Ghost Engineering: Technologies for Designing Ourselves via Embodied Interaction
Takuji Narumi · 2021
Recent embodied cognition studies revealed that our mind can be influenced by the state and recognition of our bodies. Meanwhile, recent developments in virtual reality and augmented human technologies enable us to flexibly modify and extend our body itself and recognition of our bodily states. Considering these together, our mind would be designed by utilizing these technologies which augment our body or body perception. In other words, we can design ourselves through the design of the virtual body and embodied interaction we use in cyber-physical world to become the person we want to be. Here, in reference to the fact that the relationship between the body and the mind has been discussed in many works including M. Shirow's "GHOST IN THE SHELL" since the presentation of G. Ryle's concept of "Ghost in the machine," the function of the human mind that arises from the body is defined as "ghost", and the technology to create the desired change in our mind by changing our virtual body is called as "Ghost Engineering". There are several patterns in the way our body is made possible by technology for the first time, and what kind of mind function changes depends on these patterns. For example, "Transformation", the experience of becoming someone else, or being able to demonstrate abilities beyond one's own, can change one's self-image and influence behavior, abilities, and even thinking. The "Body multiplexing" experience of manipulating multiple bodies not only expands our physical abilities, but also affects our ability to balance our thoughts and changes the way we communicate with multiple people. Merged body, in which multiple people manipulate a single body, not only enables a new kind of cooperative work, but also enables the transfer of motor intentions and physical skills from human to human. I would like to introduce recent achievements and future implications of Ghost Engineering technology, and discuss what kind of possibilities for the self and society that such technology enables.