Watch Dogs ‘ website shows us that a completely connected electronic world already exists.
Watch Dogs is a game being developed by Ubisoft that features a guy by the name of Aiden Pearce. Now you might think he’s just a trendy dresser, but he’s really got the power of hacking at his disposal. Not just any hacking … he can hack into any electronic item around him to serve his purpose.
Perhaps in an effort to show us just how realistic the concept really is, Ubisoft has launched a website for Watch Dogs that shows us just how connected everything already is. WeareData is an experimental website that almost mirrors what the NSA has been doing, giving users access to information about various cities and people living in them.
WeareData simulates Watch Dogs ‘ actual gameplay by using real-time data that organizes and helps run the cities of Berlin, London and Paris. Traffic signals, WiFi hotspots, mobile phone antennae, and a 3D mapping system showing the cities in a way that almost rivals Google Street View give the website an almost stalker touch.
According to the description given on VG247 :
“With WeareData, visitors will discover that much of the hyper-connected world imagined in Watch Dogs already is a reality, and that everything and everyone is truly connected. The amount of and potential uses for public and personal information that is readily available online has never been more relevant, as evidenced by today’s headlines. WeareData is designed to provide a glimpse into this reality and to give visitors a new perspective on the cities in which they live.”
The Watch Dogs website even displays Facebook and Twitter updates from people living in those cities, giving you the feeling that you’re really intruding on people’s social lives. WeareData is what the world of Watch Dogs would be like without the ability to hack into and control everything.
What do you think of Watch Dogs ‘ website replicating the world in the way the game does? Is WeareData going too far with what it shows us?
