Women in the age of andromation : challenges for feminisms in the fourth industrial revolution

Industrial automation poses challenges to policymakers as it could lead to long-term unemployment and rising inequality. Due to occupational segregation, mainly women work in the productive sectors most at risk of becoming robotized. International institutions, including the United Nations’ International Labor Organization, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the World Economic Forum have outlined policy proposals to curtail the adversities that automation poses for women...La automatización industrial posa desafíos de gobernanza por su capacidad de producir desempleo y desigualdad a largo plazo. La segregación ocupacional por género sitúa a las mujeres en los sectores productivos con mayor riesgo de ser robotizados. Instituciones internacionales como la Organización Internacional del Trabajo, la Comisión de las Naciones Unidas por el Estatus de las Mujeres, y el Foro Económico Mundial han formulado propuestas de política pública para mitigar las adversidades que la automatización podría producir para las mujeres..

Anthropomorphic Objects

This thesis exhibition is the culmination of an exploration of the uncanny through sculptures that evoke the sensation of a living presence. Each sculpture is also intended to convey some character or personality, and to this end, my work is influenced by puppetry. Though the works are human sized, they function as puppets in that they are posable and can be used for performance, but they are also robotic in that they have some autonomous motion and some reactive motion. My sculptures are based on the human form because the human form is at once most uncanny and also most relatable. Relatability is an important aspect of my work, as I use my humanoid sculptures to create playful interactive experiences for viewers, experiences that hinge on the uncanny and the illusion of presence

Women of the future : gender, technology, and cyborgs in Frank Herbert's dune

Cette thèse défend les mérites d’une lecture cyborgienne de l’oeuvre de science-fiction de Frank Herbert, Dune, où la vision particulière des sciences et technologies nous permet d’interpréter plusieurs personnages en tant que réitération Nouvelle Vague du cyborg. Publié en 1965, Dune introduit des personnages féminins atypiques pour cette époque compte tenu de leurs attributs tels qu’une capacité intellectuelle accrue, une imposante puissance de combat et une immunité manifeste contre la faiblesse émotionnelle. Cependant, le roman reste ambivalent en ce qui concerne ces femmes : en dépit de leurs qualités admirables, elles sont d’autre part caractérisées par des stéréotypes régressifs, exposants une sexualité instinctive, qui les confinent tout au mieux aux rôles de mère, maitresse ou épouse. Finalement, dans le roman, elles finissent par jouer le rôle du méchant. Cette caractérisation se rapproche beaucoup de celle du cyborg femelle qui est d’usage courant dans les productions de science fiction pour le grand public des décennies plus récentes. Par conséquent, cette thèse défend qu’une lecture cyborgienne de Dune complète et accroisse une analyse sexospécifique, car cette approche comporte une théorisation essentielle des réactions à l’égard de la technologie qui, selon Evans, sont entretissées dans la réaction patriarcale de ce roman à l’égard des femmes. Bien que ces créatures fictives ne soient pas encore communes à l’époque de la rédaction de Dune, Jessica et certains autres personnages du roman peuvent néanmoins être considérés comme exemples primitifs des cyborgs, parce qu’ils incarnent la science et la technologie de leur culture et qu’ils possèdent d’autres éléments typiques du cyborg. L’hypothèse propose que la représentation des femmes dans Dune ne découle pas seulement de l’attrait pour le chauvinisme ou la misogynie, mais qu’elle est en fait grandement influencée par la peur de la technologie qui est transposée sur la femme comme c’est couramment le cas dans la littérature cyborg subséquente. Ainsi, ce roman annonce le futur sous-genre cyborg de la science-fiction.Evans argues for the merits of a cyborgian reading of Frank Herbert’s seminal science fiction novel, Dune, on the basis that the novel’s particular conception of science and technology allows many of the characters to be understood as New Wave iterations of the cyborg. First published in 1965, Dune includes female characters uncharacteristic for the genre during this period due to the degree of their intelligence, formidable fighting powers, and seeming freedom from emotional weakness. However, the novel is ambivalent about its super-women: despite their admirable qualities, they are otherwise depicted in retrogressive stereotypes, representing the instinctual sex, naturally best limited to roles of mothers, lovers, and wives; by the novel’s conclusion they are cast as villains. This particular characterization of women shares many qualities with the trope of the female cyborg that becomes common in mass media science fiction of later decades. Therefore, this thesis argues that a cyborgian reading of Dune complements and augments a gender analysis of the novel because this approach incorporates an essential theorization of the reactions to technology that, according to Evans, are interwoven into the novel’s patriarchal response to women. Although these fictional creatures were not yet common at the time of Dune’s writing, Jessica and other characters in the novel can be read nonetheless as early examples of cyborgs because they physically embody their culture’s science and technology, and are consistent with other important hallmarks of the figure. The argument is that Herbert’s depiction of women in Dune does not just arise from an appeal to male chauvinism and misogyny, but is, in fact, strongly influenced by a fear of technology that is projected onto women, as is commonly seen in later cyborg literature. According to such a reading, the novel foreshadows the later cyborg sub-genre of science fiction

