Interface as Infrastructure

Internet and mobile technologies are dramatically transforming human interactions across space— this self-evident concept reveals a huge societal shift via our increasing closeness to computation technologies; we can understand this by the way we experience space in terms of the interface. 

CPU. Image Source

Simply put, an interface is a boundary that functions as a point of connection between two or more things. It is a kind of communication channel through which interaction takes place. The early meaning of “interface” describes the interaction among computing components— in a computer if you think of the CPU (central processing unit) as the brain and all the other pieces as different organs and body parts, the interfaces are the software and hardware connections like the nerves which communicate between the brain and the rest of the body. 

Another basic conception of the interface is the user interface which comprises the interaction between humans and machines such as the keyboard which triggers computational signals in a way that both the human and the machine can understand. At a very basic level the keyboard is just a series of buttons. Today people take buttons for granted, because it is so simple and intuitive: We know that if we press a button, something happens. Now buttons have both analogous and diverse forms with the proliferation of icons in the graphical user interface (GUI) as well as through the advancement of sensor technologies such as touch screens, motion detectors, accelerometers, etc.

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With the ubiquity of computational technologies and their incorporation into space like traffic sensors and cross-walk buttons, motion-sensor doors, parking garage tickets, GPS receivers and mapping applications, Wifi hotspots, smart phones, and video telecommunication, human interactions are becoming increasingly mediated by technology. 

In early times, people were located in fixed places and so too was their communication (for instance, face to face conversation which requires bodies to be within close proximity). Over time, both bodies and communication have become mobile, made possible by vehicles and information networks. Eventually, however, information networks have developed into ubiquitous computing due to the aforementioned examples above, allowing people to overcome spatial limitations to the extent that even cities and countries are experienced in a mobile, de-located way.  

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In previous posts I have already discussed some aspects of this phenomenon (3D projection; virtual worlds), but according to Benjamin Bratton, the broad trend that encompasses these developments is: Interfaces were temporary as they connected two or more fixed locations, but with the mobilization of locations, interfaces now make up the infrastructure, albeit one that is transmitted virtually. In other words, the things that were being connected are now also produced by the connections.

What all this means in our practical, lived experience is that information surpasses spatial boundaries as much as an individual or group like a business or institution is linked in to the wider computational network. Now, interaction, including economic exchange, can be conducted independent of the spaces that used to hold them immobile. For example, online purchases take place across servers and are usually processed by means of cloud computing where data is distributed in multiple servers across space rather than within one building— the network is the infrastructure.

Photo credits: Bill Diodato Image Source

Also, heavy scientific investment in virtual, immersive, more “realistic” experiences call into question the future need or lack thereof for transportation as telepresence becomes more advanced. For instance, will administrative, business, and corporate conferences eventually take place in virtual worlds, thereby eliminating the need for people to travel?

My take on this is that no matter how much scientists and computer engineers work to make the virtual closer to real life, I have doubts about how successful they will be in rendering the experience of what is realistic under the default variable: disembodiment. I think that virtual re-enactment could only truly overcome this limitation by embedding these technologies into the human brain once scientists fully understand how to wire up external computational processes to it.

More food for thought: