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Digital between illusion and reality

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A project where science, illusionistic techniques, technology and perception meet

L*3
  • How many times while browsing a website have we had the impression that the Internet has read our thoughts, offering us that very content discussed with a friend shortly before? Or, how many times have we felt mesmerized by online content? What can be the implications of these 'magic of the web' on our physical and psychological health?
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Description

  • Magic and mentalism, understood as performing arts, are generally characterized by a high level of research, experimentation and innovation, aspects also common to technological research and, in particular, to so-called persuasive technologies. An important factor that links these areas is the role of psychology: research on attention and the diversion of attention (the so-called misdirection) represent the crucial factor of a performance of mentalism, as well as of these technologies.
  • Added to this aspect are the emotional reactions of the participants/users, who can become particularly persuasive and impressionable. The online platforms that we use for leisure and work also consider perceptual and cognitive aspects in their functioning.
  • If we include, in addition to these aspects, modern technological analysis skills, the famous phrase of the author Arthur C. Clarke becomes more relevant than ever: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Digital is normal, conscious in participating.

The promoters

  • Una collaborazione per il digitale consapevole

    Lugano Living Lab e IBSA Foundation per la ricerca scientifica collaborano per promuovere una cultura digitale più consapevole. Il progetto si inserisce nelle attività di divulgazione del laboratorio urbano della Città di Lugano, in linea con le Linee di sviluppo 2018–2028. L’obiettivo comune è stimolare riflessione critica sull’uso della tecnologia, coinvolgendo soprattutto i giovani in esperienze partecipative e innovative, dove il digitale incontra l’educazione e la cittadinanza attiva.‍
  • Il ruolo di IBSA Foundation

    Attiva da anni nella divulgazione scientifica, IBSA Foundation è promotrice di iniziative che coniugano scienza, cultura e responsabilità sociale. In occasione della mostra Let’s Science! 2022, ha posto il tema del digitale al centro dell’attenzione pubblica. L’evento finale del 17 settembre al LAC, realizzato con Lugano Living Lab, ha proposto un approccio originale: tra mentalismo e scienza, giovani e famiglie sono stati accompagnati in un viaggio alla scoperta delle illusioni del web e dei loro effetti sulla salute mentale e sul comportamento.‍
  • Temi affrontati e protagonisti

    Durante l’evento “Digitale tra illusione e realtà”, sono stati affrontati temi chiave:

    Marketing e persuasione
    con Gianluca Dotti

    Frodi e dati sensibili
    con Rosalba Morese

    Identità e reputazione online
    con Dario Gennari

    Creazione di contenuti
    con le redattrici RSI Spam

    A guidare il pubblico è stato il mentalista Federico Soldati, che con le sue performance ha mostrato quanto il web possa “leggere nella mente” – o farcelo credere – invitando a una riflessione critica e sorprendente sul mondo digitale.
  • ‍

#affarefatto #ticonoscob #voilà

  • #affarefatto
    • Even if we are well aware of online risks or online sales techniques, we are increasingly exposed to advanced persuasion techniques, especially with regard to online purchases that are beyond our control. The trick is there and you can't see it. It is enough to know it, so that it is a good deal for you too! It is enough to know it, so that it is a good deal for you too! 5 parallels with mentalism

      1. Like a mentalist, a site can suggest what to choose
      When we search for an object on an online shopping site (such as Amazon or Galaxus), we are offered “suggested” words that facilitate our search. By providing highly personalized search results based on customer behavior and general trends, we can better ensure that users are accurately finding the items that are most relevant to them. Each of our clicks is stored and helps to improve the algorithm.

      2. Like a mentalist, a site may try to evoke emotions
      Once the type of product has been identified, the site can present us with a page containing the available products divided into categories such as: sponsored, best sellers, recommended items, etc. Knowing which products are the most sold, for example, provides a sense of security about the quality of the product, we tend to trust the overall judgment of those who bought the same product before us and this can promote the sale of the product itself.

      3. Like a mentalist, a site can persuade using the limited time we have available
      It is common for various online shopping sites to show “timed offers”, i.e. discounts and promotions that have a limited duration in time. With this method, a sense of urgency is created in the customer and to entice him to buy, he presents the previous price of the product, showing any savings.

      4. Like a mentalist, a site can offer us elements similar to our potential choice, thus hoping to get to know us more and perhaps enrich the suggestions.
      Several online shopping sites have a system of recommendations associated with each product. For example: once a product has been selected, other similar products may be presented at the same time: such as other products searched for by other customers, the best reviewed products, products that are often bought together, etc. In this way, other available product options are highlighted and users are made easier to select the product that is most suitable for them, encouraging sales as much as possible. The clicks that a user makes to explore the various options are stored so as to understand what may interest the customer and which views have worked the most, hoping that the user completes the purchase with one or more recommended products.

      5. Like a mentalist, a site tries to memorize as many behaviors as possible
      Based on each of our searches, clicks and purchases, a site's algorithm is generally able to store a vast amount of data about us and in this way it will offer us during future browsing sessions the products that best reflect our preferences.
      Through this mode, we are shown the products that are most similar to us and that we are most likely to buy. And at any moment it's #affarefatto.
      Recommendation systems are now present on all online sales sites and evaluate, based on previous behavior, such as previous orders in the same shop, how strong the attraction that certain products exert on a user, and then automatically search for similar and potentially equally interesting products. Finally, but not always like a mentalist, the site may ask you to register with its community so as to provide even more personalized information.

