Where does your mind end and the world begin?

Extending your cognition with technology

Extending your thought process into objects to create new knowledge

Cognition does not reside solely in the brain, our body and our world are also part of the cognitive process. While some actions are purely pragmatic and functional, such as switching a light on, ‘epistemic actions’ alter the world in order to aid our cognitive processes, for example rotating a puzzle piece to determine how it will fit, or drawing out a mind map to brainstorm ideas. There is a two way action, brain informs -> action which informs -> brain. We are extending our thought processes into the world through these actions and objects, in my field of design this is called ‘thinking through making’ — wherein the action of making informs your practice and research outcomes. The knowledge created is situated and embodied, meaning it could only arise in that time and place and through those sets of actions performed by your body, a different situation may yield different results.

This highlights not only the importance of the contextual nature of cognition and knowledge production, but also the coupling system between our bodies, minds and objects. What can be called Mind Enhancing Tools (MET) expand our cognition in ways that would not be possible without them — for example, a walking stick informs a blind person about the terrain around them, and a pencil and notepad extends our memory.

The walking stick conveys the terrain to the holder, whose perception is extended through the cane to the ground.

TRANSPARENT TOOLS

Initially we are very aware of these tools, like when you first try to play tennis you are very aware of how you wield the racket. But after continual use and training these tools become ‘transparent’, meaning you are no longer aware of the manipulation of the tool but are immersed in the tasks that the tool allows. For example, when writing you are more aware of the marks that you are making on the page than you are of gripping the pencil. The tool becomes embodied. Your perception is extended down through the pencil to the page, the pencil becomes an extension of your arm and your brain.

This transparency not only happens on an individual level but can also be said to happen socially. New technologies are at first very visible. When mobile phones came in we were very aware of their presence but now they are a ubiquitous part of our society. Once a technology has become fully socially accepted it disappears, the focus is no longer on the device itself but ‘the perceptual world it opens up to its community of users’ (Auvray & Myin, 2009) — i.e. what it allows us to do.

Bach-y-Rita’s TVSS device, transforming the image of the X infront of the participant into a tactile X vibration on their back.

EXTENDED SENSORY PERCEPTION

In terms of sensory technology, Sensory Substitution Devices (SSDs) have also been shown to become transparent and extend the cognition of wearers through the device and into the world. Initially the devices seem artificial and ‘tool-like’ until wearers learn to integrate them into their consciousness. For example Auvray & Myin tested the TVSS device by Bach-y-Rita with a number of blindfolded participants, the device converts visual imagery into patterned vibrations on the wearer’s back — using touch to substitute sight. After training the participants found that they could identify the objects by the haptic vibrations, and found that they no longer felt the vibrations on their back but directly perceived the object in front of them. The SSD had become embodied and transparent, and the perception was situated out in front of them and not on their backs. One participant stated that it was easy to master the sensory device as:

“we are used to extending our bodies through machines, exactly as when we learn how to drive or how to use a computer”.

This SSD created a new form of perception that the authors say could not be reduced to the natural senses involved (sight and touch), but it creates a novel form of sensory perception that allowed new forms of interaction with the environment.

Sentero by CyborgNest, a device which gives the wearer a haptic sense of orientation extending their sensory persecption across the world.

MERGING WITH TECHNOLOGY

So what does this all mean? When we merge with technology, here we are specifically talking about sensory augmentation technologies, we will extend our cognition through them so that they are part of our bodies and minds. With these new embodied technologies we will be able to have new experiences, potentially have a novel sensory modality (such as an orientation sense), and interact with our environment and each other in new ways. And with well made technology that is adapted to all wearers, there won’t be a dissonance between us and the device. We won’t feel like we have to actively engage with it like we do tools, but instead it will be part of us, we will have a new sense.

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