Andreas Broeckmann on 23 Feb 2001 16:38:08 -0000 |
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[Nettime-bold] Machines That Become Us -Mobile Communications Conference |
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 11:31:19 -0500 From: Satomi Sugiyama <ssatomi@scils.rutgers.edu> [...] ANNOUNCEMENT Machines that become us: Perspectives on how people incorporate new communication technology into their lives International Conference Sponsored by the Department of Communication, SCILS Rutgers University Held at the University Inn & Conference Center (Douglass Campus) New Brunswick, NJ USA April 18-19, 2001 The Rutgers University Department of Communication is holding an international conference to which the public is cordially invited. The April 18-19, 2001 conference will explore ways that emerging personal communication technologies--which range from the Internet to the mobile phone and beyond--are being integrated into people's lives and lifestyles, including their clothes and homes. More than 20 internationally recognized experts will be discussing the situation from a variety of perspectives. Audience members will have many opportunities to raise issues and interact with panel members. Further information, including registration procedures and costs, may be found at the conference website: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~jimkatz/MachCon/MachCon-CFP&P.htm Please join us for this unique international event. Early registration is encouraged. As seating is limited, admittance "at the door" cannot be guaranteed. PERSPECTIVE AND CONFERENCE THEMES The experience of a stroll on any street or campus is today different than a mere three years ago. Mobile communication technologies are everywhere, and have changed the social landscapes through which we travel. The postures of pedestrians are different--stooped over to hold a handset to the ear. People on cue for a bus are busy talking, but to unseen others via mobile phone rather than to the person next to them. The sight of two people walking together, each talking on a mobile phone to some distant other, is becoming unremarkable. Mobile technologies are affecting who we speak to, what we say to them, how we organize our day and spend our time--in essence who we are. Yet the mobile phone is but one of many new forms of proliferating personal communication technology. They, along with the Internet, PDAs and other merging and emerging technology, are appearing around our homes, cars and workplaces. They are even beginning to "talk" to each other as well as to us. They are increasingly integrated into our daily routines, and even our clothing. Soon, too, they may be part of our physical bodies. This flood of intermingled personal communication gadgetry not only absorbs and redirects our time and resources. It also raises disturbing questions about the quality and direction of change in the globalized information society. These questions have ranged from the levels of individual psychology to social policy, and from the operational to the existential. Thoughtful and concerned observers have become deeply disturbed by the significance these devices have assumed in many people's lives: what are we doing to ourselves and to each other? What will become of us? Since the late 1800s, social philosophers and inspired gadgeteers have foreseen a distant future when robots would supplant human beings, perhaps even by force. More than a hundred years later, sharp debate continues as to whether humans as physical beings will even exist at the dawn of the next millennium. As concerned scholars and citizens, however, we need not wait decades for insight into the question of the relationship and degree of co-existence between humans and machines. Without apocalyptic struggle, indeed without even much in the way of formal announcement, machines and humans are merging. Given that the process is underway, empirical data can be gathered and phenomenological insight can be garnered about this experience and its meaning. Addressing these questions is a challenge that now confronts the engineering, bio-medical, design and social scientific communities as well as laypeople. In response to these developments, the Department of Communication at Rutgers University has been involved in a series of efforts to focus intellectual attention on this issue from a variety of perspectives. By drawing not only on the communication perspective, but also on those of other fields -- such as engineering, design, cultural studies, history, urban planning, architecture and art criticism -- not only can new insights be derived, but also individual investigations can be enhanced by considering concepts and tools available from related fields. These efforts have to date yielded some important results. One was a workshop held at Rutgers in December 1999. This workshop investigated the way mobile communication technology, and especially the mobile phone, has affected social and interpersonal communication processes