Implications of the uncanny valley of avatars and virtual characters for human-computer interaction

Technological innovations made it possible to create more and more realistic figures. Such figures are often created according to human appearance and behavior allowing interaction with artificial systems in a natural and familiar way. In 1970, the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori observed, however, that robots and prostheses with a very - but not perfect - human-like appearance can elicit eerie, uncomfortable, and even repulsive feelings. While real people or stylized figures do not seem to evoke such negative feelings, human depictions with only minor imperfections fall into the "uncanny valley," as Mori put it. Today, further innovations in computer graphics led virtual characters into the uncanny valley. Thus, they have been subject of a number of disciplines. For research, virtual characters created by computer graphics are particularly interesting as they are easy to manipulate and, thus, can significantly contribute to a better understanding of the uncanny valley and human perception. For designers and developers of virtual characters such as in animated movies or games, it is important to understand how the appearance and human-likeness or virtual realism influence the experience and interaction of the user and how they can create believable and acceptable avatars and virtual characters despite the uncanny valley. This work investigates these aspects and is the next step in the exploration of the uncanny valley. This dissertation presents the results of nine studies examining the effects of the uncanny valley on human perception, how it affects interaction with computing systems, which cognitive processes are involved, and which causes may be responsible for the phenomenon. Furthermore, we examine not only methods for avoiding uncanny or unpleasant effects but also the preferred characteristics of virtual faces. We bring the uncanny valley into context with related phenomena causing similar effects. By exploring the eeriness of virtual animals, we found evidence that the uncanny valley is not only related to the dimension of human-likeness, which significantly change our view on the phenomenon. Furthermore, using advanced hand tracking and virtual reality technologies, we discovered that avatar realism is connected to other factors, which are related to the uncanny valley and depend on avatar realism. Affinity with the virtual ego and the feeling of presence in the virtual world were also affected by gender and deviating body structures such as a reduced number of fingers. Considering the performance while typing on keyboards in virtual reality, we also found that the perception of the own avatar depends on the user's individual task proficiencies. This thesis concludes with implications that not only extends existing knowledge about virtual characters, avatars and the uncanny valley but also provide new design guidelines for human-computer interaction and virtual reality

State of Science: ergonomics and global issues

In his 1993 IEA keynote address, Neville Moray urged the ergonomics discipline to face up to the global problems facing humanity and consider how ergonomics might help find some of the solutions. In this State of Science article we critically evaluate what the ergonomics discipline has achieved in the last two and a half decades to help create a secure future for humanity. Moray’s challenges for ergonomics included deriving a value structure that moves us beyond a Westernised view of worker-organisation-technology fit, taking a multidisciplinary approach which engages with other social and biological sciences, considering the gross cross-cultural factors that determine how different societies function, paying more attention to mindful consumption, and embracing the complexity of our interconnected world. This article takes a socio-historical approach by considering the factors that influence what has been achieved since Moray’s keynote address. We conclude with our own set of predictions for the future and priorities for addressing the challenges that we are likely to face. Practitioner Summary: We critically reflect on what has been achieved by the ergonomics profession in addressing the global challenges raised by Moray's 1993 keynote address to the International Ergonomics Association. Apart from healthcare, the response has largely been weak and disorganised. We make suggestions for priority research and practice that is required to facilitate a sustainable future for humanity

