New Media Research Studio

Bruce Sterling is an America Science Fiction writer who has been said to have defined the ‘cyberpunk’ genre. In an attempt to give something non-fictional to society, Sterling wrote a design theory book called, Shaping Things. It is this book and its contents, which Sterling chooses to discuss in his speech at an interaction design conference. In his speech he states that there is a great need for a sustainable society and that digital technologies are imperative when it comes to creating one.

As Joshua already mentioned, Sterling has created a thing called a “Spime” which he sees as dominating in the future. Spimes are said to have 7 characteristics:

1- They are conceived and designed within a network

2- Each Spime is given a unique digital identity

3- Spimes are physically fabricated from digital plans

4- They can be tracked with real time, geo-locating systems

5- Spimes can be searched out by network search engines

6- Spimes are designed for easy disassembly and reassembly

7- It leaves behind a historical trace, a valuable pool of metadata that can be used to create new spime

Sterling insists that in the future there will be a computer-human interface for everything in the world, EVERYTHING. Allowing for everything to become part of a database.

What I found interesting was Sterling’s ideas that science fiction writers have played a huge role in advancing technology going as far as to say that European playwright, Carl Chopackt created robot. He argues that virtual reality is just like a book in that they are both a form of immersion media. He sees cyber space as a consensual hallucination much like a science fictional user observation. Joshua discusses how Sterling, as a science fictional writer, does not think about interaction design. That as science fiction writer he thinks in terms of entertaining rather than design interaction.

Sterling brings up a device called “Spex” which are augmented reality glasses that he has written about multiple times in his fictional books but goes on to say that augmented reality is a dated idea. The idea that the virtual is somehow philosophically separate from the actual is a period notion.

“Don’t make me think,” cries the user! Throughout his speech Sterling brings up the point that the goal of interactive design should be able reduce cognitive loads and maximize opportunity costs. He mentions the cellular phone as a meta-medium that literally “eats” everything. Sterling goes on to list the historical devices that have been replaced by the cell phone such as the pager, telephone, alarm clock, calculator, answering machine, email, fax, video camera, camera, music players, pedometers, GPS satellite hardware, etc, but that even with all these devices it has “devoured” the screen is still incredibly small and the buttons still stink. In any event, Sterling asks the audience “Do people want to think about the devices they are using? Do they want to marvel as the wonderful spimeness?” The answer is NO. People just want to get something done with it and move on.

Sterling discusses how the physical versus the Internet has scale. While google earth may allow a user to zoom, the real earth does not allow for zooming. Adam Greenfield, design theorist, believes that software should have physical scales. In his summation, Joshua brings up Sterling’s concept of “Everyware” – software for every object on earth with a built in scale . There would things such as bodyware, roomware, houseware, buildingware, cityware, nationware, globalware, etc. This concept was a bit hard for me to comprehend, as I honestly don’t see what would designate an object to be held in the various categories.

I see that these spimes go beyond the simple “hand-held” devices allowing the user to simply command the device and have their will be done without even having to think about it as mentioned in the “housecleaning” example that Joshua brings up.  Another example is the “tooth brush scenario.” One only wants to interface with a toothbrush if it reduces cognitive load and has a favorable opportunity cost. Sterling says that if you have an old tooth brush you should be able to point your cell phone at it and get a reading of where to buy a new one, only if that is too boring. Instead you can all so see the newest most interesting “apple i-brush.” This toothbrush has all the bells and whistles and there is also a society of i-brush users and even a wiki for the device. Now I don’t know about you but which seems to be the device most able to reduce cognitive load and maximize opportunity cost.

People don’t want to use google maps to navigate there way around cities. People want to go someplace and the map is just a vehicle to get there. Sterling asks where is this going? Joshua divulges into the example of four-year-old boy who could be sent to New Delhi with nothing more than a device tablet. Going a bit further, Sterling states that devices such as this tablet will be in no harm of being stolen because in the future objects won’t have value, only information about the object will be worth stealing.

In his conclusion Sterling states that the things he explains about in his book is strange. It’s science fictional. But it is not strange enough to be as strange as how the real world is going to become. Fiction will eventually be defeated by the truth. There is no place left to hide from interaction. Sterling says that there used to be in separate world but thanks to advances in design we are all on the same webpage now. All I have to ask is does this make you feel nervous and uneasy or as though we have made strides towards the future?

In his blog, Dan Hill explains that his sketch, unlike Bruce Sterling’s concept of spimes, is based on the here and now. Hill discusses how “each element of data causes waves of responses in other connected databases, sometimes interacting with each other physically through proximity, other times through semantic connections across complex databases, sometimes in real-time, sometimes causing ripples months later.” What I took this to mean is that everything within a database are connected and have an effect on other elements of data.  This is exemplified as Hill talks about how “when it rains on an Oxford street the building is no more important than the rain.” They affect one another making neither more important.

The article describes how informational systems are beginning to profoundly change the way our streets work, the way they are used, and the way they feel. There are still many issues trying to be worked out in regards to the complex nature of the street.

Hill gives to possible futures in which issues may be flushed out.

1. Locked down street: 
In this example think of the scene in the film Minority Report, where the protagonist is assailed by highly targeted ads as he walks through a shopping street. This is an example where systems are focuses around a users private data such as browser usage patterns, credit card details traffic control systems, etc. With this example personal data security will be an increasing focus for individuals and service providers. This is an issue we have become familiar with through articles such as scroogled and various class discussions. By utilizing personal data information a lack of privacy begins to become blatantly obvious.

Hill also relays how the locked down street will require collaborative updates from local users themselves as well as better GIS data (across multiple independent systems.)

2. Open source street: 
This scenario will enable maximum coverage and stimulate engagement and innovation, with occasional possibility for unintended creative use. Hill brings up the powerful notion of an API (Application Programming Interface) which would mean that a database can be machine-readable (by code in other systems) and that data can be used elsewhere. APIs can have various qualities; be read-only or read-write, open or closed, and so on. In a way the entire street itself can now be thought of as having an API, conveying its overall behavior to the world, each aspect of it increasingly beginning to generate and recombine data.

Open Source Street will make the invisible visible, communicating the function and purpose of all devices. This allows for more trust, engagement, and appropriation.

In his closing, Hill states how he believes in reality the near-future will simultaneously encompass both scenarios and many more. In order to design the contemporary street there must be an attempt to understand and shape the most complex set of relationships between humans and the built environment yet imagined.

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