Jose Roibas
Research Interests: Summary
The goal of ubiquitous computing technology is to improve society’s quality of life. Because of this, as its name implies, ubiquitous computing will continue to pervade every aspect of human life. Looking at ubiquitous computing on a larger scale, taking into account its impact in other societies and cultures, how can we develop ubiquitous computing technologies that are in harmony with other ways of living shaped by different cultural and social backgrounds, philosophies, and ideals? The purpose of my research is twofold. Firstly, I am interested in understanding the influence of Western culture on the development of computing technologies. Since computing technology is said to be the product of the Western world, it is reasonable to suppose that, as with any other technology, it has been shaped by the influence of Western culture. However, what, if any, characteristics of Western culture are embedded in Western computing technology? As computing technology moves away from the desktop and into every realm of life, will Western culture continue to influence the development of ubiquitous computing, and if so, how will this influence be manifested? Are our assessments of the use, adoption and appropriation of ubiquitous computing technologies biased by our Western expectations of what computing technologies should be? What might be the consequences of ubiquitous computing technologies designed for Western societies when used in non-Western settings? My second goal is to understand alternative, non-Western views of computing technology. Assuming that increased access to computing technologies across the world implies that other nations are increasingly empowered to develop “native” computing technologies, how do non-Western cultures approach computing technology? How do non-Western cultures interpret, use and adapt technologies produced by Western countries? To address this matter, I’m planning to use Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (i.e., power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, and time-orientation) as a framework to account for the possible intrinsic qualities of computing technologies produced by non-Western cultures. Do computing technologies from non-Western cultures originate from and embody essentially different philosophies, ideals, and overall purposes of technology? Do computing technologies from non-Western cultures address different needs? What are some examples, if any, of these computing technologies that originate from different needs, ideals, philosophies, and/or cultural environments? Are the characteristics of non-Western computing technologies transferable, or are they intrinsically bounded to the originating culture? Are there any lessons to learn from those other views of technology? Does computing technology, a product of the Western world, facilitate or limit these possibilities? To address these issues I am conducting a review of several critiques of computing technology to discern a number of characteristics of these technologies that might have been influenced by Western culture. With this elaboration I will review some of the work produced by Equator to test the applicability of my findings. Next, I will conduct a meta-review of research dealing with the use and adoption of native and foreign novel computing technologies. Finally, I am planning to conduct ethnographic studies documenting the use, adoption and adaptation of Social Proximity Applications among users from Western and non-Western countries. |