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Getting In Touch: Marshall McLuhan, Augmenting the Human, and the Haptic
Sense
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Carolyn Guertin
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Prcgentad6n
G.fting in lo!t.h: MoRholl Mcluhon, Augnenting the Hunon 0nd the ltoptk khte
ZA\
UNIVERSIDAD
ilililtI
IBEROAMERICANA
Getting In Touch:
M ars h all M c Luh an, Augmenting
the Human and TIte Haptic Sense
Carolvn Cuertin
97
Cadi !-nris las iorerlises de las computadorls nos permiren Lrn
acccso directo r ftx darx dc la nisnrc mauera qut nucstroscucrpos
lurciomn corb iftcrfNses con el nundo. Los "modcs v,n pm lr
conpuLr<lora io que los senri,losson ! nucstrccuerpos. Firis inter
fices rransprren$ implicar una tomr dc corcicocia sol,re nnesro
senrido "hipLi.o" eD h m.dida qk enrpczrmos i inrcacd'rlr or cl
trdo sobr objenx y io y. ml,re prntallas nnicamenrc. Ll r/%azr y
.l ,/r/son 16 rntis rbi.uc de esta ruea gr-a tlc tecr"l.'girs, pero
iftdlicesdc realklid aunrcntida nrreficesquc m€?'clin sLr c{tdigo
cob nu$r. pcrepci6tr del nrndo rol- sc rpeta aconr<rrircen la
grun rovcdid. Usrndo trcs inrc#:.cs cLe esLC tipo (.titlr.t,J4 S)ltqsl
y h /-/rea) .omo.jemplc. csrcarticulo explor:rci elpen$miento
de Marhrll Mcl.rhan paLa errender las implicacioncs de uso dcl
knrido ijcrilrn nustis roles com,lo consuntiJorcs;; ffodorcs
de nrc.lios d. .onuicicl6! y coft) ac$res dc y er cl €spicio dc
!o tre.o!k' rhe ncrr bjg dr irg. Ll ing drkc strch if rerPrccs t5-^t J.,ja
Sli"ttilna k! Lib,'r).s exihplcs. this pifei sill cxfldc rhe
tltinking ofNlrrshall Mcluhan b undesmnd rhe nrUicrtiorN of
Lrctile engrgencrt on ru roles rs comrners and crertors olncdja,
rrrd l p.rformcn olrnJ rv l',nitrfo,mJriorsp.rc.
lG_r, iaor* TacLllc recllnology, lnr. ;ces, Sixrhseosc, Nl.Luh.n
98
arshall McL han mainrained rhat the contenr of one nl€dium \\,as
always anorh€r mcdium. lhe meclia themselves rhcrcb)' bccame
the mcssagc or, as hc later quippcd, rhe mcdiurn also became the zar,
rrgc, an imnlcrsive cnvironmcnt or cataloguc of ellicts on drc human
body. As extenshns ofthe human sensorium, the'nrcdia rvork us over
colnplercl/' .lnd imm€rsc us in thc acousric space ofrhe globalvillagc, a
spacc ofsinultaneous h.ippcnings (1967,63). As a rcsuh. rouch becomc's
otll irtcrl:cc for the scnses in Mcluhan's electric ege. He says,
Any rcchnolop5ies thar cxtenrl tlre hand Mcluhan secs as bcing syo-
onynous with touch (1964: 158)1 and rhc new insrrntancous clcclric
technoloeics rhar are born of thc fragmcnratio[ that came wirh rhe
priDring press and i$ clesccndNn$ specd up tire worlcl so nruch rhat
thcy l>lul the boundaries bccween the rcnses. Mcl,uharr argued drat " B;.
