Technology theorist, design researcher, writer, teacher
What is going on with things? This is a question that has been animating my research for the past few years. It has led to identifying some basic shifts underway in how things are made, when, where, and by whom, and what they are made of. Due to networked connectivity, things can be active and responsive, … Continue reading Surveillance capitalism, by design
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending the excellent PhD defence of Holly Robbins at TU Delft, and afterward participating on a panel on the related theme of “Designing for Legibility of Computational Black Boxes” along with Thomas Binder (The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts), Marcel Schouwenaar (The Incredible Machine), Irina … Continue reading Designing for legibility of computational black boxes (The box is not a box)
Today is the day that Changing Things: The Future of Objects in a Digital World is published! This seems like a good moment to reflect on the (long) path to get to this point, as well as to look ahead toward future directions. As a graduate student I became fascinated with philosophy of technology because of … Continue reading Changing Things: Back story and future directions
At the recent Critical Alternatives 2015, the 5th decennial Aarhus conference, I participated in two excellent full-day workshops: “Shifting Borderlands of Technoscience: Tracing Trajectories of Critical Practice” and “I’ve Had It! Group Therapy for Interdisciplinary Researchers.” Both engaged with the challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary work, but in somewhat different ways. Prompted by experiences writing for … Continue reading Interdisciplinarity and what it will take to address postindustrial challenges
DRS 2014, the conference of the Design Research Society which is this year hosted by my current institutional home of the Umeå Institute of Design, begins in just a few days now on the Arts Campus of Umeå University. Since I have ended up as local organisation chair for the conference I have been heavily … Continue reading DRS 2014
I just happened on the Bitly Media Map when researching their link shortening service to use as an example for thinking through some issues for my research. It is a map of the US that shows by location and in real time the media sources for links that people click on. The effect of the … Continue reading Seeing real-time link clicks in the Bitly Media Map
Graham Harman and object-oriented philosophy I’ve been seeing intriguing references to Graham Harman for a while now, and today after investigating him further I think I’ve become a fan after reading about a handful of blog posts and a book review. He has all kinds of interesting things on his blog, and I particularly enjoyed … Continue reading Graham Harman and object-oriented philosophy
Review of Materiality and Organizing My review of Materiality and Organizing: Social Interaction in a Technological World (edited by Leonardi, Nardi, and Kallinikos) is now published in The Information Society: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/FeEHDGmxxE8WvmYn98ib/full
Since my move to Umeå, Sweden at the beginning of the month I have developed a close relationship with the city’s bus system. Although I have used public transportation many times before, especially when traveling, relying on it exclusively for getting around in my daily life is a new experience for me as I am … Continue reading Buses and wifi-mediated experience
A lot has happened with me in the last few months. The first big thing is that I finished and (on 19 July) successfully defended my dissertation. It is titled The Mediating Role of Responsive Digital Materials: A Conceptual Investigation and Analytic Framework, and it is available for download here. I will also be working … Continue reading Dissertation and new position
Heather Wiltse, PhD 