Lifeomics - a blog entry for the emergent interface course

[Exploring Combinatorics Through the Mind Map]

The associative mind map serves as an unique starting pad for expanding and exploring topics of interest. Myself have been particularly interested in the future wellness model - how the health care would look, function, and be incorporated into our lives. To realize and visualize a form of predictive, personalized, and embodied medicine, my collaborators and I started the Lifeomics (http://www.lifeomics.org). While I had previously focused on its implementation in the Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com), I am now intrigued by far-futuristic physical and digital interfaces for the Lifeomics and associated interactions of the health care system.

The first step in this process was to let my mind wonder. I started with a simple, vague, and undefined word, the Lifeomics. Then I chose four major branches; virtual reality, health care, social network, genomics. From there, I started writing down everything, literally, that came into my mind. So the Lifeomics, which was written in the center of a drawing board, acquired multiple branches and sub-branches and sub-sub-branches. For example, newly found words, related to the Lifeomics, were;
ubiquitous computing | human to digital | aging population
democracy | simplicity | impracticality
blogsphere | influence of media | corporations

From this structure, I compiled all the words (5 pages) and started working on a generative diagram. While there are many different methods to create this map, I chose to use three identical lists in a irregular form. On this diagram, I started to make conscious decisions to connect certain words and to give a short description. Some combinatorics did not require much explanation, beyond putting together different words;
*Embedded Virtual Reality
*Algorithm behind Technology
*Corporate Control of Mass Media
On other cases, I wanted to make more explicit connections;
*Uniqueness – Privacy: Our unique beings demand privacy.
*Blogsphere – Public Policy: The public opinion, symbolized by the Blogsphere, should influence public policy.
*Anti-technology – Caring: We shall be cautious not to demonize technology in a favor of humane caring, due to a blurred distinction.

This associational diagram helps figuring out what one is interested in, aesthetically and technologically. Furthermore, it brings out related topics which could have been left out, if no time was given for this kind of exercise. Lastly, I think the Lifeomics Combinatorics, itself, has unique aesthetics which could be well developed into an art piece. I will look more into possible interfaces arising from the Lifeomics, with help of this mind map.