This document summarizes a presentation on cyborg anthropology and the quantified self movement. It discusses how as technology becomes more integrated with our lives, we are all becoming cyborgs. It covers some of the psychological effects of constant digital stimulation and information overload. Examples are given of self-tracking technologies and how making internal states visible can help people gain insights into themselves. The talk addresses challenges around data collection and proposes that the best interfaces should be invisible and context-aware to reduce friction and connect people.

1. From Solid to Liquid
to Air: Cyborg
Anthropology and
CyborgCamp YVR
May 11, 2013
Amber Case, @caseorganic
caseorganic@gmail.com

3. We are
all
cyborgs

5. an organism “to which
exogenous components
have been added for the
purpose of adapting to
new ambient spaces”
Cyborg:

7. Flickr: cybertoad

8. h"p://farm1.sta.c.flickr.com/
119/293670483_cbce23bdde_b.jpg
Flickr:
soylentgreen23

9. Flickr: cybertoad

10. Univac 1 ~1950’s
iPhone ~2000’s

11. Traditional

12. Cyborg
Flickr:
futurestreet

13. macy meetings - anthropologists
and scientists discussing humans
and technology in 1941.

14. I. PROBLEMS

15. the
automati
c
productio
n of
space

20. Digital
Dark Age?

21. Prostheti
cs
and their
disconte
nts

22. Prostheti
cs
and their
disconte
nts

23. Hyperlinked
Memories

24. simultaneou
s time

25. Persistent
Paleontolo
gy

27. Panic
architectu
re

28. Email
apnea

29. Flickr: GenoDM
Temporarily Negotiated Private Space

31. ambient
intimacy Leisa Reichelt

32. Flickr:
piet_musterd

33. this is
your
second
self

34. Interface
for social
grooming

35. presentation
of self in
digital life

36. II. INFORMATION
ADDICTION

37. Information Junk
Food

38. Junk Sleep

39. Digital Hygiene

40. Information
Hoarding

41. Intermittent reinforcement

42. technosocia
l
training
wheels

44. Flickr:
piet_musterd

45. Many of us have become
Skinnerian Rats

46. psychologica
l
effects
+1

47. Database
Games

48. a conference on technology and
society
NYC, Nov. 12-14 2009

49. Mental
Memory compression and

51. Self

52. Tech fills every moment
Loss of the time to
mentally defragment

53. III. Quantified Self

54. Of all of the newest
technologies for finding
friends or dating:"I have
many friends, I have a wife"
at the end of it all…
…the person I know least
about is myself.”
- Jon
Lebkowsky

55. Example: Lifehacking the
SIMs

57. Making the
Invisible Visible

58. Example: Harvard
Happiness Project

60. Example:
Aaron Parecki’s
GPS Map of Portland

62. IV.
HISTORY

63. Self-Portrait
of Steve Mann with
Wearable
Computing
Apparatus
1981.

65. Diminished Reality vs.

66. Adblock: Image recognition, processing and replacement

67. Remember the Milk
Contextual Notification Systems
Virtual Post-It Notes with Image
Processing
1995

68. Souveillance
MaybeCam

69. Mann with modified MyVu
Glasses

70. Evolution of
Prosthesis

71. Present-Day
Steve
Mann
• Extremely lightweight equipment
• Most people have this in their pocket

72. III. PERSISTENT
ARCHITECTURE

73. 1963:
Englebart’s
Mouse

76. Twiddler by
HandyKey
Corporation
One-Handed Key
Chording USB
Keyboard

77. Inputs

78. Borg Group – MIT Media Lab

80. Sandy Pentland

81. Thad
Starner
Georgia
Tech

82. GA Tech

84. Non-visual
Wearable
Technologies

85. Haptic
Compass
Belt

87. V. Calm Technology
Flickr: thriol

88. Calm technology
• Actions as buttons
• Invisible interfaces
• Trigger-based
interactions

89. An
Invisible
Button
900m
80m

90. Functional Location-Based
Reminder Applications, 2006

91. @aaronpk’s
Hardware GPS Logger

92. @aaronpk’s First Smartphone

93. Data collected by
@aaronpk over 4
years
2.5 million points
since 2008

95. Geotriggers:
Many
Invisible
Buttons

97. your phone is a
remote control
for reality.

98. What could
your app
do if it
knew
where it
was? 900m
80m

99. Day in the Life

100. But…

101. Battery
Drain

102. Solving these
problems opens up
a new world of
opportunity

103. But…

104. Location-
based ads!

105. So many more
things to do
with location!

106. Home
Automatio
When you enter
your house, the
lights turn on!
When you leave,

107. Bringing
Wikipedia
to Life

108. Real-Time
Hyperlocal
Weather

109. Credit: Reid Beels

110. Real-time location-based gaming

111. mapattack.org

112. Friction disappears
Data becomes relevant
when filtered by location
• Actions are Reduced
• Queries are Eliminated

113. The best technology
is invisible
It should get out of the way
and connect people.

114. No longer
this…

115. Thank you!
Amber Case,
Director, Esri R&D
Center Portland
acase@esri.com
This!