Sinews of ubiquity : a corporeal ethics for ubiquitous computing

Abstract

This reflection upon ubiquitous computing is written from the perspectives of performance and phenomenology, in particular, the dance and choreographic practices that shape the creation of responsive systems from large public art installations to intimate devices worn under clothes and on skin. The kinaesthetic awareness of dance combines with the corporeal methodology of phenomenology and both play a role in crafting an ethics, but this reflection upon ubiquitous computing is also knitted with an understanding of how we exist within and move through the world. As such, the infrastructure of ubiquity will be considered: not the circuits, local area networks, and software, but the corporeal and philosophical sinews of ubiquity that have meaning on ontological, aesthetic, and methodological levels. Calling the ethical approach offered in this chapter ‘corporeal’ means more than simply considering how ubiquitous systems impact bodies; the aim is to re-embody the very understanding of ubiquitous computing in our lives