Diversifying displays...
Wayshowing...

but also
participation.
Mobile technology...
but also curated data
formations.
but also situated technology.

OMG, is there anything humans do that has yet to be done while also texting? Is there any work people do that has yet to be done while also watching a movie? Misconceptions of multitasking must be costing somebody something. Of course, capacity varies. A soldier can walk and chew gum, but almost nobody can safely text and drive. At the proverbial cocktail party, you can monitor many conversations to choose how to move among them. But if two friends each speak to you simultaneously, especially if one speaks into each ear, you are going to miss something, if not everything, that each has said. No amount of practice seems to change that one.

In many cases, practice does
help, of course. The question of
habit seems central. To what extent
does whatever you grow up with
become normal? Self-described
“digital natives” claim that this can
be almost anything. If you grew up
with technology in a growing num-
ber of contexts and formats, they
are just part of the world, and not so
much of a distraction as they would
be to people who learned the world
without all that stuff. Cognitive
scientists agree that many complex
brain pathways are emergent and
do adapt, especially through habit.
“Neuroplasticity” definitely exists.

• The basic idea of urban computing.

 

November + December 2012