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Interfacing is an embodied experience.
Move your cursor across this Craigslist site and see what happens.
Eyestrain, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome: the activities mediated by interfaces affect our bodies in multiple and sometimes painful ways. When we interface with each other, we can often sense another person's discomfort, fatigue, or frustration. When we interface with machines, we may notice a glitch, a dimming screen, or an overworked fan. But how often do our interfaces return the noticing? How often do they check in on us, monitor our embodied experience? How often do we adopt their position toward our own bodies—forgetting about or ignoring the rest of ourselves?
"As HCI designs move from virtual to actual embodiment, the user becomes less aware of her body as object—less aware of how her subjectivity is constructed—both the means of mediation and the awareness of the integumental body become subject to erasure." - Ben McCorkle (2012, p. 177), Digital Media and Rhetoric Scholar