Prospectives 2022 – Digital Art and Activism is a one day symposium happening during Global Connects hosted by The Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities, 4th-8th July 2022. More info at the Digital Art and Activism Network site digitalartandactivism.tumblr.com
Counter tactic bodymodification as inclusive game interface
I will be presenting my work on counter tactic body modification, HCI and game design in the Games/Metaverse panel. The presentation will include a demo of the interface.
Abstract
Through a counter tactic perspective, with planetary accountability, the research creation project proposed, prototypes a human computer interface, currently based on Near Field Communication technology (NFC). With a couple of experiences linked from a human body, in collaboration with other entities, the endosymbiotic relationship between human flesh and the organic and inorganic entities, create an intimate dialogue only accessible through consent. This is possible because the NFC chips, implanted in the researchers body, are passive until an external magnetic field gets close enough to ones skin to be powered and allow data to be transferred. This way, games, music and other features can be communicated through body modification, a human practice with ancient history often connected to identity expression but also trauma and oppression. This non-verbal way to communicate is partly connected to research in neurodiversity and cyborg bodies, with body modification as voice for silenced beings.
Examples of art connected to NFC implants in my body
Heart beat
2016. Video and countdown of remaining heartbeats (estimation for mammals of my size) and beats sung by a male voice (Reeps One) aee.technology
Cyborg Interface Instrument
2017. Instrument for composing music by scanning NFC implants, video 1st test vimeo.com/225876387
Researching metal music and artificial generation of a gender-neutral voice. Previous work that feeds into this is connected to metal, punk and grunge music, body/skin as voice, psychogeography, alternative transportation and masked performances in urban spaces with surveillance, as well as DIY/maker/hacker cultures as resistance movements.
Games
2021. Fuck this shit, I’m moving to the arctic.
A game currently linked from my right hand idun.itch.io/moving-to-the-arctic (I sometimes change the link to other games depending on the context I am in)
2021-22 (Unpublished). Radical Imagination.
An interactive text based game/paper explaining some of the background to my use of NFC implants as voice. Includes academic research on autism spectrum (AS), selective mutism, dysfunctions in pain and risk perception, sexual abuse and eating disorders connected to AS, as well as cyborg technologies, perceptions and religious discrimination (mark of the beast etc).
Focus areas and research questions 2022:
Machine Learning
– Bias in datasets, how much editing/fine tuning of language is needed to weight out biased language in available sets?
– How can cognitive structures, mirror neurons and non-verbal language inform the work?
Game Interfaces and Narrative, AR and Metaverses
– How can the NFC technology be used for identity and privacy related concerns in Metaverses?
– Is there any other non-intrusive cyborg interface technology (other than NFC or magnet implants) being developed which can be used for games?
– Development of an AR game and other games with diverse narratives and less biased data. Hopepunk/Solarpunk/Icepunk universes, acknowledging that many cultures already lived/live the apocalypse Hollywood/Silicon Valley are communicating.
Cyborg Interface Instrument and Voice
– How much material and what qualities are needed to build a machine learning data set for developing audio based on recording of ice?
– How can live generation of the ice ‘voice’ be initiated through the cyborg interface?
– What parts of the instrument and the costume used when performing with it can be powered through solar power or other environment friendly alternatives? Can ice or snow reflections be used?
Speculative album covers (generated with Neural blender):
Examples of generated images based on prompts: neurodiverse vs autistic:
Example of mainstream fiction as political/religious propaganda:
Screenshots from the Marvel movie about Captain America. Marvels version of the Norse aeisir Thor and Loke just jumped out of the ship. Black Widow tells Captain America that the aesir are basically gods, and Captain America answering that there is only one god. To exhibit Captain Americas supremacy, he can also lift Thor’s hammer (made up story). Showing not only appropriation of Scandinavian ancient rite, but using mainstream screen time for Christian and nationalist North American propaganda, with a North American hero telling their ‘truth’ and discriminating on all other elements, spirits, non-male and other characters in heathen, animistic and non-monotheistic religions, histories and life philosophies. On the surface, this can be seen as a joke, but adding together all the times this ‘truth’ is stated in mainstream media, the lack of diversity has a long term effect on many levels of data and media which has not been properly addressed by the main IP owners until very recently, as more diverse writers and other creatives are hired.
Recommended links/readings:
The Algorithmic Justice League https://www.ajl.org/library/multimedia
Unsupervised Discovery of Gendered Language through Latent-Variable Modeling http://www.copenlu.com/publication/2019_acl_hoyle/
Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction, https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/walking-the-clouds