irnposing onvisualizablc r€larionships..., clccric technology dethLoncs
the visualsclse and resrorqs r$ ro rhc dominion ofsynaesrhcsi:r, and rhc
close inrcrinvolvemcnt ofrhc othcL senscs" (1964r I52). lr is in rhis vcry
interplay that the visual ir unssrrcd and a comningling ofthe scnses can
once again inlornr our interaction with our cnvirl)nment. Thc clectrooic
*al
tredia provoke what Mcluhan r:rlls ourering" an<l "an urtering of
our senscs in our embodicd engagerncrr with Lhc wo d. ftcquently
and enoncously routed as a rncdiunr rh.rt fbsters disenrbodiment, rhe
d:giml s,'rld\ r.:rl unirlre r*: i.' in rlrr wri ,r irtro,Fo,Jrrs s. ,n.rlrt
senscs, othcr mcdir and rnodalitics within itself. This is shy Alan Kry,
thc designer of the Gr.rph;c User lnterfice, dubtred thc conryrrter thc
fir*'metanulinm."Kty sccs rhc fluidiry oftligiral medir as nn)rc cl{,scly
resembling a language than a machinc. Thc cornputer is a mcdirLm that
crn dynamically simulate thc details of any othcr mcdiurn, including
mcdia that cannot cxist ph1'sicallv. It is not a tool, although it can act
like rrany rrrcls. L...l lllt has dcgrees olftecdon t''or reprcsentarion arrcl
exprcssion ner.er bcforc cncorrrrrerc<|..." (Kar., 1984). I)crhaps thc Iirsr
to scc thc firll potcutialofthis new rcchnologyr, when Kay dcsigncd thc
thc laycring ofvisible dara ovcr our perl3prion of rhc rtal world, is the
ncyr srcp oward maki[g thc computer interface disappcar altogether-
Erasing modalities privileges altcrcd subjective experienc€ and fos
ters an increased scnsory engagement on our part, for this mera-srar€
ofmode-lessness is what wc call synaesthesia. "Litcrally, the word svn-
esthesis mcans 'joined sensariorii.... Synesthesia is a condirion where
the perception olan external object ol cxpelience, triggers a perceptual
cxperienceinadditional scnsorymoddiries." (Parcrson). Ourperception
is dcpendent on our scrrscs and we engage wirh rhc wollcl through our
own multimodal interface: our bodics. Touch is our inrerhcc drh rhe
world, orrvhat Mcluhan called tommon se"se'and the 'meerilg-placc
ofthe senses" (1964, 89). The arrival ofnerv intcrhccs, like mobile aug'
nrcnted reality rpplicatio ns, andvirtLLJ mobile inrerfaccs likc Patti Maes
and Planav Mistrv'.s SicllSrnsaand Chris Flarrisol's Slllzpar rctuln us to
embodicd space in profbund ways. Firsr rhough, an explorarior ofhow
digital technologics havc altered our conceprion and use ofpublic and
pdvatc space will help clarifr how our senses ofborh nrcctirrg place and
rouch havc been irremediably alcc'cd.
MaLshall Mcluhan died rycar bcfoic thc invention ofrhe 6rsr perconal
computer,1-et rnuch ofwhat he hLrd ro sav is as rclevant to electronic cul-
| .isrhesis = to p.rccil.d.
CoMUNrc^cro\
ture as it was tu d1e elcctric (rnd people likcAlan Kav have wrirren:rbout
how inffucntial Mcluhan rvrs on rlreir $inking). One of Mcl.uhurt
carrlinallaws is ftara'hcw mcdiurn docs not displace orreplacc anothcr
so nruch::s corrplicrtcs its opcrarion" and obscLLres I mcdiLrm's efrict
(Gorlon xv). J.rv BolrcL and Richard Gllin call this proccss rcnrediation-
V/ithout a doubr thcrvolld has changed dramarically in rire irrtervcning
decades since N4cl.uh.rn's deadr, but his larvs holl:rnd mrny ofhir predic
tions have come rrue. Ve cannor k,row wlrat h( would make ofrhings
as divcLse as re.rliry telcvision and real rimc, but he did sce telcvision as
a cool, par.riciparory mcdiur rhrt cxtended orLr sclse of touch (1964:
443). Tclcvision has now heated up and ir is Intcrnet, compuring and
mobilc technoiogies in oLLr lives rh.rr are cool.
