Theorizing Locative Technologies Through Philosophies of the Virtual

Abstract

The concept of the virtual along with the philosophical traditions it invokes has received sparse attention in the communication literature, even though the term ''virtual'' is used so readily to refer to new information and communication technologies (ICTs). In this article, we argue that philosophies of the virtual that dichotomize reality/representation, although perhaps sufficient for analyzing human-computer interfaces through the 21st century, are inadequate for developing theoretical approaches to understanding locationbased technologies. We thus summarize different philosophies of the virtual to propose a theoretical framework for the study of locative technologies. We do so to open up an understanding of the practical effects of locative technologies in lived experience and use examples of that experience to show motivations for shifts in theory.

Reassembling the city through Instagram

“…We conceive of the reassembling of the city through social media as a recursive process: Instagram users selectively and creatively reassemble the city as they mobilise specific places in the city as stages or props in their posts. Instagram images, in turn, become operative in changing the city (de Souza e Silva and Sutko ; Hoelzl and Marie ). To capture this recursive process of reassembling the city through Instagram, we adopt a relational perspective that examines relations and practices microscopically and macroscopically (Elias ; Uitermark ).…”

Communication Geography: A Bridge Between Disciplines

“…On the contrary, the developments outlined above not only point to altered dynamics within these areas, but also to a problematization of the lines of division between the areas. What functions as a container in one quadrant becomes that which is contained in another quadrant, trading places with what originally seemed to be “content,” and while we would not call container/contained a “false duality” (de Souza e Silva & Sutko, 2011, p. 36; Hayles, 2000) it is certainly a duality in which the elements trade places depending on one's perspective and theoretical framework.…”

“…Part of the appeal of mobile media such as cell phones is their ability to signal for help, increasing security and control (or at least the sense of security and control) in diverse settings. Smartphones and other “locative media” can expand these self‐monitoring functions by more explicitly linking location to distant databases, thereby facilitating transit through and between places while offering both spatial and nonspatial information: “the physical space actually becomes an interface for information, and information becomes an interface for the physical space” (de Souza e Silva & Sutko, 2011, p. 31). Meanwhile, the same technologies offer continuous potential connectivity to home‐based data as one crosses the boundaries between public and private (or relatively public and relatively private).…”

How are information deserts created? A theory of local information landscapes

“…The ontological challenge of the preliminary model (Figure 1) can be resolved through a new model that explains a community‐level, material structure of local information. Among many other models and frameworks, the notion of the virtual is adapted to conceptualize how local information looks at the community level (De Souza e Silva & Sutko, ).…”

“…De Souza e Silva and Sutko () conceptualized the interplay between people, space, technology, and information to understand the location‐based technologies that people use in an urban environment based on the philosophy of the virtual. Unlike other communication theories, this model focuses less on technology as a communication medium, but rather recognizes location‐based technologies as entities in the space of the virtual where one component limits or extends the capability of another among people, technology, space, and information.…”