The Eco-Technical Interface: Attuning to the Instrumental

Title of the Paper

The Eco-Technical Interface: Attuning to the Instrumental

Paper Information

• Subject Area: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and eco-technical interfaces, involving multispecies relations, design ethics, and environmental media
• Keywords: Eco-technical interface, Instrumentalization, Multispecies design, Noticing, Poetic contextual inquiry

Research Background and Problem

• Problem or Challenge:
  • The current environmental crisis is altering the rhythms of Earth's ecosystems, resulting in catastrophic effects on various species and ecosystems.
  • While the HCI field has recently focused on more-than-human relationships, it lacks concrete solutions, particularly in addressing ethical issues in the design process involving non-human participants (e.g., challenges in obtaining consent and evaluation for non-humans).
• Significance:
  • There is an urgent need for "decentralization" in the design process (i.e., moving away from human-centered approaches) to promote design practices that support multispecies coexistence.
  • Non-humans (e.g., animals, ecosystems) are often instrumentalized, used for one-way value extraction, a phenomenon that requires deeper exploration.
• Research Motivation and Related Work:
  • The authors aim to expand the scope of HCI research, exploring the role of eco-technical interfaces and addressing ethical issues in the relationships between technology, ecology, and non-humans.
  • Related work includes experiments and critical discussions in HCI, Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI), posthumanism, and multispecies design.

Solution

• Method or Solution:
  • Proposes and defines the "eco-technical interface," a field of interaction between humans, technology, and multispecies (non-humans).
  • Explores through "three case studies" how eco-technical interfaces can foster or hinder interspecies relationships and how designers can address or resist tendencies toward instrumentalization.
  • Introduces a new research method, "Poetic Contextual Inquiry," emphasizing flexible intuition, expanded sensory experiences, and creative interventions.
• Innovation:
  • Extends the focus of HCI while integrating new perspectives from multidisciplinary fields such as environmental media and Science and Technology Studies (STS).
  • The poetic inquiry method offers a non-instrumentalized approach to design research, emphasizing creative expression and critical reflection.
• Implementation Steps and Key Technologies:
  • Phase 1: Embedded contextual observation, integrating ecological and technological interactions.
  • Phase 2: Utilizing AI generation tools, image processing, and other technologies to conduct creative expression based on data analysis.
  • Phase 3: Case analysis and design reflection, disseminating research outcomes and philosophical methods through media outputs (e.g., films, articles).

Research Findings

• Specific Findings:
  • Illustrates the complexity of eco-technical interfaces and their impact on interspecies relationships.
  • The three case studies (Thermopower, Salvaging Birds, Scent to Signal) reveal the logic of instrumentalization of non-human species and potential paths for its reversal:
    • Thermopower: Investigates the relationship between mountain rodents and temperature ecology, uncovering their instrumentalization as environmental sensors, while presenting a critical perspective through film to advocate for reduced instrumentalization.
    • Salvaging Birds: Explores gender bias in natural history data by generating virtual soundscapes of "female birds," proposing a rethinking of bird data collection processes.
    • Scent to Signal: Reflects on technological interventions and consumer instrumentalization in intimate relationships with companion animals (e.g., pet cats).
• Advantages:
  • Creates a new mode of perception and research, enabling a deeper understanding of the needs of non-human species.
  • Provides designers and researchers with more reflective tools and creative solutions to achieve more balanced design processes in non-human domains.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results:
  • Each case study highlights specific examples of eco-technical interfaces and the new ideas brought about by design interventions.
  • The poetic and expansive nature of design practices underscores the importance and complexity of instrumentalization phenomena.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • While instrumentalization cannot be entirely avoided, its negative impacts can be mitigated by increasing critical reflection and creative expression in design research.
  • Proposes practical strategies (e.g., interdisciplinary collaboration, listening to non-human voices) and calls for more fieldwork and theoretical research in the future.

This paper enables designers and academics to gain a deeper understanding of the ethical challenges of eco-technical interfaces and apply new methods to foster more sustainable interactions between humans and the environment.