Apocalypse in Anime: Shifting Boundaries of Human Technology Interface

Anime is the definitive postmodern genre through which to portray apocalyptic narratives as it provides an imaginative liminal site that transcends any specific culture and ethnicity, and through which global concerns can be investigated. The study of apocalypse in selected anime - Japanese animated film and television - is beneficial at the outset o f the 21st century when we are beset with catastrophes both ecological and technological that are recognizably manufactured by some degree of human involvement. This examination is pertinent to disciplines as diverse as communications, cultural theory, anthropology, film, cyborg studies, Asian studies, and English literature. The dystopian settings and destructive elements in apocalyptic anime can be used in diverse and complex ways to comment on characterresponsetoupheavalanddisaster. Bystimulatingdiscussionthrough exploration of anime narratives, this popular culture product offers a pervasive and rich vocabulary with which to consider our reactions to adversity. This thesis demonstrates how the study of apocalypse through anime narratives is relevant to a greater understanding of our own behavior in reaction to apocalyptic circumstances

Potential impact on workforce and labor market as a result of AI/automation: A perspective of the Portuguese labor force

The dissertation aims at exploring the impacts of automation and its branches (Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Machine Learning, and others) in the workforce. As such, it intends to analyze predicted current jobs at risk of being automated and potential emerging professions due to the digital transformations humankind is subject to. It is intended to understand whether these transformations, also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, are likely to follow the same evolution as the previous Industrial Revolutions. The main target will be people working in Portugal, independent of their nationality, and I aspire to examine the level of awareness of the target about the potential technological impact on their labor activity and the extent to which they are preparing themselves for such continuous and exponential changes in the labor force. A research on the previous Industrial Revolutions will be conducted. Also, a questionnaire will be performed to understand whether respondents believe their organization uses a technologically-oriented approach in their business and if the individual workers are preparing themselves towards a new working model that includes automation-related technologies. The main findings of the conducted research were that most organizations include basic technological tools in their daily businesses yet are still way ahead in the integration of the most recent trends of this digital era. Also, respondents are not preparing themselves much as they believe the technological impacts on the labor force are still futuristic. Nevertheless, respondents are confident about a framework where humankind and automation work sideby- sideO desenvolvimento desta tese tem como principal foco explorar os impactos da automação e seus derivados (Inteligência Artificial, Internet das Coisas, Machine Learning, entre outros) no mercado laboral. Pretende-se analisar as previsões dos empregos que estão correntemente em risco de serem automatizados e aqueles com maior probabilidade de emergir, resultantes das transformações digitais. Requer-se começar por perceber se estas transformações, também conhecidas como Quarta Revolução Industrial, seguirão a mesma evolução que as passadas Revoluções Industriais. O target a analisar será a população activa em Portugal, independentemente da sua nacionalidade, começando por examinar o nível de awareness da população seleccionada relativamente ao impacto das novas tecnologias na sua actividade laboral bem como o seu nível de preparação para as mudanças que irão impactar o futuro dos trabalhos. Será concretizado um estudo das Revoluções Industriais passadas. Em acréscimo, será realizado um questionário de forma a perceber até que ponto é que os respondentes percepcionam o nível de maturidade tecnológica das suas empresas e se os indivíduos consideram estar a preparar-se para um futuro onde se prevê um novo modelo de trabalho altamente aliado à automação. As principais descobertas do estudo são que a maioria das empresas em questão utilizam ferramentas tecnológicas básicas relativamente às recentes trends digitais. Apurouse, também, que os respondentes não se estão a preparar muito uma vez que acreditam que as implicações tecnológicas no trabalho são ainda futuristas. No entanto, a maioria aparenta estar confiante acerca de uma estrutura laboral onde a humanidade e a automação podem caminhar lado-a-lado