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The importance of generalized bodily habits for a future world of ubiquitous computing

  • 25th Anniversary Volume A Faustian Exchange: What is to be human in the era of Ubiquitous Technology?
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Abstract

In a future world of ubiquitous computing, in which humans interact with computerized technologies even more frequently and in even more situations than today, interface design will have increased importance. One feature of interface that I argue will be especially relevant is what I call abstract relational strategies. This refers to an approach (in both a bodily and conceptual sense) toward the use of a technology, an approach that is general enough to be applied in many different concrete scenarios. Such an abstract manner of approach is relevant, for example, when an interface design for a device to which users are already accustomed is applied to an entirely different device (such as a device used for a completely different purpose). To articulate this idea, I explore the history of keyboards, and consider how the habits of interface with one kind (e.g., piano keyboards) have historically enabled some users to approach other technologies fitted with similar keyboard interface (e.g., typewriters, electronic instrumentation). I conclude by brainstorming ways that abstract relational strategies, applicable to a variety of different devices, will have increased importance in a future world in which computing is even more ubiquitous than today.

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Notes

  1. For more on postphenomenology, see Verbeek (2005); Ihde (2009); Rosenberger (2009); Ihde (2010); Riis (2010); the 2008, 31(1) issue of Human Studies, and the 2011(2–3) issue of Foundations of Science.

  2. Three particularly useful treatments of technological multistability in Ihde’s corpus include (Ihde 1990, chap. 6; Ihde 1999; Ihde 2009, chap. 1).

  3. In a recent issue of AI & Society I reviewed Ihde’s short work, Ironic Technics (Ihde 2008; Rosenberger 2010). The book provides an example of how the notion of multistability can be used as a part of negative critiques of overreaching claims, as Ihde lambasts predictions made by overly optimistic, or “utopian,” accounts.

  4. There are of course multiple other stabilities for the bottle that could be considered: it could be filled with colored sand to make “sand art”; it could be broken and the shards used for cutting; it could serve as a launch pad for “bottle rocket” fireworks, etc.

  5. The notion of relational strategies plays a role in the recent special issue of the journal Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology 15(3) on the topic of classroom computer simulations of frog dissection (Friesen 2012; Rosenberger 2012).

  6. Both the notions of “multistability” and “relational strategies” themselves remain relative to the particular investigation of which they are a part. For example, the notion of relational strategies was originally developed through an exploration of the different ways a desktop computer can be approached when one is using the internet and then suddenly encounters a website that is opening frustratingly slowly (Rosenberger 2009). But rather than apply the notion to the experience of the computer as a whole, different contexts of analysis are possible. One could focus instead, for instance, on the multistabilty of only the computer mouse and analyze the relational strategies that would make possible the relation to the mouse through each stability.

  7. Again, like the notions of multistability and relational strategies, the notion of “abstract relational strategies” itself remains relative to the intentions of the investigator. That is, what counts as a separate use-context is dependent on the problem under investigation, and on what has been identified as the different stabilites of a multistable technology. This remains consistent with the pragmatic, fallible, context-relative, situated, nonfoundational underpinnings of postphenomenological thought.

  8. It is of course difficult to predict how a technology will advance, a fact which has received considerable postphenomenological analysis (see especially Ihde 1999; Verbeek 2005; Ihde 2008).

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  1. Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Public Policy, 685 Cherry St., Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Robert Rosenberger

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  1. Robert Rosenberger
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Correspondence to Robert Rosenberger.

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Rosenberger, R. The importance of generalized bodily habits for a future world of ubiquitous computing. AI & Soc 28, 289–296 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-012-0410-6

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