N. Katherine Hayles in Flesh and Metal: Reconfiguring the Mindbody in Virtual Environments, uses three visual reality artworks to support her argument that our “bodies (including cognitive body) and the world are not independent of each other but rather exist in relation with the ongoing flux.” She goes on to say that it is relation that becomes the beginning rather than mind and body (as pre-existing entities), it is “flux from which the body and embodiment emerge.” There is a loop between biology and technology environments which enhance our experiences.
Hayles focuses on the artworks; “Traces” by Simon Penny which places emphasis on the immediate proximity of the body, “Einstein’s Brain” by Alan Dunning and Paul Woodrow, which emphasises room sized dimensions and placement of artefacts and simulated projections and “NOtime” by Victoria Vesna which enacts human interaction universally.
“Traces” is a three-dimensional environment in which the human body is used in a virtual reality artwork. It differs from other conventional virtual realities, as there is no separation of the human form. Penny was exploring the concept of relation between the mindbody and its immediate surroundings. The experiment used three dimensional cubes (voxels) which “trailed behind the rendered model of the user’s body, gradually fading through time.” Tracking systems and sensors were attached to the human form and were used to record movement in space and time. Results from Behaviour Traces showed that the Avatar could not only mirror movement but in fact its traces had the ability to break off and move independently as a flock. This virtual reality artwork confirms the notion, “experiences of embodiment transform and evolve through time and relation with intelligent machines”.
What would it mean to be embodied in a virtual reality that was not devoid of what Penny calls “eye candy”? Would our experience of interacting in a virtual reality (VR) with our body and mind be different to our experience of VR with our mind only?
Hayles goes on to explore the duality of the brain and mind along with the idea that the world and the body are no longer thought of as being separated by boundaries. The skin is no longer the distinction for the end of the body. She uses the artwork “Einstein’s Brain”, to explore the idea that what we perceive (in that space in time) is in fact our reality.
A virtual reality was created which consciously was not a reflection of the “real world”. Anatomically Lifelike Interactive Biological Interface (ALIBI) acted as a “navigational interface” that was activated by body warmth, breath and whispering. New, simulated worlds continually opened as a result of interaction with ALIBI. Users wore goggles which allowed them to see either the simulated world or a mixed reality with both real and simulated worlds. Helmets were worn which recorded biological responses that triggered other simulated images. Two other components added to this project were images of historical events and a viewing room where observers could watch the interactions unfold, although their perception of reality was different to the participants’ perceptions of reality.
With the use of feedback loops; user’s response-interactions with artificial body-production of simulated worlds, endless possibilities can exist. ”Einstein’s Brain” challenges our understanding of consensual reality by creating different virtual and actual realities which compete and conflict in their stimuli. Hayles supports the notion that “human experience is a mixed reality “which derives from human embodiment, the world and technology.
If “Einstein’s Brain” can alter our perceptions of reality by merging virtual and real worlds together, what does this mean for our understanding of reality? Maturana seems to believe that what we perceive is our reality. But will we be able to distinguish between what is real or not? Can we manipulate our worlds through perception?
“NOtime” came into being as a result of the postmodern condition of having no time to do all the things that we wanted to do. The idea was to create avatars that could live parts of our lives for us while we were busy doing the things we had no time for. The avatar was able to engage in all aspects of human interaction including death. The vision of virtual reality was based on the belief that human and intelligent machines have cognitive systems and that these enactments could be global but had equal importance for local interaction. In actual fact what was created was a virtual reality where time was a required element for the successful growth and interaction of the avatar, thus defeating the purpose that it would save time.
Does the time we spend online within virtual realities detract from the quality of life we could be having if our time was better spent elsewhere? Do you agree or disagree?
Just something to think about, see you guys on Wednesday!
I think it would really depend on what the individual sees as a "quality life". As we have seen from so many examples in the semester now, there are some people who become so invested in various online communities, it becomes their everything, people can also become invested in games and online dating sites even blogging and to them, this might be the most important way for them to spend their time. However for me, i love the internet and facebook as far as virtual realities go but i like to get a balance between the online and the real so for me i would feel like too much time spent online would be affecting my quality of life but i think thats because peoples views of a quality of life varies considerably according to how ther personally like to spend their time.
ReplyDeleteI found this article very interesting, and when I read your blog post, your last section on the avatars caught my attention. When I was reading the article, I had the same thoughts about the movie “Surrogates” (2009). It was set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact with each other, and the rest of the outside world through surrogate robots. These people live their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via these robotic surrogates, that are physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves. A cop, played by Bruce Willis, is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates. This is just the basic story line but it is a brilliant movie and I think it is a parallel to “NOtime”, as the idea of creating avatars that could live parts of our lives for us, when we do not have time to tend to other things, is very similar. Each concept is very similar.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your last question as we are all always so busy and in actual fact it would be nice to have our own personal avatars to help us get everything needed to be done, done throughout each day. But I also think we could value our time more and use it wisely, for example one could wake up and hour earlier to send emails and get work done, so that when one came home from work one could enjoy dinner and family time instead of continuing to work at home, and jeopardizing family time.
In regards to the last question, i completely agree with what rachels said, i think it comes down to personal opinions of what one thinks 'quality life' should consist of. A bit like our discussion of perception in the tute on Wednesday, we talked about how if we personally think something is real then it is, but that is just out own perception of reality and i thik its the same when it comes to our perception of what makes a life a 'quality life'. Personally, i rather be outdoors doing things than cooped up on the computer online, i mean of course when im at home and feel the need to ill do my regular facebook check, email checks, online shopping and so on however when ive spent too much time online i feel like i should be doing other things instead of being boring or wasting time at home on the computer..so in my view i think alot of quality time can be wasted online when we could be doing other things elsewhere. But then again, that is my perception of it :)
ReplyDelete