1. technology and computing

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PERSONALIZATION IS
THE VEHICLE FOR THE
EVOLUTION OF
HUMANS INTO
CYBORGS
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INTRODUCTION
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of personalization is to mark
something in a way that shows it belongs to a particular person. However, personalization in it’s
application to technology is more than designing to suit the needs of the singular person. The
personalization of technology is not just individualizing the tech, it’s the process of that
technology becoming more human. Technology in all of it’s forms, namely software and
hardware, has a clear evolution of form and function, where personalization finds it’s own birth
and evolution parallel to those iterative changes.
ONE // The Personalization of Technology
is Not Just Individualizing Tech, It’s the
Process of that Technology Becoming
More Human.
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Before personalization found its place in technology, software and hardware first had to
find it’s place in people’s everyday lives. Important to this idea, is the start of it all:
skueomorphism. In an effort to begin extremely early on the timeline and to stay focused on
digital technology only, I want to start with the 1946 invention of the very first electric general
purpose computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC). The ENIAC
contained 17,468 vacuum tubes, 7,200 crystal diodes, 1,500 relays, 70,000 resistors, 10,000
capacitors and around 5 million hand-soldered joints. It weighed more than 30 short tons and
took up 1800 square feet (3). At the very end of that timeline, in the year 2014, the Macbook Air
is less than an inch thick and weighs less than three pounds. My point, is that skueomorphism, or
the tendency of our technology to derive design elements from original tech, would not exist
without the invention of this very first and incredibly large electronic computer, which then
evolved into our relatively tiny laptop today. The same example is manifest in the evolution of
the telephone, from landline to cell phone to smart phone. The over-arching pattern here is a
change from large to small, with gradual elimination of derivative characteristics. Because,
arguably, technology is developed now with the least amount of skeuomorphism in history, tech
has been able to establish it’s own form and function, its own version of uniqueness and
personalization, leaving mimicry behind. I argue that this is the process of the technology
becoming more human in and of itself.
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Before users could experience the personalization of their tech in terms of their
interaction with the design becoming more human-centered, the technology had to establish it’s
own form and function through evolution. Tech had to become small enough and defined enough
as to it’s place in society before personalization became part of the user experience. On a second
level, today’s tech is becoming more human as it’s designed to better sync with the natural
existence of humans and to make ease-of-use intuitive, implied, and integrated in order to meet 2
user needs. For example, the keyboards on all smartphones exist at the bottom of the device
screen, where the thumbs natural fall when holding it. In remembering the first Nokia cellphone I
owned, the keypad consisted of buttons, which resembled those of landline phones (14). The
evolution from skeuomorphic design to user-centered design as the focus is clear here. Gesture
recognition further extended the personalization of tech. When Nintendo Wii was released in
2006, the games were powered by this movement technology, making your experience feel more
real by encouraging a human to device interaction that felt like a human to human interaction.
So, not only has the technology generally become humanized through it’s evolution, and thus
lent itself to personalization, the form and function of technological devices have also become
more suited towards meeting and matching human behavior and need.
TWO // The Personalization of Software
Has Hit it’s Peak. The Personalization of
Hardware Has Only Just Begun.
There are several ways an information system can be personalized. Prescriptive
personalization is rule-based and triggered by interactions with a user. The first type of
prescriptive personalization is implicit in that the behavior of the user, as they navigate a system,
is monitored and tracked, and content is presented to them based on business logic that interprets
their clicking pattern into the most appropriate delivery of content. The second is explicit
personalization where a user’s profile determines what content they will see. A third prescriptive
personalization is the hybrid of the implicit and explicit modes. For the purpose of this rationale,
these three types of personalization are deconstructed within two subsets of technology: software
and hardware. Within these categories, the following most clearly represent the current state of
personalization in tech.
