Orwell and the Digital Double

Dr Btihaj Ajana on Privacy from Headlong on Vimeo.

Dr Btihaj Ajana and several other King's academics have been collaborating with the theatre company Headlong on their new adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984. 

Based on her research in the area of surveillance and identity, Dr Ajana has been informing some of the digital aspects of the production, and helping Headlong to explore creative ways of enhancing audience engagement and interactivity. 

The first fruit of that collaboration is a free-to-use mobile app based on the concept of the ‘digital double’ (the identity generated through one’s activities online and use of digital technology). The app provides users with the opportunity to explore their own personal digital double and discover how to prevent organisations from tracking their every move. 

The collaboration, which also involves an installation by visual artist Michael Takeo Magruder, was brought about by the King's Cultural Institute and was recently covered in The Guardian.

Headlong's 1984 is showing at the Richmond Theatre until 16 November 2013.