Do you enjoy stumbling upon websites that are a little out of the ordinary? Since You Arrived is definitely one of them. It's an interactive, completely free website that doesn't require an account or email address. Its concept is quite surprising. It builds a digital experience based on the context of your visit. As soon as the page opens, it takes into account the exact time of your arrival, your approximate region, and certain characteristics of your SailorAnd from these elements, he composes a unique digital experience before your eyes. One that evolves according to the time and place from which you view it.
A website worth discovering to break away from the usual formats.
Behind this initiative is Matt Wheeler of the studio Rise Up Labs. He conceived the project as an editorial journal called "A Series," divided into five independent installments. Design-wise, the choice fell on a dark and minimalist interface, where poetry, mathematical observations, and real environmental dataWhat is surprising when you start browsing it is the absolute transparency of the approach.
In the "Sources & Confessions" submenu, it details the APIs used, including Open-Meteo, NOAA, USGS, and Natural Earth. And despite this rather sophisticated mechanism, none Generative AI No one writes the texts during your visit. Each piece was handwritten. The site then assembles them according to the conditions of your session. This is quite rare and worth noting, especially on a project that gives such a strong impression of being generated in real time.
Five experiences to discover
Volume I. Since You Arrived
This first installment is presented in two parts. On the left, "The Gained" focuses on small, everyday events. Shared meals, songs listened to, or hands held are all recorded since your arrival on the site.
On the right, "The Lost" shows the other side of the coin. The site tallies the environmental, military, and technological costs accumulated during the same period. It notably shows the requests made to IA in response to questions posed between humans. It also includes the associated tons of CO₂.
Flight. II. What Color Was The Sky
For this experiment, you indicate the city where you were the day before. Since You Arrived then cross-references the archives of Open-Meteo and NOAA to determine the color of the sky at sunset. The angle of the light, cloud cover, and humidity are also factored into the calculation. The result takes the form of a poetic text accompanied by a carte that you can share on social media.
Vol. III. Discovered
With your permission, of course, the site uses the GPS coordinates from your device, it consults six open databases. Wikipedia, USGS fossil data, and seismology data are among the sources used. The site thus attempts to determine what lay beneath the ground where you are located. It also calculates your exact distance from the equator and the South Pole.
Vol. IV. /taken/
This is undoubtedly the most striking aspect when discussing privacy. Without asking you anything, the page can already reveal a great deal about you. It discloses your location through your IP address and ISP. It also identifies your graphics card via WebGL, your battery level, and even the fonts installed on your device. The message accompanying this demonstration is quite direct: "THIS IS WHAT FREE COSTS." A way of showing what advertising networks can collect. For its part, Since You Arrived applies a zero-trace policy.
Volume V. Distance
The final chapter displays a vector map based on Natural Earth. Each logged-in visitor appears as a bright dot. The site continuously searches for the land or sea area furthest from all the people on the page.
How do I try the site?
To try Since You Arrived, you don't need to install anything. Simply open the website in your browser and follow the instructions. You can follow the 5 volumes in order or go directly to the one that intrigues you the most.
Regarding privacy, geolocation for "Discovered." remains optional. With "Distance," your location is simply rounded to the nearest city, and no history is saved. Once the tab is closed, temporary data is completely erased within 30 seconds.
In short, you'll likely spend a few minutes clicking around to see what Since You Arrived has to say about your visit. It's poetic at times, quite confusing at others. And above all, it's a refreshing change from the websites we usually visit.
