Events

Augmentation technologies and the algorithms built within them represent the engine that drives the next generation of TPC networked learning. As emerging augmentation technologies, use of data analytics, and “smart” technologies proliferate, we see the critical need for research, presentation and discussion of the implications of augmentation technologies in TPC programs. This panel addresses critical conference themes: administering technologies in TPC programs and curriculum development.

Augmentation technologies include wearable devices that extend human senses, augment creative abilities, or overcome physical limitations; robots marketed to improve human social interaction; implantables that amplify intelligence or memory; programs or algorithms for affective computing; Internet of Bodies (IoB) and Internet of Things (IoT) for ambient interaction or surveillance with places/spaces; and Extended Reality technologies (XR), including Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), that alter human interaction with people’s lived reality. As networked learning evolves amid these current and emerging technologies, TPC scholars must increase understanding of both the technologies and their socio-technical complexities.

Ann Duin and Isabel Pedersen present Tracing the Turn to Artificial Human and Human Teaming Human-AI Teaming: Cases and Considerations for Professional Communicators (IEEE Procomm)

Isabel Pedersen, Ann Hill Duin, Jason Tham, Nupoor Ranade, Daniel Hocutt and Gustav Verhulsdonck conduct a two part workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Technical Communication on June 6th and June 13th for Com&Tec Italy.

The Internet of Things explores the potential impacts of ongoing changes to the Internet of Things.

Negotiating networked learning relationships with augmentation technologies: Smart education, data analytics, and human-autonomy teaming

Two presentations consider “How ‘facts’ are ‘fed’ to a virtual assistant” and “Designing for love or sex: Understanding a sex robot creator’s vision”.

More and more, personal digital devices—from wearable brain-computers to digital skin tech to implanted computer chips—are being invented, adopted and even celebrated before we have a chance to understand their likely impact on our lives. The rise of Artificial Intelligence is accelerating this process. Pedersen explores how immersive embodied technology may change how we act, interact with others, participate in cultures, and understand our identities.

Pedersen, I. and Duin, A.H. present Defining a classification system for augmentation technology in socio-technical terms at the 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS).