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Pushing the packet

I have been pretty busy this last week working offline, and collecting my thoughts and work into a format that can be presented.

Theory

In the absence of a concrete direction, I have been developing my theory and building a new platform to go forward from. This has involved looking more specifically at Social Theory and defining the project theory in more detail to distill aims and objectives. This has led into the realm of Cognitive Psychology pulling at threads of Gestalt Psychology which Max Wertheimer, one of the founders of Gestalt theory stated as follows:

“The basic thesis of gestalt theory might be formulated thus: there are contexts in which what is happening in the whole cannot be deduced from the characteristics of the separate pieces, but conversely; what happens to a part of the whole is, in clearcut cases, determined by the laws of the inner structure of its whole.” 1

Gestalt theory when taken in a psychological context in parallel with technology and communication, has deep connections with interface metaphor. This relates to the way that human beings are psychologically conditioned from thousands of years of ingrained interaction on a primal and also cognitive level. Historically for the greater part of our interactions as a species, we have predominantly communicated in a intimate fashion - most often in face to face interactions. When compared with the likes of the network communication methods of the last hundred odd years, and particularly the mobile network solutions of the last few decades there has been the opportunity to drift away from the need for the face to face contact that was previously part of the every day. Technology has also limited us from replicating face to face contact, as live streaming video has only been available since “consumer-grade personal computers became powerful enough to display various media”2 in the last 10 - 20 years.

But even as the technology has become available, the uptake has been slow. The reasons stated for this are varied, and no one seems one hundred percent sure why it hasn’t been more popular - some suggest vanity, others that the pricing is too high, and others still because of lack of privacy. But perhaps the lack of uptake in video calling exisits at a deeper level in the human psyche. Potentially the sum of the parts does not quite equal the whole, and as technolgy drifts back towards the capacity of face to face communication new visual metaphors are needed to relate our primal brains to the technology. This is the point at which Gestalts Theory applies - particularly relating to the Principal of Totality that states; “The conscious experience must be considered globally (by taking into account all the physical and mental aspects of the individual simultaneously) because the nature of the mind demands that each component be considered as part of a system of dynamic relationships.”3

Therefore it is important to consider the physical and mental aspects of modern mobile communication in context with our historical interactions, which is the framework on which this system of dynamic relationships is built on.

AIM: A short while ago Vodafone ran a set of advertisements to promote “Best Mates” which portrayed the protagonist literally holding a small live version of their best friend in their hand.

It is fascinating that the company went with this metaphor for representing a campaign in which you could have open mobile access to a selected party for a fixed monthly fee. It seems that the intent was to take the representation of the immediacy of having a mobile phone in your pocket, and replace it with a small representation of your friend as though you could carry them around in your pocket with you. But what happens when this interface metaphor is taken further? To the point where the user could literally be talking to a smaller version of their friend. What would the outcomes of this interface look like? My aim is to investigate where the line can be un-drawn between technological communication and face to face (and body to body) connection from a primal perspective.

Method: The method involves finding a way to marry the old with the new. The investigation will use design as a process to determine the best interface solutions.

© 2008 The Technological Red Zone.