Datengeist is a digital artwork that challenges how we identify as private individuals in the 21st century. Pulling from real-time social media data sources, the work is a two-part system that exists both online and in the physical world.

The online component invites participants to allow themselves to be data-mined. This information is processed and presented to users as their datengeist: the digital shadows of their real world identities. The physical installation takes this further, presenting an immersive world filled with captured datengeists. Visitors are able to reach out and interact with any of these digital shadows, revealing the personal information they hold within.