Ethics and Power Dynamics in Playful Technology for Animals: Using speculative design to provoke reflection

Fiona French; Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas; Heli Väätäjä; Patricia Pons; Sabrina Karl; Yoram Chisik; Eleonora Nannoni; Anna Zamansky; Mandeep Mangat; Patrizia Paci; Haruka Kasuga; Dana Vilker

doi:10.1145/3464327.3464366

Ethics and Power Dynamics in Playful Technology for Animals: Using speculative design to provoke reflection

Fiona French, Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, Heli Väätäjä, Patricia Pons, Sabrina Karl, Yoram Chisik, Eleonora Nannoni, Anna Zamansky, Mandeep Mangat, Patrizia Paci, Haruka Kasuga, Dana Vilker

Department of Information Systems

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Technology (digital or otherwise) is a great enabler; it bridges gaps and opens doors and, in the process, alters the reality within which it and its users exist. As technology aimed at non-human animals is becoming commonplace, questions about its efficacy and the ethical implications of its use are becoming ever more pertinent. To explore these issues, we conducted a workshop in which speculative design was used as a means of debating ways through which play, a widespread phenomenon across animal species, can be used as a tool for enabling interspecies communication. We describe the context for this discussion, the methods used, and present a set of speculative designs that illustrate aspects of ethics, equality, and appropriate play in order to provoke further reflection and discussion.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Academic Mindtrek 2021 - Proceedings of the 24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Pages	91-101
Number of pages	11
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450385145
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3464327.3464366
State	Published - 1 Jun 2021
Event	24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference, Mindtrek 2021 - Virtual, Online, Finland Duration: 1 Jun 2021 → 3 Jun 2021

Publication series

Name	ACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference	24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference, Mindtrek 2021
Country/Territory	Finland
City	Virtual, Online
Period	1/06/21 → 3/06/21

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 ACM.

Keywords

Animal-Computer Interaction
co-design
ethics
participatory speculation
power dynamics
speculative design

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Software
Human-Computer Interaction
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Computer Networks and Communications

Access to Document

10.1145/3464327.3464366

Cite this

French, F., Hirskyj-Douglas, I., Väätäjä, H., Pons, P., Karl, S., Chisik, Y., Nannoni, E., Zamansky, A., Mangat, M., Paci, P., Kasuga, H., & Vilker, D. (2021). Ethics and Power Dynamics in Playful Technology for Animals: Using speculative design to provoke reflection. In Academic Mindtrek 2021 - Proceedings of the 24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (pp. 91-101). (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3464327.3464366

French, Fiona ; Hirskyj-Douglas, Ilyena ; Väätäjä, Heli et al. / Ethics and Power Dynamics in Playful Technology for Animals : Using speculative design to provoke reflection. Academic Mindtrek 2021 - Proceedings of the 24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference. Association for Computing Machinery, 2021. pp. 91-101 (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series).

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French, F, Hirskyj-Douglas, I, Väätäjä, H, Pons, P, Karl, S, Chisik, Y, Nannoni, E, Zamansky, A, Mangat, M, Paci, P, Kasuga, H & Vilker, D 2021, Ethics and Power Dynamics in Playful Technology for Animals: Using speculative design to provoke reflection. in Academic Mindtrek 2021 - Proceedings of the 24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 91-101, 24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference, Mindtrek 2021, Virtual, Online, Finland, 1/06/21. https://doi.org/10.1145/3464327.3464366

Ethics and Power Dynamics in Playful Technology for Animals: Using speculative design to provoke reflection. / French, Fiona; Hirskyj-Douglas, Ilyena; Väätäjä, Heli et al.
Academic Mindtrek 2021 - Proceedings of the 24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference. Association for Computing Machinery, 2021. p. 91-101 (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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AU - Pons, Patricia

AU - Karl, Sabrina

AU - Chisik, Yoram

AU - Nannoni, Eleonora

AU - Zamansky, Anna

AU - Mangat, Mandeep

AU - Paci, Patrizia

AU - Kasuga, Haruka

AU - Vilker, Dana

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AB - Technology (digital or otherwise) is a great enabler; it bridges gaps and opens doors and, in the process, alters the reality within which it and its users exist. As technology aimed at non-human animals is becoming commonplace, questions about its efficacy and the ethical implications of its use are becoming ever more pertinent. To explore these issues, we conducted a workshop in which speculative design was used as a means of debating ways through which play, a widespread phenomenon across animal species, can be used as a tool for enabling interspecies communication. We describe the context for this discussion, the methods used, and present a set of speculative designs that illustrate aspects of ethics, equality, and appropriate play in order to provoke further reflection and discussion.

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French F, Hirskyj-Douglas I, Väätäjä H, Pons P, Karl S, Chisik Y et al. Ethics and Power Dynamics in Playful Technology for Animals: Using speculative design to provoke reflection. In Academic Mindtrek 2021 - Proceedings of the 24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference. Association for Computing Machinery. 2021. p. 91-101. (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series). doi: 10.1145/3464327.3464366

Ethics and Power Dynamics in Playful Technology for Animals: Using speculative design to provoke reflection

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Cite this