Some ofthc ne*, media for insnnce erodilg rhe vcry norions of
arc
publicand privare in our rcchnological agc. In "Blogging lhoughrs" lbrill
Molrenscn rnd Jill Valkcr idcrti! rhe l8rh cenrLrry saloD as somcrhing
thar "cxisted ol dre borderline betwcen rhc privatc and dre public; ir was
situarcd in privarc hornes. but part ofrhe pLrblic sphcre bcing rhe sirc of
rhe pcrformance that was thc salon-expcLience" (257). Similarly, rhey
sa1-, rhe popular firrm ofneb rrotation, blogs, which unire corTversation
nxnd whffe thc st on did bctwe.n privxi€ rnd publjc. A bl(s is w.irrcn ry rn
indiridud and cxp,esscs rhc afti[de and couvi.rion ofib wrireri ir h sfficrlr
sLrbje(ivc though nor rec.ssarily intim.rre. lhi\docsoisrop ir iroh bciigin the
prblic donatu, rnd bcing coi cched .bour quesrionr which ik in rhe dontai!
olpublic authorio. Eech ildn idml cl, us. weblogs is h€ or slk iecls fit, drse
is !o tvriDnr of ic\"s lahes io d€cidc whaL is {orth writins rborr o., as rhe
tcrm ls: what is worth blogglng (258).
as the hxrbingers ofrhc larcst wave ofchaDgc callcd V'eb 2.0. Renrixes,
nrash ups, and data visrraliaet io n arc sorne of rhe mosr rcll ing hallnarks
ofho*'wc arr now rnediated ir cvcry aspecr ofour lives. Thc \(cb and
the Internet havc consistentlv eroded rhc gap bcrween publicand plivatc
space, lor rherc is no notion of'public and priv,rrc crn the net.rt all. lt is
all simultaneously public and plivate. It is a rew kind ofglobal vilhge
rhar gocs bcyonrl Mcllfian's conccprion ofthat space.
The conccpr and pracricc ofprivare spacc was born with rhe prinrcd
book. Prior to public cducariuu ancl widesprercl lircracl,, all reeding was
not simplv visil>le as an ixrcnsiorr ofthe eye. as Mcluhar argrrcs, but
it was also crrllcctively visible: donc in public and.rloud. As rhc book
became m aliordablc comrnoditv, ho*evcr, rcaclinlr*,as trarslared inro
x private, silellt Acr.
ln rhc sanrc way drat noise was born ofthe rechno-
logical age, so silence and privatc space bloomec{ Lrehind thc innovarion
ofglass rvindows. R. Mrrrrav Schafil says:
how the privatc inforrrrs rhcpublic and vice vcrsai (hev do nor overwrirc
,,.h orl-.'. hl lnnn,r di;le. r i..rl rj. r ion.l-rp.
An is the 6rst h,rrbinger ofrhis massive charrge and, as Susan Sontag
noted, "'Ite basic unir ofconrcnporaru arr is not rhc idea, but the ex,
tension ofsensations." Thc nature ofarrhas cle y changed in dramatic
rvays-nruch we hrrvc wiLh drc aclrent ofdigitizdtion. ArL And $-c
as
ourselvcs have tlcen Lcmediated by technology. Thc ficr that infbrma-
tion lus also been rcvolutionizrd jusras<lramaric:rllv issornething drar is
hrrclcr ro see or grasp rhc implicetions of Vhcrc irr has seciriD€lly losr
irs rrrterialityir rxnsirion, bccoming sur{icc-based (image fixatcd)
dris
and nrcrc and morc infbrrlarion:rl, illormarion hrs acquired rrcarring,
shapc, depth, oricntarion and aesthsricizcd forrn, bc.comine morc and
motc.rr'li\( lrr rhnrr, inlbnnrti,rn hisberomc.rn errvi urrrncnt.
