RESEARCH + WRITING
last updated on: October 8, 2003
Bodynets and Wearable Computers
Investigations in the field of the social dimensions of bodynets and wearable computers using an STS approach. (see below)Science and Technology Studies (STS): The interactions of humans and nonhumans
Technologies are not neutral artefacts that one can use at one's will. They have desires, beliefs, intentions, morals, and power relations inscribed in them; they have politics that need to be attended to in order to use them. As we create new artefacts we materialize and silence our views of the world (and try, not always sucessfully, to impose them on others).Media Studies
If all media have biases (as Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan said), what are the biases of information and communication technologies?Privacy
If all media have biases (as Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan said), what are the biases of information and communication technologies?Book Reviews
Reviewing books is one of my favourite activities. Reading comes with the job, writing about some of that reading is the best way to digest it!Short Essays
Although some might argue that keeping focused is the only way to strive in academia I believe that inter-disciplinarity is crucial to understand the world and thus be able to reflect upon it. There is an hecletic world out there and this world is reflected in my (also) hecletic writings.Research Projects & Activities
A list of some of the (non-academic) activities I am involved with.
Bodynets and Wearable computers
Shaping Technology / Building Body(nets) (pdf file)
Viseu, A. (in press). Shaping technology/Building body(nets). In Sarai Reader 03: Shaping Technologies. Sarai, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and Waag Society: Delhi and Amsterdam.Augmented Bodies and Behavior Bias Interfaces (pdf file)
Paper presented at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science. Milwaukee, US. November 7-10.Simulation and Augmentation: Issues of Wearable Computers (pdf file)
Paper presented at Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiries (CEPE), IT and the Body. Lancaster, UK. December 14-16.
Viseu, A. (in press). Simulation and Augmentation: Issues of Wearable Computers. Journal of Ethics and Information Technology.Social Dimensions of Wearable Computers: An Overview.
Viseu, A. (in press). Technoetic.Sociotechnical Worlds: The Visions and Realities of Bodynets --||-- [pdf file]
My thesis proposal focuses on the study of the process of development (visions) and the process of implementation (realities) of bodynets, or wearable computers. It consists of 5 chapters: (1) It starts off by introducing bodynets as new bridges between the individual and the environment, and mutual shaping process that all elements undergo once this new bridge is in place. (2) It then explores the relationship between people and artefacts--the social and the technical--in a broader context.(3) It goes on to review the literature on bodynets, the conceptual and technical origins of the term and the current developments made in this area. (4) Then comes the methodology, how will this study be carried out.(5) And, finally, it highlights some of the issues that are already emerging from the use of wearable computers. It is rather large (about 80 pages including bibliography). Feedback is highly appreciated!!!Bodynet and Wearable Computer Resources (updated April 2001)
Science & Technology Studies: The interactions of humans and nonhumans
From memory societies to knowledge societies: The cognitive dimensions of digitization (in pdf only).
Co-authored with Derrick de Kerckhove. This is a working paper. A revised version will be published in the UNESCO World Report on "Building Knowledge Societies"The Interplay of Public and Private Spaces in Internet Access (in pdf only).
Co-authored with Andrew Clement, J. Aspinall and T. Kennedy. This is a working paper. Paper presented at the Research Symposium for the international journal Information, Communication, Society (iCS). Balliol College and Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, September 17-20.People and Artefacts: A Conceptual Framework (in pdf only)
A review of two of the most influencial STS theoretical approaches: Actor-Network Theory (ANT), Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) and their relationship to socio-cultural psychology. An excerpt from my thesis proposal.How social is the social? Rethinking the nature of artifacts in cognitive science --|||-- [.pdf file]
What role do artifacts play in cognition? How does a change in their conceptualization affect the nature of cognition? These are the questions that I touch upon in this essay. I start with Vygotsky's theory of artifacts as mediators, then I analyse McLuhan's view of artifacts as extensions. And I finish with Actor-network theory's perspective of artifacts as actors.
An exploration on Irrationality, Technology and Education --|||-- [.pdf file]
This paper explores the subject of the often-unacknowledged influences that shape our relation to technology. To achieve this three types of motifs are examined: religion, emotions and utopia. A parallel is then established with the current discussions on the topic of technology in education.
A multidisciplinary approach to the mutual shaping process in electronic identities, or "We shape the tools and thereafter they shape us" McLuhan --|||-- [Also in .pdf version]
This paper focuses on the issue of electronic identity, using a mutual shaping perspective. That is, that the user both shapes and is shaped by the technology he/she uses to express him/herself. It presents a critical literature review on various fields: communication theory, cultural psychology, sociology and social and technological constructivism.