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Software
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Social Media
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Tumblr
• Pinterest
• Operating Systems
• iOS
• Android
• eCommerce
• Amazon
Exhibit 1: Breakdown of Mainstream Influential Software and Hardware by Brand
Hardware
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• Smart Phones
• iPhone
• MotoX
• Google’s Project Ara
• 3D Printing
• Makerbot
• Wearables
• Smart Watches
• Pebble
• Apple Watch
• Fitbit
• Clothing
• Ralph Lauren Fitness
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Software personalization has hit it’s peak in terms of finding new ways to create a unique
and customized experience for the individual. On Facebook, for example, users generate their
own content in the form of statuses, photos, posts, shares, and comments. In doing so, they are
creating personalized messaging for their audience. All social media platforms enable the user to
do their own personalizing. This is not to exclude other features, such as the Twitter feed and the
Facebook home feed and sidebar advertising algorithms, which produce content based on user
behavior. Because we see the same level of personalization being used continually in usercentered design of these platforms and because it’s reiterated across our mainstream brands, old
and new, we can assume that the user audience is generally pleased. A similar trend is seen with
operating systems, particularly mobile systems. Android and iOS allow users to organize their
smartphone, making choices about which applications to have and how to organize and arrange
them.
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On the other hand, hardware personalization has areas of extreme potential growth, where
the technology or the utilization of the technology has recently been introduced or researched.
The most obvious of the hardware innovations is wearable technology, introduced in the past few
years. When a user wears tech, it’s form and function becomes an accessory. Because it is such,
the wearable is expected to be personalized in style to each individual user. The Pebble smart
watch is available in several different colors and the strap is interchangeable, just like the digital
watch face. The Apple Watch, which was announced over a year after the Pebble takes that
personalization to the next iteration, by providing a more extensive range of strap styles and
communication options with a subjectively prettier design. Nevertheless, a smartphone bluetooth
connection is still necessary for both watches and most wearables. The full potential of
personalization isn’t reached on this subset of hardware, which means there is a large space for
growth and improvement that software has already seen in it’s relatively longer lifetime.
THREE // The Future of
Personalization Has No Where
to Go But Up.
The room for growth in hardware personalization is the driving force for the ultimate
form of personalization: the integration of technology and the human body. It’s in this
combination and the normalization of it as the best type of personalization that will bring forth
the evolution of humans into cyborgs. I argue here that personalization in it’s highest form is
being able to use devices not just as a handheld or object of interaction, but within the body to
meet needs and to be able to customize those micro devices to suit your body.
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Evidence of this as a possibility already manifests itself in several forms: in popular
entertainment culture, in the medical field, and in it’s own subculture. This integration is 4
penetrating so many parts of our life, as it has for years in popular culture under the science
fiction umbrella. Edgar Allen Poe wrote a short story called “The Man that Had to Be Used Up”
about a cyborg, a man who had to be put together before the narrator could meet him (12).
Comfort levels surrounding real-life cyborgs are on the rise, a change which is manifested by
movies in mainstream culture, such as Spike Jonze’s “Her”, where a romantic relationship
develops between a technological information system
and a man. Even the idea and execution that these two
What Is A Cyborg?
can mix in entertainment is a contributing factor to the
future normalization of cyborgs in existence. Now, that
Any mammal that has
collective thought has begun to come to life.
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implanted or surgically attached
cybernetic components integrated
into the body.
This level of technology personalization is very
prevalent in the medical field, where surgeons use
cybernetic implants to fix or assuage a range of health
issues. For example, according to the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), in the United States, roughly 58,000 adults and 38,000 children have
received cochlear implants (15). The inner ear system is personalized with tech created to meet
each individual patient’s requirements so that it functions like a proper cochlea. In essence, the
implant process both personalizes the cochlear device and renders the technology involved more
human-centered. Another great example of how medicine is using technology to personalize the
body is to manage chronic health conditions, such as diabetes or Parkinson’s Disease. Medical
devices are automating the management process unique to the disease, as well as the device in
terms of functionality and it’s uniqueness to the patient. For instance, a sensor inserted under the
skin can monitor glucose levels constantly and alert users when their blood sugar is too high.
(16).
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Aside from their place in popular entertainment culture, cyborgs are currently living
amongst us in the flesh and electronics. Neil Harbisson is a color-blind artist who implanted a
device in his head that allows him to perceive the sound of color in the form of vibrations (13).