Al:smctnn todav ir no longer thrL ofrhe n,ap. the &,ubLc, thc nriror or dre
@nccpr. Snnolarion is no longcr thar of a tcrrho.!', a r€lircnrirl b€idg or .
s bsr.n.c. ft is rhe gencnrion hy nodck ofa rcrl*itbout otigin or rerlny: r
hypcrcal.lhe rcrrirrLy ro longer preccdcs thc n:rp, nor survivcs it. Hencefonh,
iris rhc nap d rpreced€s rhc re nory pnE(:rssroN or srvur-,rcRA-n is rlrc
map rh:rr engendcrs the terrirory ()riginal emphrsis; 198:], 2).
Thc mec{i.r arts do not crcxte or commuricatc the rerl, I'laudrillard rr-
gres, brrt instead give us only simulacrar, simularions wirhout origirals-
The;,revcl in rhe crc:rtion ofspcctade and re.rlisric cffects for Hollywootl
blockbustcrs, at onc cnd ofthc scale, and at the odrcr scek to docurnent
evcn$ in'rcal rime', o, to creatc'rcaliryTV', or rendcr the real-as in
rhe ulrimate spccracle of rhc bom bir.g and collapse of rhc twin to\rcrs of
the Vorld Tiade Ccnter-into dre apparent arriliciality ofsimularion.
'lhis is a sign ofour times in a new rnedia age whcn nediated reality
secms morc rcal rhan the irnperfictions ofrhc real playcd live.
Baudrillardt hypereal is a visuAlcvenr connccringour visual perccp-
tions to rhe public and privare wa1's in which wc shape and rcmembcr
rcalitv. 'lhis sense ofthe h1'pcrrcal is a statc of mediatcd Lrrtificc, realer
than re. , frrsine simulation and rcality into r nerv dimension drat is
iccornpanied by the loss of marerial objects as rhey arc mcdiated into
dataobjccts in acsihcriciz€d inf;r adon oetworks. Hyperrealiw is lnedi
ated realiry: it is rhc m.rtrl,r ofclcctronic spaces as much as othcr media
CoMU\..'c^c,oN
(Badrillard, I983: I25). Thcse networks further crodc thc real, rcsultnrg
in a loss ofputrlic and prirate space. lhc public and privrre disappear
in vilrual spacc lusr as rhc shifting ofrhe arris! aod (hr browsc!
'oles
and rhe workofarr and its irrteractor call into quesdon "the site of!rt"
nself(Virilio, 2000: I30).l cluhan said that cnviron menrs rerc always
elusivc: (hey "xrc invisible. drcir ground rulcs, pcrvasivc structure and
overall pattcrns elude casy perceprion' (Massagc, 84-85).
Movrvr^_-t
No mattcr how hard a brows€r rries, she cmnot reduce this new digiral
medium to the three-dimcnsionality of prinr-lor should shc want to.
Thc infbrmational conrent has been trxnsformcd ilto anew crpcriencc.
McLuhan nrairrmirrct thxr '€nvironmcn$ arc not passivc wrappinss bur
acrivc processesr (1964: 12). \7hat we rake away from rhe browsing of
alr onlin€ work in rhc ncw clecrronic cnvironmcnt rhet is rhe \{orld
Vide Veb is notprimarily information, Frct ol sory; what wc t.rke rw.ry
from the texrually unfolding event is our embodied pcrfonnance and
emotional rcsponsc. It is dynamic subtext and context dr pm?liocePtiw
etpqiences tl:;.. ernctgclt properties ofou r b rowsirr g. Proprioccption
^re
is rhe abiliry to fecl our body boundarics, and to sense the movemcnt,
location. and orienrarion ofall our l:ody p.rns.
The now familiar hypcrlinked, online tcxt is not so much anrlin-
lbrmarion as it is oursidc of this classificarion altogethcr Mthout a
hicrarchy, we as readers must bodily explore rexrual spaces in ordcr to
decidc what is imporrant. Howevcr, rhe rcal information in rhe web-na-
dve tcxr-as in rhe glow from rhc ligh$ulb-is thc performance of the
structural cxperience thar our movcmcnr drrough these r.irtual spaces
entails. The link makes the parh ofour reading visible through orir im-
mcrcion ilr the experien tial herc -.rnd now Linking is xlways a subjccrive
movcment and a visual (Lrn)foldingofour dynamic statc ofcmbodirnent.
