Responsible: Prof. Leopoldina Fortunati, University of Udine, Italy

Participants: Boldur Barbat (Lucian Blaga University – Sibiu), Costin Pribeanu ((National Institute for R&D in Informatics), Claude Henry (LIMSI Paris), Truls Johnsen (College of Agder), Olga Vershinskaya (Russian Academy of Sciences, ISESP), Enid Mante (University of Utrecht), Pedro Gómez-Fernández (Universidad Complutense de Madrid).

The members of workgroup on Membership/Communicy decided that in the last stage of its work, it would be more appropriate to change it’s name to the Extended Human workgroup (Leidschendam, April 2002) because it had progressed to specifically exploring the concepts of prosthesis and how machines extend human capabilities. The new title better characterised this development and fitted in with a decision to make this theme a strand of the planned conference ‘The Good The Bad and the Irrelevant’ (Helsinki Sep. 2003).


Results

The problem of human-machine interaction encompasses almost all human aspects of ICTs (orality, gestures, emotions… even avatars). In the computer-mediated group activities the computer serves as an extension of each participant’s possibilities: possibilities to use, produce, retrieve and disseminate information. The field is largely unexplored. In this last stage, the group focused on the importance of the interface, in all its aspects. Thus, considering that communication (including its phatic function as well as its persuasive role) is eased through (the illusion of) lifelike features on machines, beyond the classical “text/picture” interface, we paid attention to the spectrum of different means of expression that should be promoted. The workgroup was convinced that the synergistic association of animation , gesture, emotivity, orality, avatars, etc could improve substantially communication outcomes. Particular attention was given to the fact that many social and electronic processes converge in post-modern society on the human body.

If we now look at some of the results, one study, a cross-cultural survey, (Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia and Spain), aimed to find differences and similarities in ICTs behaviour . This comparative study, provided striking results such as the fact that many trends in ICT use are multicultural and young consumers are driven by the same attitudes as others (Contarello, Fortunati, 2002. ICTs and the Human Body: A Social Representation Approach).

As a second example of results, research analysing the relation between gender and ICTs (Fortunati, 2002. Some Notes about the Changes in ICTs), focusing particular on the mobile phone, found that:

a) There is a feminisation of the body of machines as they are quickly becoming softer, coloured, transparent, less mineral and more biological and sensitive.
b) When machines feminise themselves, they tend either to become miniaturised or to disappear altogether from public presence. But this process also reminds us of social pressure on females in general to disappear from the formal and public sphere.
c) There are barriers to technology entering the domestic sphere. Why? First of all, for women ICTs do not automatically represent a saving of either money or time (e.g. computers). On the contrary, in many cases they can lead to further expense of time and money. Second, the content of material on ICTs have not been elaborated with women in mind. Third, women are less willing to allow themselves to be moulded cognitively by the machine. Finally, they are not the main targets of ICT producers.

Finally, the role of humans in the process of communicating with ICTs was studied from the perspective of anthropocentric systems, that is to say systems having the users as their target actor and ‘raison d’etre’ of any ICT (Barbat, 2001. Communication between Persons and Information Processes). This approach was deepened in a second paper (Barbat, 2001. Communication Face to (Inter)face,) considering not only the technological but also the psychological and sociological aspects of the interface between users and ICTs, in the widest meaning of this term — i.e., the area where the human aspects of ICTs are reflected at the lower stage of human-machine interaction.

Going on to address a more specific element of human-machine communication (Barbat, 2002. From Languages to Language and Back. Orality in HCI,) the language problem was examined, emphasising the role of orality in the human communication interface, investigating its pros and cons and suggesting as a solution multi-modal means of expression — now made affordable and user-friendly through new technologies, principally broadband communications. Within the larger context of the extended human two critical issues were underlined and made more acute by technological advances:

1. The promises and dangers emerging from the fact that avatars are alter egos of humans (Barbat, 2001. The Avatar – A Pseudo-Human Extending the Genuine One).
2. The up to now neglected ethical dimensions of ICTs (Barbat and Cretulescu, 2003. Digital ethics. Avatars. Between Machiavelli and Hippocrates).

The workgroup felt that some strands of the work, such as developing an anthropomorphic perspective, could be further developed in relation to the particular area of broadband. Another area coming out of, but not really followed up within, the extended human group related to the convergence of technologies around the human body (e.g. wearable technologies), including broadband technologies. Meanwhile the group felt it important to also address the new area of how we deal with the electronic portraits of people that can already be created and will perhaps be enhanced with broadband technologies. Within a proposal for a new action, that will be discussed in the self-evaluation section, the workgroup suggested these themes could be covered by a workgroup looking at ‘Human’s as e-Actors’.