Social Embodiment of Technical Devices: Eyeglasses Over the Centuries and According to their Uses

Abstract

This article is an attempt to prepare the ground for the analysis and theorization of the connection between the body and technical devices emerging from miniaturized wearable technologies. The research object is a secular and common "body object," namely, eyeglasses. The article reviews the social history of this artifact and analyzes its patterns of use, showing how the distributed sociotechnical networks of action containing these simple optical systems are constantly deconfigured and reconfigured. In other words, the device is not simply subject to physical incorporation. The unstable balance between the artifact's projection onto the surrounding space and its attachment to the physical body is analyzed through the heterogeneousness of bodies coming into play as the device is socially embodied. As the corporal frame and physical, distributed, and social bodies overlap, the notion of "bodies object" emerges. This covers the artifact-related and social environment, the plural nature of which could be of great value to research and development teams, helping them to diversify their representations of the user, as an agent acting in a variety of networks with a variety of bodies.Correspondence should be sent to Nicolas Veyrat, MINATEC IDEAs Laboratory ® , CEA-LETI, bat 20-33,

“It must not disturb, it’s as simple as that”: Students’ voices on mobile phones in the infrastructure for learning in Swedish upper secondary school

“…The mobile phone is also the portal node to the social networks where much of students' socializing are taking place (Veyrat et al 2008). Elsa (#2) and Jennifer (#3) even described themselves as to some degree addicted to their mobile phones, and being without the mobile phone was not an option.…”

Combinando Seu Óculos Favorito: Um Método Para Observar Preferências De Armações Com Crianças

“…Os óculos se destacam por sua função social no atendimento das necessidades humanas, se considerados os indivíduos que dependem deste produto em sua condição de órtese. A origem das armações possui algumas versões e explicações diferentes e controversas (Veyrat, Blanco, Trompette, 2008;Acerenza,1997), porém é consenso que sua criação é consequência do surgimento e desenvolvimento das lentes, fato que também foi fundamental para a história de instrumentos ópticos, como lunetas e microscópios (Maldonado, 2012). Dessa forma, Brasil (2006) menciona que "o correto é afirmar que inúmeras pessoas anônimas, tanto no oriente quanto no ocidente, contribuíram gradativamente para o aperfeiçoamento desse instrumento visual".…”