The Cyborg, the Self and the Other

The Cyborg, the Self and the Other John Waterworth Dept of Informatics, Umeå University, Sweden [email protected]

Cyborg, Self and Other What’s this got to do wth presence? • Presence is a feeling • The result of a psychological mechanism • Differentiates internal from external: the Self from the Other What’s the role of technology? • As part of Self • As part of Other

Outline • • • •

questions suggestions examples and then ..... more questions

Are we not men? • ”We are Devo” – De-evolving beings?

• What is a cyborg? – A body that is part machine, or – A self that is part machine – Is there a difference?

• Are we cyborgs? – If Yes .. then – Where is the line between self and other?

Something is happening • What? – Is happening?

• Where? – In the world, or in my mind? – If in the world ...

• To/by whom? – Am I acting in the world, or are you? (ref: Becchio and Bertone)

Can you tickle yourself? • No? – Why not?

• Yes? – Is it your self who is tickling yourself? – Or are you yourself tickling your self? – Is there a difference?

• Are we all the same in this respect? • Could you make a self-tickling machine? (ref: Bentall)

Suggestions

Emotion, Presence and Reality Judgement Questions of survival: • Is this happening in the world around me, or only in my mind? (answered by how present I feel in external environment)

• Is this likely to be true or is it fiction? (answered on the basis of a reality judgment)

• Do I need to avoid this, and how urgently? (answered by an emotionalexperience/reaction)

The answers to these questions affect each other

Three layers of presence • Proto presence – Me versus not-me • Proprioception

• Core presence – Me in the 3D world • Perception

• Extended presence – The significance to me of what happens • Conception

(ref: Damasio, Riva and Waterworth)

Presence in Media • Conceptual Media (Extended) – novels, radio programmes, etc..

• Perceptual Media (Core) – photographs, paintings, cinema, etc..

• Prioprioceptive Media (Proto) – immersive VR, motorised games, etc.

• Media schemata – Cultural changes – Personal changes – Personal differences • The need for biofeedback • What is detected is emotion, not presence

(ref: Ijsselsteijn)

Three layers of presence in media

•Emotions operate at all three layers –orientation and intensity, selective attention, remembered associations

Being-in-the-world: presence and time perception

Low working memory load High working memory load

External world focus

Internal world focus

Watching the sun set (High presence/ slow time)

Daydreaming (Low presence/ slow time)

Climbing a difficult rock face (High presence/

Solving a logical puzzle (Low presence/

fast time)

fast time)

Effect of personality Tendency to Low Presence

High Presence

Old Awareness of themes Sensory deprivation Introversion Depression Sedatives, alcohol High error on vigilance Infrequent sampling Long reaction times Ideological bias

Young Awareness of perceptual details Rich sensory stimulation Extroversion Mania Stimulants, psychedelics Low error on vigilance tasks Frequent stimulus sampling Short reaction times Experiential bias

Examples

3 Mood Devices addressing mental health problems: stress, anxiety, depression constructing ”vital narratives”

meaning absence

presence

interactive mood device

(VE, sound, vision, tactile stimulation)

emotion embodied responses

mood

reflective thought

Physiological/postural feedback

exploring moods by navigating/interacting in virtual space ’Psycho-feedback’

(3 examplesÆ)

Exploring moods: the Exploratorium paradiso

The Body Joystick (economical wireless vest) Navigation by leaning the body and breathing (measures spine orientation and upper chest size)

purgatorio

inferno A narrative (a game) Visual and auditory effects Moving around, flying, falling

- For mental and physical rehabilitation

The Exploratorium: Effect on mood HIGH VALENCE (pleasant)

paradiso LOW AROUSAL (calm)

HIGH AROUSAL (excited)

purgatorio

7,0 6,5 6,0

inferno

5,5 5,0 4,5

LOW VALENCE (unpleasant) Mean

Different zones elicit different emotions Moving between zones changes mood

4,0 3,5

Valence

3,0

Arousal Paradiso

Purgatorio

Inferno

Relaxation Island Portable content: Immersive VR, home TV, mobile phone Interaction by seashell (+ body joystick for biofeedback)

The Achievement Room counteracting depression in immobilised patients Audience of avatars react to performance. Adaptable to other instruments and to only singing

The guitar wireless interaction device

Main findings • For a sense of achievement, there must be real challenge – No joy without pain

•

The more real the experience, the more the 3 layers come into play – Mismatches cause distress

• Core presence is NOT affected by reality judgements – But extended presence is

• Core presence is enhanced by negative emotion • Easy attribution of emotion enhances extended presence • Positive emotions generally reduce presence (ref: Russell) Russell)

Altered being-in-the-world: The reality helmet -Psychedelic altered reality (or altered body) machine - NOT virtual or augmented reality - Cross modal transfer (camera input Æ stereo sound 2 microphones Æ visual display) - Surprisingly popular with the over 85s

Comments •

People have no evolved mechanisms that can distinguish the real from the virtual • They have interacting faculties which separate: – the external from the internal – the plausible from the implausible – the pleasant from the unpleasant

•

These are the mechanisms behind our feelings during interactive media experiences • They have evolved to preserve the self

Back to the questions ... • • • •

Who is a cyborg? When are you a cyborg? What is you and what is other? How important is your body to your sense of self?

Cyborgs? • Without information technology (media) we are not human • But .... – Conceptual media versus .. – Perceptual and proprioceptive media

• Conceptual media part of self? – Needs conscious ”effort of access” – i.e Mental (re)construction

More Comments • Without the other, there is no self • Attention may be more on the self or the other • Focusing on the other gives a strong sense of presence • The boundary of self is variable, within and beyond the body. • Insofar as attentional access is consciously effortless, the technology is part of the self • Currently, conceptual technology cannot be accessed without conscious effort

In conclusion • We are all cyborgs • But not all IT is part of the self • To be part of the self, technology must be create an external other of which it is not a part • Without conscious ”effort of access” • In other words: – We are cyborgs insofar as we use technology that produces (core) presence