      You just need to know it so that it's a deal for you too!
  • #ticonosco
    • If content is produced for the web (posts, videos, photos...) they can be enjoyed and interpreted by different audiences. Deciding which network to communicate to and how: this is an autonomous and conscious choice. Do you really want to tell everyone? 3 parallels with mentalism

      1. Like a mentalist, when you communicate online try to understand who your audience is
      On social media it is possible to communicate with a wide audience. Although online communication may be aimed primarily at friends and family, in reality a message can also reach unknown people. If we keep the profile open to everyone or “public”, the contents we produce can be enjoyed and interpreted by different audiences and not just by our followers. We must therefore be aware that by keeping the profile open, our content can be seen and consulted by audiences potentially beyond our control.

      2. As for a mentalist, context influences performance: the same content can be adapted according to the audience
      Just like in everyday reality, the way we communicate changes from context to context. Talking to a teacher at school is different than talking to co-workers or having a conversation with your family at home. In the same way, this also happens in online spaces. Communication performance is therefore different on Facebook than on LinkedIn. The contents — photos, videos, posts — can be a mirror of our personality, accessible to everyone (or almost). Every online action therefore affects the image of our person. In this context, a common problem of social communication lies in publishing inappropriate photos depending on the context/social media. Photos, texts, stories that friends may find funny, for other people they can be embarrassing and alter their perception of us. In general, it is always possible in a social media to delete content that we would no longer like to be present on our pages. However, the oblivion of web content is not guaranteed: a photo may be deleted, but someone may have previously downloaded it. Malicious.

      3. Like a mentalist, from a few clues it is possible to generalize who you are: is that what you want?
      Public accessibility to the content that a user posts on social media allows us to reconstruct their profile, such as hobbies, food preferences, names of family or friends, etc. Critically asking ourselves what idea we are projecting online is a good practice. In addition, it is good to always keep in mind that information relating to our person could fall into the hands of evildoers, whose intentions are precisely to make use of this data in order to make attempts at fraud seem increasingly harmless.
  • #voilà
    • While browsing websites or social media, you may run into games, quizzes or “challenges” perceived as harmless but which allow you to obtain sensitive user data and that can be used for fraud or prove to be dangerous. If you guess, do you really win? 3 parallels with mentalism

      1. Like a mentalist, let's pay attention to the time factor: acting quickly can lead to unpleasant consequences
      An unfortunately recurring example of an online malicious action is represented by phishing through an e-mail contact. The Phisher, i.e. the malicious user, can send an email to one or more people that simulates, in graphics and content, the typical email communication of another user generally known to the recipient and trusted (such as an institution, be it a bank, the post office or the municipality). The email almost always contains alerts of particular situations or problems that have occurred with the current account or account. It is with the sudden communication of these situations that require immediate action on the part of the recipient that the fraudster can attract attention. As seen in the image: in this e-mail message we are informed of an emergency by asking us to verify the login credentials to one of our accounts. What can we do to protect ourselves? Like a mentalist, we are not in a hurry, check every detail, a good practice is not to act impulsively and verify the content and details of all online communication, some simple questions that we can ask ourselves could in fact help us identify the presence of phishing: is the email of the user who wrote to you sent it from an account known to you? Does the email of the user who wrote to you have the same domain as the website you know? Are there any errors in the text? Is the text generic (for example, it is not addressed to you but to a general 'user'? Does the context of the emergency, knowing that banks or credit institutions will never contact you in this way, have all the official contacts to verify the veracity of the emergency without entering any personal data?

      2. Like a mentalist, he controls every detail even if the environment seems familiar to us
      Inadvertently it may happen that you log in with your data to a fake site that simulates the home page of a site that we usually visit. In this fictitious copy of the official page of a particular website, the user is asked to enter some credentials, which will then be stolen.
      These attacks have evolved over time and no longer concern only email, but also videos, images, video conferences and especially social media. In fact, it happens very often that login pages are created that are practically identical to those of the most well-known social networks, which, however, have the purpose of stealing our data. By accessing the links that point to these pages, a user who enters his credentials thinking of logging in to the real site, instead sends them directly to the malicious user's PC.

      3. Like a mentalist, consider what information to reveal: it's possible to discover a lot about a person from a few clues
      The effectiveness of mirror sites, or fake websites that simulate more popular sites, is not only due to the graphic similarity but above all to the ability of fraudsters to use persuasion techniques that push a user to perform certain actions, such as a login carried out in a hurry, often unaware of the consequences.

      However, the theft of credentials does not only happen by entering our credentials on a fake site or by receiving emails. Sometimes it is possible to reveal information and personal data through even more ambiguous methods, such as by participating in apparently harmless quizzes on social media.

      The quizzes in question are, for example, apparently harmless polls that populate our social media feed and in which we participate for entertainment. The answers provided in these quizzes/surveys could be used to provide a Phisher unscrupulous answers to your online security questions.

      Many of these questions could in fact be similar - if not identical - to security questions used by credit institutions or other online platforms.

      What can we do to protect ourselves? Like a mentalist, even in this case, don't rush, let's always ask ourselves what the purpose of the interaction is and if what we reveal in the answers is good for us that they are available to strangers.

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