Danish University Colleges The Format of Things A philosophical inquiry into matters of importance for the conceptualization of future computer interfaces Jørnø, Rasmus Leth Vergmann Publication date: 2016 Document Version Peer reviewed version Link to publication Citation for pulished version (APA): Jørnø, R. L. V. (2016). The Format of Things: A philosophical inquiry into matters of importance for the conceptualization of future computer interfaces. 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Oct. 2021 The Format of Things A Philosophical Inquiry into matters of importance for the conceptualization of future Computer Interfaces By Rasmus Leth Jørnø Submitted Doctoral Thesis Manuscript for PhD Dissertation Submitted to: The Department of Learning The Danish School of Education, Aarhus University. The Format of Things - A Philosophical Inquiry into matters of importance for the conceptualization of future Computer Interfaces Author: Rasmus Leth Jørnø Former Supervisor: Hans Siggaard Jensen, Professor, The Danish School of Education, Aarhus University 2016 Summary The development of novel interfaces is one of the most important current design challenges for the intellectual, cultural and cognitive evolution of human imagination and knowledge work. Unfortunately, the thinking surrounding this design challenge is heavily mired in conceptions that harbor ontological biases and epistemological assumptions which, to a great extent, delimit what can be thought about interfaces and shorten the imaginative horizon. The objective of this thesis is to break the hegemony of a particular type of understanding of the world and interfaces, and to make new approaches available. It consists of philosophical considerations on matters of relevance for the design of interfaces. It takes the position that the graphical user interfaces of computers (the Desktop Metaphor or Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers [‘WIMP’]) that ordinarily come to mind for most people are cognates of much older interfaces that are discussed in philosophy and cognition theory under headlines such as ‘perception,’ ‘cognition’ and ‘representation.’ The conception that is disputed is that the primary way of making sense of the world is to deal with things. In the course of the dissertation this conception is identified as “the Format of Things.” The format is embedded in our everyday thinking. In relation to design, it is found in the name taken by the design community, that is human-computer interaction (HCI), and it is mirrored in the desktop metaphor, wherein information is conceived of as the manipulation of objects by a user. This conception of the world is not claimed to be wrong, but in the course of the dissertation it is revealed as accommodating a way of engaging in the world that is expressible with pen and paper. Approaching the world in terms of “things” creates the optimal conditions for speaking, thinking and describing the world in words. In contrast, I claim that the computer is capable of creating dynamic phenomena in relation to which words are superfluous. Furthermore, I explore the possibility that such phenomena can be designed to support knowledge work in a way that matches or surpasses speech and writing. The well from which we draw our design ideas for novel interfaces is therefore needlessly restricted by a format that has outlived its purpose. The objective of the thesis is to dismantle the format of things as well as to sketch out novel paths of inquiry for new interfaces. The dissertation consists of three articles and an accompanying text that shows the thread tying the three articles together and provides context for the choices made in the three articles. The first article takes on the problem of making the format of things conspicuous. It does so by using traditional dichotomies and the reflexive problems they generate to clarify the conditions of interfacing. The article analyzes and explains how dichotomies can arise from the format of things and attempts to show how the format is responsible for propagating these dichotomies. The second article answers the question of what an interface is. A model is built out of metaphors that both investigate and exemplify the answer given. It concludes that things are how we see, not what we see, and that philosophical problems of representation and correspondence are an effect of confusing the two. The third article proposes a first step towards a different type of interface or “genesis,” that is, a way of making the world. To see differently we have to do differently. Analogue computer interfaces are put forward as a different form of working with and creating knowledge that makes use of spatial awareness and our ability to connect the visual with the tactile. It i attempts to answer what digital materiality is and by extension to engage in how it should be utilized as a novel medium. The entire undertaking is done in a manner where the dissertation itself exemplifies what an interface is. This was deemed necessary for methodological and theoretical reasons. Creating the dissertation without recognizing it as an event in itself would have been to turn a blind eye to the fact that the dissertation is created in the format of things put under scrutiny. The dissertation is therefore very deliberate in its methodological considerations of scope and approach. The choices of how the dissertation was crafted were made to exemplify and illustrate the arguments offered. The dissertation is based on ideas found in philosophy, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognition theory (enacted, embodied, embedded, extended, situated and distributed), cybernetics, ecological theory, and sociology. The intention is not to take credit for the insight that the world has to be considered in dynamic terms. This is already suggested or explicitly defended in the works of several of the writers taken into consideration in the dissertation. Rather, I explain why, despite available theories to seek alternatives, interfaces continue to be conceptualized in terms of things and point to ways in which this tendency can be subverted. The goal of the dissertation is to rouse the design community to approach the problem of creating future interfaces from a perspective that is less certain and more exploratory of how meaning is created. On the cusp of virtual reality gear reaching the broad consumer market, the question of how meaning creation turns 3D (or from atoms to photons) is ever more relevant. ii Dansk Resumé En af de vigtigste nutidige design udfordringer er udviklingen af fremtidens brugergrænseflader. Grænserne for vores intellektuelle, kulturelle og kognitive udvikling og vidensarbejde er på afgørende vis betinget af de grænseflader vi arbejder med. Desværre er tænkningen omkring denne design udfordring dybt forankret i forestillinger og begreber der rummer ontologiske fordomme og epistemologiske antagelser, der begrænser hvad der kan tænkes om grænseflader og dermed inddæmmer vores forestillingers rækkevidde. Afhandlingens sigte er at bryde med bestemte forestillinger om verden og grænseflader og samtidigt gøre nye forestillinger tilgængelige. Udgangspunktet er at eksisterende brugergrænseflader såsom desktop metaforen og windows, icons, menus, pointers (wimp) er beslægtede med langt ældre grænseflader der diskuteres indenfor filosofi og kognitionsteori under overskrifter som ‘perception,’ ‘tale’ og ‘skrift.’ Den opfattelse af verden der bestrides er at verden først og fremmest er givet meningsfuldt i form af vores omgang med ting. I afhandlingen benævnes denne opfattelse som ‘tings- formatet.’ Dette format er indlejret i vores daglige omgang med verden. I forhold til design ses formatet i det navn design- og forskerfællesskabet omkring computere har givet sig selv - human-computer interaction (HCI) og det kan også spores i skrivebordsmetaforen, hvor information behandles som virtuelle objekter manipuleret af en bruger. Opfattelsen er ikke forkert, men, som afhandlingen søger at udrede, understøtter den en måde at gå til verden på som kan indfanges i det skrevne (og talte) ord. At opfatte verden som bestående af ting skaber de optimale forudsætninger for at tale, tænke og beskrive verden i ord. Heroverfor påstår jeg at computeren er i stand til at skabe dynamiske fænomener der overflødiggør ord. Jeg afsøger samtidigt mulighedsrummet for at understøtte vidensarbejde på en måde der svarer til eller overgår tale og skrift. Påstanden er at den kilde hvorfra design ideerne til nye grænseflader udspringer er unødigt begrænset af et format der har overlevet sig selv. Formålet med afhandlingen er at afvikle tingsformatet, såvel som at skitsere nye veje for fremtidige grænseflader. Afhandlingen består af tre artikler og en kappe der aftegner den røde tråd der binder artiklerne