There is a consistent theme in many articles relating to digital humanities: metadata is important, and good categorization of information is essential for a digital database, website or exhibit to be functional. An ontology is a “formal framework for representing knowledge…and that framework names and defines the types, properties and interrelationships of the entities in a domain of discourse.” (Wikipedia).
In Local-Global, J. Wallack and R. Srinivasan highlight the importance of intersecting thought-out ontologies with information systems. Ontologies that are mismatched “impede communities’ ability to impart and communicate information and states’ ability to fully understand the territories they govern.” (link to the article)
Although ontologies are meant to represent some sort of reality, they can also be used to shape new realities. If properly designed and executed, these information systems can serve as incredible tools. They can, and should be used for better city planning (as discussed in J. Wallack and R. Srinivasan’s article), better health care systems, etc. The opportunities are endless, but it takes intersecting human thought and decision making with the power of digital tools. The authors of Local-Global write about improvements that need to be made to information systems, but some success stories already exist. Pandora created the still unsurpassed music library, in my opinion, by building the music genome project and Netflix created an online movie library. Both systems learn your preferences and tailor a unique experience. They have an extensive vocabulary and grammar system to categorize and describe their content, and follow impressive algorithms written to learn about the user. For both of these systems to be successful though, it took a perfect marriage of human intuition and decision making with the searching/learning/sorting functions of digital tools. I haven’t really heard anyone describe this better than A. Madrigal, in How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood: “to me, that’s the key step: It’s where the human intelligence of the taggers gets combined with the machine intelligence of the algorithms.”
I extrapolate this “perfect marriage” to apply to the interaction of humans and technology in general, not just in information systems. Right now, wearable technology is growing in popularity and market size. There are tons of wearables already on the market, and new ones continue to emerge: Forbes covered Microsoft’s announcement of a wearable expected to be released this holiday season, which got a lot of attention. The “coming-soon” wearable that caught my attention, though, was will.i.am’s new PULS. Wearables are remarkable new pieces of technology—not only do they incorporate many of the same functions as your smart phone, but they also serve as metadata collectors. (PULS reportedly can even read your emotions!)
Mostly I have been most interested in the fitness and health trackers included in these devices. Wearables collect all kinds of information about you—your sleep habits, your daily activity and levels of exertion, among many others—then presents that information back to you in a way that can shape your decisions and future behavior. These devices connect humans to technology in a newly involved way. And, although I have been impressed and interested in all of the functions of these types of wearables, I have resisted entering the market. For some reason the watches (or ‘cuffs’ as will.i.am calls his new PULS devices) did not seem “human” enough. To me, they were all ugly and clunky, and certainly did not serve as a fashion statement. This is why will.i.am’s new PULS campaign caught my attention.
Human elements need to be incorporated in our development of new technology and information systems—and Pandora and Netflix serve as great testimonials. Will.i.am and his new brand FASHIONOLOGY believe something similar: that it is “inevitable that fashion and technology will come together”. People like me have been hesitant to enter the wearable market because it lacked a certain human element, fashionable design. In a recent press conference, former Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley stated: “it doesn’t matter if a gadget can organize my life and make my dinner, if it’s ugly to look at”, and I couldn’t agree more. He insists that closer collaboration between fashion and technology is urgently required—a collaboration between humans and technology that I think should be extended to all aspects of the digital humanities.
Check out will.i.am’s promotional video for his wearable cuff. His new brand i.am/FASHIONOLGY seeks to take the wearable market mainstream, and once you see the video it’s hard to resist the movement.