Meta Search is a critical research project that challenges the limitations of the ‘filter bubble’ by creating a new interactive and mindful context to search the Internet.
This work is part of a yearlong research into our perception of online existence. The installation is set up as a public experiment, designed as a confession booth. The visitor is invited to enter the space where they will be surrounded by hundreds of reflections of themselves. Inside they can perform a voice-enabled search using Google.
The effect the designed surrounding has on the self and the mind will have an effect on the type of question you would like to ask inside. The aim is to intervene in the sometimes-mindless way we ask Google questions and how we take Google’s answer for granted.
Standing in the space feels private and public at the same time. Some visitors felt it was too confronting to ask a question inside the installation, while others asked deep existential questions or what they should have for dinner.
In addition, putting this booth in the public realm, we could test how the algorithm ‘personalizes’. Would it be possible to have access to a search engine that is public instead of personal?