net://maku

A browser extension that uses danmaku to bring the invisible machine reading process to the surface

The internet is not only read by human beings. Despite what we could see from a webpage, there are more reading going on in the backend: The code of the webpage is being interpreted by the browser, the ongoing communication between the server and the client, the constant reading of search engine robots and spiders. net://maku takes information from these invisible machine reading process, such as the internet traffic and meta data, brings them to the surface and blends it with the content that are intended to be read by a human reader. These texts are presented in the format of danmaku, which literally means “bullet curtain” and refers to a commentary sharing system in which viewers can post comments directly on top of a video. In the context of video websites, danmaku creates a new form of asynchronous social interaction and the viewers can get a sense of community despite the fact that they are sitting before the browser alone. By adopting this form to the browser window, the project aims to create an illusion of community consisting of both human and machine. It also integrates the two sides of the browser window, interfering the traditional separation of human and machine reading.