Playsureveillance

PlaySureVeillance manifests as two games for the Nintendo DS and serves as a critique of modern surveillance and social media dynamics. Players immerse themselves in casual gaming experiences that touch on provocative themes like terrorism and online dating. Unbeknownst to them, every action is meticulously recorded, profiled, and automatically shared on Facebook, constructing an ever-expanding public dossier of their in-game behavior.

The project illuminates the problematic nature of unwarranted interfacing and data exploitation. A pivotal aspect of PlaySureVeillance is the cultivation of an urban myth: modified game cartridges are subtly reintroduced into the marketplace, seamlessly blending back into the capitalist system under the guise of ordinary games.

By leveraging the Nintendo DS’s built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, the project blurs the lines between innocent play and invasive surveillance. As players navigate through various levels of interaction, they unwittingly participate in an omnipresence of data collection in entertainment. PlaySureVeillance compels audiences to confront the uncomfortable reality of how effortlessly personal information can be extracted and how innocent data can be weaponized to fabricate misleading narratives. It highlights the problematic nature of unwarranted interfacing and the construction of skewed realities through pervasive data harvesting.

Credits

This project was my Master thesis and diploma project at the Piet Zwart Insitute in Rotterdam. Thanks to Rene Bauer, Femke Snelting, Florian Cramer for generous support.