Sociotechnical Interaction and Cyborg-Cyborg Interaction: Transforming the Scale and Convergence of HCI

  • Authors:
  • Kenneth R. Fleischmann

  • Affiliations:
  • College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA

  • Venue:
  • The Information Society
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

This article describes the broadening of the range of issues addressed by human-computer interaction (HCI) in response to ongoing trends of networked and ubiquitous computing. The first trend is the growing scale of HCI, with a transformation of HCI from focusing on individuals to groups to society as a whole, resulting in sociotechnical interaction. The second trend is the increasing convergence of the human and the computer in HCI, leading to cyborg-cyborg interaction. The article considers the social and ethical implications of these two trends, in particular, the growing importance of nonhuman agency, including not only the bioagency of humans and nonhuman animals but also the cyberagency of information technology and the collective agency of networks. The article concludes that bioagency and cyberagency are in the process of converging, leading to growing collaboration not only at and through computers but also with computers.