WEEK 3

Mark B. N. Hansen- Ubiquitous Sensation: Toward an Atmospheric, Collective, and Microtemporal Model of Media

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Kristin Veel- Calm Imaging: The Conquest of Overload and the Conditions of Attention

"Machines that fit the human environment, instead of forcing humans to enter theirs, will make using a computer as refreshing as taking a walk in the woods."- Mark Weiser, "The Computer for the 21st Century"

"Sensorium" and "Calm Imaging" are the key words of the readings for this week. Hansen plays on the idea of technology focusing on the sensorium to expand further than ever expected.  The way that Hansen explains evoking this sensorium is by Neidich's vision of visual and cognitive "ergonomics." This is the difference between the static and haptic.  Visual ergonomics is connected with painting, sculpture, and drawing and later is transferred to photography and cinema = representation of static space.  Cognitive ergonomics is more for the modern digital and internet art= has to take into the account of the whole brain and conceptual system.  Cognitive ergonomics is directly linked to ubiquitous computing= the idea of using microprocessors in every day objects, with the intent of computing information.  The best way to do this is by "calm technology"= technology that is so imbedded in everyday life that you don't even realize it is technology.  

So ultimately by channelling the sensorium (taste, smell, touch, sight, hearing) through ubiquitous computing in the form of calm technology, technology itself has become a necessary part of life as we know it. The question is, should we stop now? In the past years calm technology moved from our home base to on our persons in a big way.  Fit bit has become such a popular item to monitor your health and change your lifestyle.  This seems like a great product to help monitor your health but is this where it will stop? After in class discussion it was brought up that sooner rather than later we will be able to swallow a calm technology device that can monitor when we get cancer or contract and STD or tell you when you are at risk for a heart attack! This sounds phenomenal but is that what we really want! This makes me think of the Black Mirror episode that Shannon McMullen showed us in class. If we had this technology would it be calm? I know as the person I am that I would obsess over the fact that I could know and can know everything about me.  I wouldn't be able to enjoy my life, because I want to know! It is like when you post a new picture on Facebook and can't stop checking to see if anyone likes it or not! Not that it matters, but it does! With this calm technology, would you really be calm? I mean yes let me know in advance if I have cancer, but will it be enough to help reduce the deaths due to cancer, or will it make people know they are sick for longer and shorten their "living life." These are the questions we have to ask ourselves.  This technology will come about and we need to be informed on what we want so we are ready for it.  

Hansen's essay made me think of the movie "Timer." This movie is based around a 30ish year old woman obsessed with knowing if she has found her "soul mate." There are "timers" you can get placed in your wrist and when your soul mate gets it implanted your timers will link and you will know the exact time you will meet the person you are meant to be with forever. After getting her timer, it never links to anyone else, so she becomes obsessed with dating men without timers and taking them in to get them implanted. Every time the men's timers link to someone, and it is not her timer.  The whole movie is about self realization and the idea that every moment counts and can't be spent obsessed over anything, especially what you can not really control. So is calm technology really calm? 

Kristin Veel touches on the fact that calm technology could be too calm and in turn could end up being controlling.  She quotes Stafford "We are so caught up in the alternate reality spun by mass media- not multi, but individually tailored media designed to interlock with specific brain function- that the question becomes what impels us to resist insinuations sources that shape how we think?" Efforts are being made to create a smart refrigerator that tells you what your shopping list is, what you should eat, what you shouldn't, and even locks you out from late night eating.  Do we really want our refrigerator telling you what to do? Yes and No, if it works properly obesity levels could go down, or people could just add to the profits of take out restaurants.  

There is no way to know if we are doing it right! We just need to be aware. Kristin Veel-" Not only are we saved a great deal of unimaginative, effortful work, but we also risk loosing touch with the deliberative aspects of thinking because technology makes the decisions about what should be thematic and what should be at the margin of our attention for us."