Main image via Simon Weckert
Sometimes we wonder why our navigation app takes us on certain routes when the traffic is bad, but imagine if the reason is caused by a fake traffic jam…
An artist named Simon Weckert from Berlin rented 99 smartphones, installed 99 sim cards in them, and opened Google Maps to create a fake traffic jam by wheeling them in a wagon.
The streets that he walked on instantly turned into a “heavy traffic” zone forcing drivers to reroute to avoid the streets.
Why? The objective of the experiment was to show how much we rely on navigating app’s technology despite its limitations and show how Google Maps works.
He said that people are blindly trusting the tech companies and platforms and that we “tend to see them as objective … thus data are viewed as the world itself, forgetting that the numbers are only representing a model of the world.”
A Google representative confirmed the reason for it is because the app asses the density of phones that enables the app to access their location.
“We’ve launched the ability to distinguish between cars and motorcycles in several countries including India, Indonesia and Egypt, though we haven’t quite cracked traveling by wagon.”
“We appreciate seeing creative uses of Google Maps like this as it helps us make maps work better over time.”
His experiments got many mixed reactions from netizens and even gave a few people some ideas.
What are your thoughts on his experiment? Let us know!
Info via Business Insider
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