Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The Face: the outdated interface

The face is the most basic interface we understand. We model technology after our own faces, in order to create something familiar to interact with. Within cyberspace, however, the visual identification is lacking and it is possible for users to "pass" without any racial identity. With the use of cyberspace, we can move beyond spectacle and more towards cultural relation.

Caught Like a Nigger in Cyberspace is an interesting game, which requires the player to avoid "techno jargon". Hansen states, while playing the game, he felt "compelled to undergo a kind of becoming-other, a loosening grip of the identity markings on my embodiment, a felt recognition of the fluidity - the bodily excess - underlying them." It becomes clear that identity cannot be measured be visual interpretation alone, and the body is actually an unnecessary party of the identity. Through cyberspace identities are interacting directly, without a visual / physical interface. People are no longer limited by their visual appearance, and communication is still possible without the physical human interface, the face.

No comments:

Post a Comment