Lifestream as a City Metaphor

Prolific Lifestreamer Jessica Mullen has created a visual representation of a Lifestream as a city for a lifestyle design methodology paper she is working on. Regarding this diagram she states that “lifestreaming is a lifestyle design methodology. organizing a lifestream with a city metaphor allows for uncertainty+clarity+chronology+space”.

Along with the diagram she has provided a detailed explanation with her thoughts behind the concept.

Here’s an excerpt:

A brief diagram explanation: the lifestream city is split in two by a large river of raw data running through its center. The river is fed by three sources: Real Life Experiences, Virtual World Experiences, and External Lifestreams (data from others). The physical sources are assorted digitizing devices, such as cameras and computers. Up near the neighborhood of Real Life Experience lies the ocean, which is the edge of the digitization of real life. Go near the ocean, and you’ll be considered “offline”. In the Virtual World Experience neighborhood, there is a Second Life event center, where live, virtual events with other participants can occur.

This is some pretty interesting stuff. I really like the idea of applying unique ways of looking at concepts because they offer creative ways to look at something in a new light. I think that’s what Jessica has provided us with here. By using methods like this, I believe it can help innovate a concept to think about it in ways that we haven’t previously.

Take a look at Jessica’s diagram and full explanation here.