He is also the co-founder of the Cyborg Foundation
(Exhibit 3). He personalized his technology to correct
his vision by making a cybernetic component just
another part of his body. Harbisson highlights the
advantage of doing so:
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“If we extend our senses, then, consequently, we will
extend our knowledge. It's really very basic.” (17)
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Exhibit 2: Neil Harbisson http://closerlosangeles.tumblr.com/
Others are doing the same. There is a
subculture of biohackers, who consider themselves
cyborgs after implanting micro-cybernetics into their
flesh. In fact, they fuel their subculture with
purchases from DangerousThings.com, where an 5
abundance of do-it-yourself, or DIY, cyborg kits are for sale (10). There is a true interest and
presence of a cyborg subculture, one that will evolve into a mainstream culture if all three of
these manifestations merge more into our every day lives.
Exhibit 3: Cyborg Foundation Information and Philosophy
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CONCLUSION
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If the personalization of technology is it becoming more human, then recognizing tech
components as another part of the body, whether to satisfy a medical need or to enhance a human
function, is the ultimate form of personalization. Because this form already exists among us in
cyborgs, whether they are DIY-generated or resulting from a medical surgery, or even if they are
born from mainstream entertainment, cybernetics will soon enough be perceived as normal. It’s
at the point where society becomes broadly aware of their existence over time that the
normalization of the cyborg begins. Ultimately, it’s the point at which people recognize the
integration of technology and the body as yielding the most ideal, human version of themselves
and the most beneficial, encompassing level of personalization.
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Appendix A - Sources
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1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personalize
2. Personalization 101: Types of personalization. http://devnet.kentico.com/articles/personalization-101--types-ofpersonalization
3. Wikipedia. ENAIC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC
4. Mashable. http://mashable.com/2014/08/13/intel-michael-j-fox-foundation-wearables/
5. Mashable. http://mashable.com/2014/08/25/ralph-lauren-smart-t-shirt/
6. Gigaom. Google’s modular phone will let you swap out parts without powering down. gigaom.com/2014/09/30/
googles-modular-phone-will-let-you-swap-out-parts-without-powering-down/
7. MIT News. http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/new-display-technology-automatically-corrects-for-visiondefects-0731
8. Wikipedia. Cyborg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg
9. Bionic body parts: Technology and innovation create fully functioning replacements. www.nwitimes.com/
niche/get-healthy/healthy-living/bionic-body-parts-technology-and-innovation-create-fully-functioningreplacements/article_baacb12e-fea7-58a2-9eb7-d150175bf2a9.html
10. Dangerous Things. http://dangerousthings.com/
11. Cyborgs Among Us: Human 'Biohackers' Embed Chips In Their Bodies. www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/
cyborgs-among-us-human-biohackers-embed-chips-their-bodies-n150756
12. “The Man That Was Used Up” Edgar Allen Poe. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/POE/used_up.html
13. “7 Real-Life Human Cyborgs”: www.mnn.com/leaderboard/stories/7-real-life-human-cyborgs
14. Cooper, O. (2000). An analysis of the Nokia 3310. Unpublished.
15. Cochlear Implants. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/coch.aspx
16. Gigaom. “The internet of you: How wireless medical implants will change medicine”. https://gigaom.com/
2013/06/27/the-internet-of-you-how-wireless-medical-implants-will-change-medicine/
17. Brainy Quotes. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/neilharbis554497.html#Us8v4xyvpMWSc2th.99
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Appendix B - Two Types of Data
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Appendix C - Suggested Readings List
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• 7 real-life human cyborgs: www.mnn.com/leaderboard/stories/7-real-life-human-cyborgs
• What happens when a man is merged with a computer?: www.kevinwarwick.com/Cyborg1.htm
• Cyborg Foundation Website: http://eyeborg.wix.com/cyborg
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Appendix D - Mass Marketing
Versus Personalization
source: http://www.marketingtechblog.com/mass-marketing-vs-personalization/