"To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees" -- Paul Valéry
We have reached the Pinterest 'singularity'. Our online searches provide only the same content to us; good for finding an 'answer' to a direct question, but less useful when we want to explore new ideas.
Looking Sideways is an online exploration tool that seeks to provide unexpected inspiration from diverse and laterally connected content. For every search query you type, this tool gives you content from art, design, history and pop-culture to help you explore concepts more broadly.
The search 'results' will not always 'make sense'; but that's the point! Allow yourself be open to ambiguity, explore areas that seem irrelevant, use your imagination to discover new interpretations and connections, and let this tool help disrupt your thinking...
HOW DO I USE IT?
> Just start typing to create a new concept node!
> Double click on any concept node to generate inspiration nodes. These come from many different sources, e.g. Wikipedia, Giphy, News articles, art galleries etc
> Double click on any more text or image nodes to generate more...
> Find out more about the image by clicking on the + sign on the top right of the image
> You can add words that you think connect images by clicking on the dotted lines. This will make a new concept node that you can double click on to generate more related inspiration nodes.
> What do the buttons along the bottom do?
- FILTER SOURCES: clicking this will show you the different sources that the tool draws from when you double click on any node or text box/image. You can customise the sources you want to show by clicking on the checkbox on the left (up to 5), or just randomise them for extra unexpected inspiration!
- ADD NODE: clicking on any of these buttons will add a random node from that source
- Delete: you can delete nodes by clicking on this button. Remember to click it again to turn it off!
- LINK:you can create a new dotted line between text/images that you think are connected by using this button and then clicking the two nodes you want to connect
- INTERPOLATE: if you want the tool to give you some suggestions about how concepts might be connected, click this button then two concept nodes (the big text ones) and the tool will generate more concept nodes that potentially connect the two you've selected.
- SAVE: the tool automatically saves your exploration so that when you refresh/reload, your work will still be there. (we have a little bug around this feature at the moment that means that when you reload you need to type a new concept word to make the rest of the nodes able to be moved...)
- CLEAR ALL: clears all your nodes. Be careful, there is no undo on this!
You can read more about why we developed it and some studies we've done on how it affects creativity here.
We'd love to hear what you think about the tool! Please get in touch at pip at media dot mit dot edu if you have any feedback or would like to discuss using it in your own projects or creative workshops.
