Umeå University's logo

In the face of massively increased technological complexity, it is striking that so many of today’s computational and net- worked things follow design ideals honed decades ago in a much different context. These strong ideals prescribe a presenta- tion of things as useful tools through design and a withdrawal of aspects of their functionality and complexity. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, we trace this ‘withdrawal program’ as it has persisted in the face of increasing computational complexity. Currently, design is in a dilemma where computational products can be seen as brilliantly designed and engag- ing to use yet can also be considered very problematic in how they support hidden agendas and often seem less than trust- worthy. In this article, we analyse factors shaping this emergent ethical dilemma and reveal the concept of a widening rift between what computational things actually are and do and the ways in which they are presented as things for use. Against this backdrop, we argue that there is a need for a new orientation in design programs to adequately address this deepening rupture between the aesthetics and ethics in the design of computational things. 

Because of its focus on human-technology relations, postphenomenology has always explored the boundaries and relations between the human and the nonhuman. In this paper, we expand the notion of the nonhuman from the inanimate to the animate. We present a study on guide dogs, as an empirical-philosophical basis to explore the boundaries between the human and the nonhuman in new ways, and to expand the postphenomenological framework accordingly. Transferring the notion of technological mediation from the inanimate to the animate raises new questions about basic postphenomenological notions like ‘embodiment’, ‘alterity’, ‘functionality’, ‘design’, ‘intentionality’, and ‘mediation’. The postphenomenological framework offers valuable insights to understand how guide dogs help shape the perceptual and experiential realm of visually impaired people, expanding earlier cases such as Merleau-Ponty’s example of the long cane (1945) and Ihde’s hearing aid analysis (2007). Yet, it also reveals differences between the ‘technological intentionality’ of inanimate and animate nonhumans. Both have their own, specific way of being ‘directed’ at the world, related to their own ‘functionality’ and their own ways of having been ‘designed’. And they both invite different ways of being related to, which urges us to expand existing notions of human-technology relations and which results in different types of ‘hybrid’ intentionalities, composed of human and nonhuman elements. As a result, the guide dog case presents itself as a boundary case that opens new ways to connect to the current emergence of ‘artificial agents’, like self-driving cars and digital voice assistants, which have comparable boundary-blurring characteristics.

We describe the design and deployment of Calmer, a technology that simulates key aspects of maternal skin-to-skin holding for prematurely born infants: its inspiration, approach, physical design, and introduction into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Maternal skin-to-skin holding can mitigate neonatal pain during medical procedures by as much as 50%, which can improve weight gain, sleep and later development. However, parents cannot always be present, and some infants are too fragile to be held. Interventions targeting this gap could be perceived as supplanting the mother in this intimate role, exposing her to depression and endangering her maternal bond. Over 10 years, we iteratively developed Calmer and demonstrated infant health benefit in a randomized clinical trial. Here, we report and reflect on pursuing this goal in a socially and technologically complex context: constraints, strategies, features, reception of the device, and surprises, such as leading to mothers feeling channeled rather than replaced.