Embodied, marerial, infbrmatiolal and cmcrgent, clectronic spaces
fbrm:r "distributcd cognitivc systern' (Ha/es, I999: 290). As a browser
Rrv6r^ IBER|^MERTCAN^ DE CoMUN,.ic(tN
our indmrrc conversarions wirh public and private space in thc new
media.
ENyIRoN M ENTs
;\s active processcs, locAtive mcdir, c-vlxrspacc and rhe vinual spaccs
of nov nrcdia environmL'rrts invcft dre rclatiorrship of thc browser ro
infirrmarion bv irrrncLsing rhe brorvscr bodr in auglreored. infnrma-
iitrrr sprcc (Novrk, 226). Ihe fluid body of dre browscr il circrLlariou
is palt ofa social matrix or a global viil.rgc. Meclia attisrs arc &equendy
intcrcsted in geognphic spccificit_r'. Thc ethercd narure of cybcrspacc
demands nerv sofovalc appLorchcs: locarive media, augmenrcd reality
and situated software. t'!y 2012, thcre lvill 197,000,000 a B'nenr€d
rcalio' caprble snrartphones in Lrsc worldwide', flre ncxt big thing rvill
be hvbrnl-media and hyirrid-intcrfaccs rhat inreract wirh rcal space
in real rime. l,ocative mcclia enaLrle the tagging oftbings, spaces and
phces; geographically-infbrmcd gamesr rcal tinre social nerrvorking;
opportunirics ro shape, organize and aurhor physical cnvilonmcnrs; thc
crearion o f (psycho) gcogra phies; and rhc gencrxtior o f locario n-.r!var.e,
rnash.rblc d:rra.'Ilcsc new mobile tcchnologies are altcring rnorc than
ar.j thcy arc alt€r ing how we pc|ceivc dre world, Likewise, in rhc cligir:rl
re.rlm web-nat'r,c qtrks takc a social. cmbodied and proprioceptivc
linrr. Thc lomadic iinh fir bodics thnr can torch between rrromcnrs
inscns imnr((lia(y, irrsrrnr rrrr:Js. Jirerrion, rrrrns|orr,rrion. rrnmer-
sion and associational cohesion into $c navigarion of thc fonu, and
so brorvsing actrrally sparializes any cvbcrspatial text we surf, tndorving
it with dyn.rmic texmre. Ir invitcs thc browser in as an ncrivc clemcnr,
blurring drc assumcd boundarics knreen inrer:rcror and .lurhor, rv.herc
she (rc)consrructs rhe tcxt !hroLrgh rhe choices rrade in her navigational
gesures and choices. 'lhe ncw mcdia arc roored in a continuous prescnt
ofrhe irmnediacy oiour visual ard navigrrionrl choiccs and doublings
bac[, p rivilcgnrg s Lr bjectivi ties, pol)Toc.rli!y an(l nLptures in spacc timc.
It is rhe privileging ofa matrix ofassociarional leaps betwren words or.
-nrc
'Du lt. GxuD((, Jofin. vb.ld js lhc Desklop: Mobile r\lgo,otrcd Rcaliry"
(iisronrpro. (l)cc ?009): p?
REvNrr IB*onN!,R.,\NA Dr Co!,,Nx:AcroN
'\'rrious scien.€ljdidl fian.hi$ firlt plnycd sirh drir oncept Jrcrd;r In the uit
chor*ki Rrorh€A zr M/,tA htrnitr br(crici powu, tl,.vorld olthr nr:ch;ncs. ln
leftiry Rcineis Cql,", i ln ifg rvxrir ii (r..rcd rion Zoc (lr:vsorcl, drta cLoud.