in ten countries, including the US. The results of this conference will be appearing in a book, published by Cambridge University Press and edited by James E. Katz and Mark Aakhus, entitled "Perpetual contact". (http://scils.rutgers.edu/~jimkatz/rutechworkshop.htm) Another effort along these lines was a conference in Milan, Italy in January 2001. This conference, held at the Triennale di Milano, was entitled "Il corpo umano tra tecnologie, comunicazione e moda" (The human body between technologies, communication and fashion). A variety of organizations were involved, including the Comune di Milano Assessorato Moda ed Eventi, Politecnico di Milano, and the Universita Degli Studi di Trieste. The "Machines that become us" conference is conjoined with this earlier event. As such it capitalizes upon some of the issues raised at this earlier event. Doubtless, in its turn, the "Machines that become us" event will help build a legacy upon which yet other efforts can be based. At this conference, we explore the multiple layers of meanings of the personal communication technologies, including as function and fashion. In terms of function, they are tools that extend our abilities, and complement our limitations. As symbols of our taste and values, they may also involve compliments to us, and certainly communicate much of interest to others. Moreover, it seems they are also becoming a part of us socially, psychologically and physically. The conference purpose is to use a multi-pronged approach to gain insight into the range of human experiences with personal communication technologies and chart what unanticipated uses are being devised for them. It seeks to foster understanding of what these increasingly important devices are doing to us as individuals -- in terms of our interior psychological experience of existence -- and as members of an increasingly interconnected society. The Department of Communication is grateful to the following organizations, which have generously agreed to co-sponsor this event: NEC USA C&C Research Laboratories Design Workshop 1954 Johnson & Johnson Vodaphone Office of the Dean of SCILS, Rutgers University Tentative Program (All speakers, topics and arrangements subject to change) Wednesday, April 18, 2001 (Registration) 1. Emerging technology a. Burdea, Grigore--Virtual Reality Laboratory, Rutgers, USA b. Goose, Stuart--Siemens Corporate Research, USA c. Weinstein, Steve--NEC C&C Research Laboratory, USA 2. Sense-making: Perspectives on machines becoming us, and us becoming machines a. Aakhus, Mark--Rutgers U., USA b. Fortunati, Leopoldina--University of Trieste, Italy c. Haddon, Leslie--London School of Economics, UK d. Licoppe, Christian--France Telecom Research, France (Lunch) 3. Home: Integrating machines into domestic and public space a. Carey, John--Greystone Associates, USA b. Kommonen, Kari-Hans--University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland c. Mante, Enid--KPN Research, The Netherlands d. Meyer, Sibylle--BIS-Berlin, Germany e. Townsend, Anthony--New York University, USA 4. Fashion: Integrating machines into the second skin a. Danese, Elda--Instituto d'Arte de Venezia, Italy b. Dominoni, Annalisa--Politechnico di Milano, Italy c. Messina, Rietta--MOMI Moda Milano, Italy 5. Mobiles: Extending the social self into machines a. Green, Nicola--Sussex University, UK b. Johnsen, Truls-Erik--University of Oslo, Norway c. Ling, Richard--Telenor, Norway d. Rautiainen, Pirjo--University of Tampere, Finland (Reception) (Dinner) Thursday, April 19, 2001 6. Internet I: The social self in North American public electronic networks a. Aspden, Philip--National Academy of Sciences, USA b. Brodeur, Marie--Statistics Canada, Canada c. Rice, Ronald--Rutgers University, USA 7. Internet II: Cross-cultural comparisons of social integration a. Kim, Shin Dong--Hallym University, Korea b. Lorente, Santiago--Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain c. Skog, Berit--Norwegian University of Science & Technology, Norway d. Vershinskaya, Olga--Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia (Lunch) 8. Body, machine and self-image: Cross-cultural comparisons a. Caporael, Linnda--Rensalaer Polytechnic, USA b. deGournay, Chantal--France Telecom Research, France c. Grossi, Annamaria--Assessorato alla Moda e Grandi Eventi del Comune di Milano, Italy d. Stojanova, Valeria--Petar Karaminchev Ltd, Bulgaria 9. Disembodied self and the embodied machine: Avatars, virtual to F2F meetings and social interaction a. Beckers, John--Leiden University, The Netherlands b. Marx, Gary T.--Professor Emeritus, MIT, USA c. McDermott, Trish--Matchmaker.com, USA 10. Summary and Conclusion (Adjourn) Organizer contact information: James E. Katz, Ph.D. Professor Department of Communication School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 4 Huntington Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1071 USA Office, TAM, fax: 732.932.7168 jimkatz@scils.rutgers.edu _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold