Prototype 4 / Reconstructed Self

< Introduction >

How much of a person can a machine reconstruct from the smallest digital traces?

ID://ASCII examines how algorithmic identities are constructed from the smallest actions we make online. In this experiment, I set up a simple constraint: users must choose three ASCII characters, and those characters become the only vocabulary the system is allowed to use. This limitation mirrors the quiet but powerful ways algorithms construct our digital identities from small, seemingly insignificant choices of tiny inputs such as likes, follows, pauses, scrolls, become the foundations of how systems “see” us.

Reconstructed Self displays three parallel images of the user: the live camera feed, the hand-drawn self-portrait, and the algorithmically generated ASCII portrait. Each view represents a different layer of identity: embodied, expressive, and computational.

By placing the user’s self-portrait beside the system’s portrait, the work reveals the growing gap between lived identity and its algorithmic double. The experiment invites audiences to confront how their everyday gestures including clicks, drags, pauses, and drawings are captured, flattened, and reassembled into data selves that circulate far beyond their control.