.sirl.|i.,f. ,tuo 0 r',anrr M , I IMe(i, rL,. !r^
The,v sing, change colour, shape, and c-body their orvn syntat their
animatcd naturc-nrorc liLe lifc than sinpLe enrcrtxinment-€ngagcs
us, immcrsing us in their meaning ind invit;ng tts to resPond rc them.
The [,ibtary incnrporates us into its discuffivc $prces. Ve are co opted
arrd interpellatul prccisely bccause irs Projec! ultimarely is semiotic,
n,'rqlslqrgic.rl rnJ musi.a'. Lrsing rhe cre.rrivc pro..* {o invirc us inro
a new way of secing anC. heing. 'lhe Librar;y ttchievcs the intcnctiviry
rhat mosr cnvlronmcns onll'twitch and shoot rt b1' rccluiring us to
underrake the act ofcre:rtion in synaesthetic larrguage- Vc cannot help
but be transformed by the naturc ofthis ncw vistLal alphaber as we alrer
our perspcctive to lind ways to color, write, play, dLrncc and sing it. This
II6
environment uses thc expericnct ofsynaesdresia that is fanriliar from our
childhoods and from ourengagcment in the creative process to enlistall
ofour scnses and to inrmerse us totally in rhe media. Howevcr, becausc
rhis is alr imposcd state rather dran an or€tanic one, we r€tain a sense
ofwonder a"d awarcness ofour own presence irr these simulterions. As
the cnvironments aspire to modelessncss, collapsing modalities, and
being disorienting by dcsign. we are made more And more tware ofolrr
scnses! not less. bccduse wc are always mulrirrod.rl evcn in a nrodeless
environmcnt- Paticlson links the changing dcpths ofsubjecthood and
body ro language through virrual space and actual navigation, andmake
these lluid boundaries rcal. Thesc virtualirics imptess themselvcs on our
bodies in our subjcctive expcrierce olthe rrr. ln the electronic sPaces of
her work, the inscribing motion of navigrtion produces agency for irs
intemctors as does thc act ofcrcative collabora(ion with the cnvironment
itself.
Wberc 1tu Librarl seeks to plug us in, bodily, on the level of lan-
gulgc. JnctlJrzr and Jfrzpr,r .rre rnorc r'.,nsparerr, rnrerrciing as on(
does with rhem in real space. All of thesc engagements are meta-
"cw
synresthesic-synaesthesia with an ironic gap-orwhat Arthur Kroker
calls "spasm," a noir mera-vcrsiflr ofVR thnt sceks to critique its own
sim €xperiencerr it is happening by giving Lrs irorric disrancr frorn both
digital data and the informarion ecor.orr,y (Spasrn 6). Synacsthesia is
CoMUNrc^cr6N
VroRKs(:rrF',
A,rMus.uin.n(t. 'OvcrtLrc: lnrLgrution of rhc ALts."2l lu 06. http:/Aww
arnnuseun.nct/w2vr/orcr( urc/inicgration LlirrI
Vlgncr: lbftlAds,orL. 2l J:ttr0(,. hcp://rvw*'..rrnnuseunr.
--.'Richi(l
ict/w2!i /, inrelinc/Wlgrcr. hrNl+\v:,gnci1 cxi
Brrorruru,, leen. Szahrtuar. lirns. I|rrl Fss, I'rul l'.rrton. Philip llcirch'
nr.n. Ncw York: Srn,iorexr(.), 1981.
C^sr,. Suc-fllcn. ,",arr. xl,ttti\: nti,rt lsL6l)1zj]rtth. r:,.1 o-l lrr11( rLu(
Uloonring()h rod ln(liimt)olisr ttr(liin.r lltl 1996.
(L\ss!:LL, hstinc. 'srorlrclling rs a Ncxus oftlhangc nr the l{clrrionship l}c-
rNccn Cendcr nd lich,rolos\', A lcmiDirl App,'(,:rch ro Sofnvare De
si,At1;' 1: n Brtl i. La /\,1arnl Krnn bat: {)nt/o and ( np ulo Oawll Lls.
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