Dataseeds - flying data

With the rise in the use of and access to large amounts of public data this research questions how easy or difficult it might be to find and access these data sets, and how non-specialist’s audiences are able to read, comprehend and make use of this information in a meaningful way.  As part of its five year planning NHS England has recently announced the establishment of a National Information Board to help manage and effectively utilise an increasingly diverse range of publically released open data. In response to this challenge the Dataseeds project utilises contemporary digital fabrication methods to translate digital data into physical objects that can be used to aid understanding and simulate conversation with interested communities.   In particular the dataseeds are a translation of data collected on ‘falls on and from stairs and steps’.   The design challenges and processes undertaken in the development of these data translations including thoughts around audience, use of metaphor, material and form. In the final iteration of the project examples from the dataset are used dictate the surface area of the wing of a digitally printed physical dataseed, the data intern dictates the spin and falling speed of the dataseed when it is dropped or through into the air - these experiences suggest that access to Open Data is not the end of the conversation but just the start.