Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Sherry Turkle: The Effects of Technology

I saw this Colbert Report interview last night with Sherry Turkle promoting her new book, Alone Together.  She raises great questions about our relationship to objects, especially the ways we interact with digital technology and how it affects our relationships with others.  Watch the interview:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sherry Turkle
www.colbertnation.com
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Side note: As a graduate student, I love what she says about "long form arguments."

Yesterday Tabitha and I talked about digital worlds and how humans interface with the artificial worlds of video and computer games. Tabitha raised the point that the digitalization of these game technology, such as Kinect which registers the body's movement and no longer requires a controller, creates a more open interface between the human user and the game. We are quickly seeing gaming systems, like Kinect and Wii Fit, adopt a more direct and 'natural' interface with the user, more seamlessly connecting to the user's natural body movements.  There is something interesting about the bodily experience of playing these games, especially games through Kinect and Wii where you can watch your avatar self move along with you. What would it take for users to confuse this virtual self with their real selves? There are already reports of this reality confusion among gamers who play World of Warcraft, Second Life, or Sims to obsessive and addictive levels. Are there people would rather choose to immerse completely in their digital reality, what does this behavior look like, and what are the social effects of this human relationship to technology?  This question is one in a series of many about our human relationship to objects, the emotional and bodily experience in these object interactions, and how it shapes our sense of ourselves and of reality.

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