The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rapid increase in the use of online services. According to research from Global Web Index (Q2, 2021), 16 to 64 year olds spend an average of 6 hours and 58 minutes on the internet each day. In Taiwan, this figure is 8 hours and 3 minutes meaning that Taiwanese spend nearly half of their day online.

The trajectory of our digital lives gradually builds an alternative version of us; a twin who lives in the digital environment. What would they look like if they could be visualized through algorithms and character-modeling programs? Assuming that we are the “true” self in the real world and the “meta” self online, are they identical? Or is the digital version more authentic? The one who doesn’t need to conform to the expectations of the physical society?

Your Digital Twin is built on three core elements of programming, physiognomy, and avatar. The project analyzes user data from online services and visualizes it in human form using physiognomic principles and an avatar modeling program. After the avatars are generated, a “Reclaiming the Meta Self” workshop invites experts in physiognomy to review the subjects and their avatars and assess their similarities and differences. This project invites the public to discuss the authenticity of our true and meta selves and explore how they are defined and affected ahead of the metaverse era.