Beyond the ability to adapt the environment to his own needs, a characteristic that has always distinguished homo sapiens is that of modifying himself to adapt to the surrounding environment. The intentional alteration of one’s body for symbolic purposes, such as mnemonics or as an increase in desired performance, involves and gives life to the technology. Technological innovation is therefore step-by-step interpreted through the human body and it has always been related with the body in some way. Even the revolution produced by economic diffusion and the miniaturization of enabling technologies is interpreted here in terms of the ability of contemporary human beings to wear and progressively integrate this technology into the body. In this current state of innovation, particular attention is focused on the foot as a space for the application of technologies. This is thanks to its very particular anatomical and functional characteristics and to those of the devices that historically wrap and protect it. The foot, in this phase, is indicated as a repository of relevant design focuses that follow the attention previously paid to wearable technology and precede those regarding a future in which technology and body will merge into a single organism-perception. The article explains the reasons for this attention to the foot, recalling the studies that analyze the relationship between body movement and perception. The identification of dance as a field of research for the study of the relations between digital technology and the human body, highlights the ways in which the apparatuses designed and applied to the body can influence human actions and therefore the perceptive capacity of reality in which the subjects are immersed. A design review applied to the foot through enabling technologies completes the article and identifies the constants that seem to drive this current trend.

Oltre alla capacità di adeguare l’ambiente ai propri bisogni, una caratteristica che contraddistingue da sempre l’homo sapiens è quella di modificare sé stesso per adeguarsi all’am- biente circostante. L’alterazione intenzionale del proprio corpo a scopo simbolico, come mnemotecnica o come aumento delle prestazioni desiderate, coinvolge e dà vita alla tecnica. L’innova- zione tecnologica viene pertanto a mano a mano interpretata con il corpo umano e con esso si relaziona da sempre. Anche la rivoluzione prodotta dalla diffusione economica e dalla minia- turizzazione delle tecnologie abilitanti viene qui letta per la capacità dell’uomo contemporaneo di indossare e progressiva- mente integrare nel corpo questa tecnologia. In questo stato attuale dell’innovazione, particolare attenzione viene focalizzata sul piede come spazio di applicazione delle tecnologie; questo grazie alle caratteristiche anatomiche e funzionali proprie e a quelle dei dispositivi che storicamente lo avvolgono e proteg- gono. Il piede, in questa fase, viene indicato come depositario di attenzioni rilevanti del design che succedono alle attenzioni per la tecnologia wearable e precedono quelle su un futuro in cui tecnologia e corpo si fonderanno in un tutt’uno organi- smo-percezione. L’articolo spiega i motivi di questa attenzione per il piede, richiamando gli studi che analizzano la relazione tra movimento del corpo e percezione. L’individuazione della danza, come campo della ricerca per lo studio delle relazioni tra tecnologia digitale e corpo umano, mette in risalto i modi in cui gli apparati progettati e applicati al corpo possano influire nelle azioni umane e quindi nelle capacità percettive della realtà in cui i soggetti sono immersi. Una rassegna di design applicato al piede attraverso le tecnologie abilitanti completa l’articolo e identifica le costanti che sembrano pilotare questa tendenza in atto.

Pre-cyborg, l’ora del piede tecnologico

Flaviano Celaschi
;
Giorgio Dall'Osso
2019

Abstract

Beyond the ability to adapt the environment to his own needs, a characteristic that has always distinguished homo sapiens is that of modifying himself to adapt to the surrounding environment. The intentional alteration of one’s body for symbolic purposes, such as mnemonics or as an increase in desired performance, involves and gives life to the technology. Technological innovation is therefore step-by-step interpreted through the human body and it has always been related with the body in some way. Even the revolution produced by economic diffusion and the miniaturization of enabling technologies is interpreted here in terms of the ability of contemporary human beings to wear and progressively integrate this technology into the body. In this current state of innovation, particular attention is focused on the foot as a space for the application of technologies. This is thanks to its very particular anatomical and functional characteristics and to those of the devices that historically wrap and protect it. The foot, in this phase, is indicated as a repository of relevant design focuses that follow the attention previously paid to wearable technology and precede those regarding a future in which technology and body will merge into a single organism-perception. The article explains the reasons for this attention to the foot, recalling the studies that analyze the relationship between body movement and perception. The identification of dance as a field of research for the study of the relations between digital technology and the human body, highlights the ways in which the apparatuses designed and applied to the body can influence human actions and therefore the perceptive capacity of reality in which the subjects are immersed. A design review applied to the foot through enabling technologies completes the article and identifies the constants that seem to drive this current trend.
2019
Flaviano Celaschi; Giorgio Dall'Osso
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/757650
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