Counter measures

Digital design & Fabrication graduate thesis

suny new paltz 2026

This work proposes a series of branded, crafted, DIY, OSS devices that can disrupt the hardware/software that Big Tech uses to ensorcell us through perpetual surveillance, data mining, behavioral modification, political influence, market dominance and so much more…

Introduction

I have had a lifetime love affair with technology – Atari 2600 to AI. In the last decade, I’ve grown increasingly suspect of the companies behind the most popular commercial technologies.

Can Big Tech be fought with Small Tech?

My background in technology hasn’t just been as a consumer but also a maker. This project offers me the opportunity to combine my life/career experiences in software design with my amateur/artist interest in industrial design and engineering.

Some questions I am seeking the answers to:

Is it possible to develop personal DIY tech that thwarts the negative outcomes of Big Tech?
Can these devices gain notoriety and raise awareness/controversy about Big Tech?
Can it scale up to actually subvert the Big Tech business models?
<MORE AS I DISCOVER THEM>

Research Questions / Objectives

Objective

Develop a range of real world, physical devices that combat toxicity of Big Tech on individuals and society. All designs will be released with a CC/OSS license.
These devices need to be effective, user-friendly, well-designed and durable. They will also mimic the industrial/UX design language of the tech company which they are subverting. For instance, an Amazon-thwarting device would feature the black, mesh, LED look of Alexa devices. Finally, they should have whimsy and utility – people should want to use them.

Questions

What are people willing to carry?
What are the cultural taboos associated with wearing technology?
Is it possible to fuse fashion and technology?
Can these things be relatively autonomous?
How cheaply can they be made?
What are the devices?
What are the concepts, themes, activities that are most creepy from Big Tech? How can they be rendered in reality?

Project Description

Mediums, methods, and materials

This project aims to bring together all the mediums, methods and materials that I’ve learned in the last 4 years in the DDF Grad program as well as my work/life experience prior.

3D printing
CNC
Laser cutting
Metalworking
Woodworking
Ceramics
Electronics
CAD/Parametric design
Virtual Reality
Software engineering
User Experience
LLM/Diffusion AI

Scale, scope, and form

The thesis consists of three parts: devices, exhibition and documentary.

Devices

At the center are 3 to 5 DDF devices that will conceptually address a different societal, behavioural, cultural, economic ill wrought by Big Tech. Each device should reference industrial design and branding of the targeted company. The name of each device will also reflect the targeted company.

Exhibition

Participants will be encouraged to pick up, use the objects and question their relationship with Big Tech. Each object will include context, framing, process and instructions.

documentation

Report or it didn’t happen
Jeremy Mendel, UX Researcher, Google

As noted in the next section, I will be building a public, digital archive/presence to document my work. Ideally, this can be compiled into a visually rich, long-form thesis document.

Significance

Poets are the Unacknowledged Legislators of the World
Percy Bysshe Shelley

Our world of 2025 is shaped by Big Tech… for better or, more recently, far worse. Ideas that are extremely critical of Big Tech, presented in the accoutrements of technology can act as a virus of the mind in viewers/users that will force them to ponder the mechanics of Big Tech on themselves and society.

appendix

TBD. I have most of the equipment and materials necessary for completing this work. Mostly, I need feedback and support from staff and fellow grad students! If any items are larger, I may need access to a 4×8 CNC machine but that can, most likely, be outsourced.

Literature

This is a meaty subject that I’ve spent a decade pondering. Scoping it down into a handful of polished pieces will be tough. I will use a basic design thinking framework to provide structure and guardrails: Understand > Define > Diverge > Decide > Build. This is not a rigid process and some steps can happen in parallel – especially if there are several objects being developed.

UNDERSTAND/DEFINE – Sept 5 to Oct 15 (40 days)
Articulate the problem from various angles
DIVERGE – Oct 15 to Nov 15 (30 days)
- Crank out 30 different lightweight concepts
  - Sketches
  - Simple interactive 3D models w/ basic articulation (VR/Unity)
- Collect concepts into a shareable archive
DECIDE – Nov 15 to Dec 1 (14 days)
- Present archive to grad group
  - Voting and feedback on concepts
- Focus group / User interviews
- Back of the napkin BOM(s)
BUILD – Dec 1 to March 1 (90 days)
- Produce n pieces
- Weekly digital updates on personal blog (amplify on, ugh, social media)
VALIDATE – March 1 to April 1 (30 days)
- QA
- Demos, interviews and feedback
- Present to grads for final feedback
- Revisions and killing of darlings
PREP – April 1 to May 15 (45 days)

previous art

Artists and engineers are channeling angst about the psychological damage caused by big tech companies. Here is a short list (needs expansion).

Oliveira, Pedro & Chen, Xuedi. BACKSLASH toolkit, 2019.
Selvaggio, Leonardo. URME SURVEILLANCE, 2018.
Harvey, Adam. CV Dazzle, 2010.
Harvey, Adam. Stealth Wear, 2013.
VTOL. Reading My Body, 2013.
Google, Little Signals, 2022

Bibliography

At the turn of the first quarter of the 21st century, there is no shortage of academics and experts sounding the alarm on what is happening with big technology. This is a short list of works that provide inspiration for this project.

Benkler, Yochai, et al. Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics. Oxford University Press, 2018.
Brayne, Sarah. Predict and Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing. Oxford University Press, 2020.
Cohen, Julie E. Between Truth and Power: The Legal Constructions of Informational Capitalism. Oxford University Press, 2019.
Klein, Naomi The Shock Doctrine. Metropolitan Books, 2008.
O’Neil, Cathy. Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. Crown, 2016.
Pasquale, Frank. The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information. Harvard University Press, 2015.
Schneier, Bruce. Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World. W. W. Norton & Company, 2015.
Srnicek, Nick. Platform Capitalism. Polity, 2016.
Vaidhyanathan, Siva. Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy. Oxford University Press, 2018.
Varoufakis, Yanis. Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism. Melville House, 2023.
Wu, Tim. The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads. Alfred A. Knopf, 2016..
Wu, Tim. The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
Zuboff, Shoshana. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. PublicAffairs, 2019.

The human drivers of Big Tech authoritarianism are also quite opinionated and not shy about sharing their vision for humanity.

Andreessen, Marc. The Techno-Optimist Manifesto. a16z.com, 2023
Schmidt, Eric, and Jared Cohen. The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business. Knopf, 2013.
Kelly, Kevin. The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future. Viking, 2016
Friedman, Thomas L. Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016.
Amodei, Dario. Machines of Loving Grace: How AI Could Transform the World for the Better. darioamodei.com, 2025
Yarvin, Curtis. Unqualified Reservations (2007–2014). unqualified-reservations.org, 2015

links

A living list of relevant articles, websites, people, projects, etc

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