Big Data
project of course needs a large number of people to take part. The
next step is then to illustrate and communicate the data – i.e. to make
sense of what has been garnered. With this in mind, a book featuring
photographs and written articles with graphics is also scheduled for
publication on 20 November and a series of videos from the Mission
Control presenters will be uploaded on the HumanFaceOfBigData.com site
soon.
Mobile application to gather data
The project kicked off with the launch of a free mobile app on 25 September to encourage smartphone owners to volunteer to help
“measure our world”.
The initial phase ended on 2 October when early results were presented
at the Mission Control events. The app is designed to harvest ‘passive’
data throughout the day, such as the distance you travel measured using
a digital map. More ‘active’ data is being collected by asking the
volunteers direct questions about family, trust issues, sleep patterns,
etc and also from uploaded photos. Then they get to see how their
profile measures up.
“Once volunteers have contributed the basic
data and completed their answers, they can use the app to go in search
of their ‘data doppelganger’ - individuals similar to them based on
the answers provided,” explained Dave Menninger. He stressed that the information collected will be used for
“non-commercial, educational purposes.”
When the experiment closes on 20 November, the anonymised data will be
made available so that it can be used as a basis for new ideas and
improvements in a range of fields and sectors.