Media Studies
Written vs. Digital Representations
How technological shifts are related to changes occurring in our representation systems: through the lens of the Toronto School of Communication
Assessment of McLuhan's prediction that electronic technologies would lead us back to an oral culture
Historical analysis of shift from written mechanic systems to digital ones.
Situating Privacy Online: Complex Perceptions and Everyday Practices (pdf file)
Co-authored with Andrew Clement and Jane Aspinall. Based on empirical data collected within the Everyday Internet Project (University of Toronto). A revised version will be published in the Information, Communication and Society (iCS) journal.Code and other laws of cyberspace
Review of Code and other laws of cyberspace by Lawrence Lessig (1999).
Canadian Journal of Communication, (Winter 2001), 26 (1), 169-171Raiding high tech's libertarian culture
Review of Cyberselfish: A critical romp through the terribly libertarian culture of high-tech by Paulina Borsook (2000).
Computers & Society. Special Edition on CyberEthics. (June 2001), 31 (2), 40-41.The Diagnosis: Diagnosing a Social Reality
Review of The Diagnosis (2000) by Allan Lightman.
Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies. (May 2001)The intricacies of philosophy and computing
Review of Philosophy and computing: An introduction (1999) by Luciano Floridi.
Computers & Society. (March 2001), 31 (1), 25-26.Psychology.com: Demystifying the novelty of the internet interaction
Review of The psychology of the Internet by Patricia Wallace (1999).
The Independent, 23 (24), 6. (2000, March).
Short Essays (organized by date)
DECONtamination CONtagium
Published by Mindjack in September, 2002.
Building Emotional Machines
Published by Mindjack in April 22, 2002.
Privacy and Freedom of Choice
A critique of the adoption of a freedom of choice and personal responsibility discourse in the fields of technology usage and privacy.
Posted on Nettime-l in November 2001; Re-published by Noema in January 2002.
Are we more or less connected?
A reflection on the effect of networked media and real-time information on social awareness.
September 2001
Interview with Jutta Treviranus
Jutta Treviranus is a researcher and director of the Adaptive Technology Resource Center (ATRC) at the University of Toronto.This interview was done in the context of researching for the book "Cyberarchitecture" by Derrick de Kerckhove. September 18, 2000
The places and spaces of cyberspace
A short reply to an article by Jonathan Koppell on the August 2000 edition of the Atlantic Monthly on why cyberspace is a space.
Posted on Atlantic Monthly and Nettime-l on September 2000
It's not me! It's my genes! Or is it my memes?
Nowadays there is an increased faith in the power of genes and memes. Here I discuss the dangers and implications of this faith.
Posted on Nettime-l on May 7, 2000 [check the list's archive for answers to this post]
Some features of Connected Intelligence
Connected Intelligence has been developed by Derrick de Kerckhove. This is a brief explanation of some features of CI and why it is especially adapted to the network environment. 2000, May 14
A report of the Computers, Freedom and Privacy (CFP) 2000 Conference
The CFP conference was held in Toronto on April 4-7, 2000. I was there and this is a report of (some) of what went on and what didn't.
Teaching with technology, through technology or about technology?
An assessement of different uses of technology in education.
On electronic identity and 'personal identity'
Perhaps online identity is not such a novelty after all... and perhaps it is not that free... Brief account of some relationships between 'personal identity' and cyber-identity.
Posted on Nettime-l on February, 1st 2000.
Road Stories for a Flesh Eating Future
Account of the performance given by Marilouise and Arthur Kroker, two of Canada's most prestigious media theorists.
Posted on Nettime-l email list on September 14th, 1999.
Getting it wrong from the beginning: a lecture by Dr. Kieran Egan
Account of lecture given by Dr. Egan on the faults of our current educational system. Connection to McLuhan's notion of oral cultures and the biases of the media, specifically the alphabet.
Research Projects & Activities
Privacy Lecture Series
In the fall of 2000 I started organizing the Privacy Lecture Series because I thought there was a need to create a forum where people could discuss privacy related issues as they affect their daily lives. The Series was quite successful and I was lucky enough to count on wonderful speakers. The Series went on for almost 2 years, after which I decided that it was time to stop and do other things. University of Toronto. (Fall 2000-Spring 2002).
Nettime-latino
I am one of the moderators of Nettime-lat, a Portuguese/Spanish 'speaking' email list Nettime-lat that covers the intersection of networks, culture and politics.
Art-Id / Cyb-Id: Identities in Cyberspace ||||||| [http://mind-shift.net]
I was invited to participate in an art project, based in cyberspace, that enables new cybernetic identities, known as cyb-ids, to emerge and flourish as the result of viewer interaction at the public interface. A cyb-id is a multimedia cluster made of associative links. This is the website. Unfortunately it is not possible to link directly to my cyb-id, you have to find me!