May 14, 2020

Communications technology: New concepts of space, and co-dependency on the machine

By Laura Belik (laurabelik@berkeley.edu, website)
PhD Candidate, UC Berkeley

The author will give this presentation at the Pandemic Urbanism Symposium in a session titled “Virtual Culture,” from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM on May 29, 2020.

During times of seclusion, when sociability is dictated by the technological apparatus we have created to help us interact with each other, new concepts of space and the “public” are being considered. While practices such as virtual happy-hours, online doctor’s appointments and Zoom lectures are today’s new normal, concerns regarding our subordination to the machine and the virtual are being raised. The core of social infrastructure might not be physical anymore. Yet, these discussions are not new to the field of Design Studies.

This paper will engage with the history of the technological and digital revolution, from the early attempts and experiments with virtual reality in the late 1960s until today’s philosophical debates within Science and Technology Studies. “Shortening distances” can be both a dream or a goal but also intimidating and distressing. The farther we reach by using new computers, programs and gadgets as such, the more dependent we are on them as well. Reimagining the city and the very concept of “space” from our living room can be quite a homework.