“The Internet of Bodies: Future Human / Machine Choreographies” presented by Boddington

Symposium:


Session Title:
  • Post Human - Can Non-anthropocentric Relationships Lead to True Intimacy with Technology?

Presentation Title:
  • The Internet of Bodies: Future Human / Machine Choreographies

Presenter(s):


Venue(s):


Abstract:

  • Today’s world of connectivity between humans and objects of all kinds – virtual and physical – is extending rapidly, as the experimental and pioneering work of pre millennium artists and creative moves into mainstream debate, development and usage. In the next 10 years the Internet of Things aims to link us to all the “stuff” around us, everything we need to work with and for us. Additionally we start to see the evolving linkage of our bodies directly to machine and virtual “others”, in particular opening up real-time looping of all our senses to the robots and avatars we create or choose to relate to. I call this the Internet of Bodies – physical and virtual, human and machine.

    Synthetic emotions
    I would like to examine on this panel how this affects the concept of love? How are we shifting this, the most universal of all human needs, into new belongings, attachments and fulfillments? Can we adjust to and fully accept the evolution of love into “synthetic emotions”? Using examples from topical curatorial practices, both my own co-curations and others (such as Lyst, Technophilia, Lovemetruly) plus recent mass viewed films and tv dramas such as “Her” and “Humans”, it seems that the next decade is destined for intensive ethical and moral debates on the human / machine loving – from love bots to synths, teledildonics to cryonics the debate is on its way. As implants and sensors shift realtime connectivity to the inside of our physical body, biogels, touch and gaze tech will deepen immersive environments. How will this effect our social abilities in the real-world – will the psychologies of confused identities and power play cause chaos? Or will these shifts only have limited negative repercussions, as we acquire 21st century skills of rapidly blending parallel virtual/physical realms for joy and positive release?”

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