[ecrea] New book: Archaeologies of Touch

We would like to announce a new publication from University Of Minnesota 
Press, which we hope will be of interest.

*Archaeologies of Touch***

Interfacing with Haptics from Electricity to Computing

*David Parisi***

*_http://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/archaeologies-of-touch 
<http://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/archaeologies-of-touch  >_**__*

<http://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/archaeologies-of-touch  >

<http://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/archaeologies-of-touch  >

"/Archaeologies of Touch/ weaves a careful history of haptic technology 
with a provocative analysis on the changing nature of how we recognize 
and measure touching. This allows David Parisi to provide the 
remarkable: a history of that which has always appeared just beyond our 
reach."*—Phillip Thurtle, University of Washington*

"/Archaeologies of Touch/ convincingly contextualizes recent forms of 
digital touch within an overarching history of psychophysiological and 
technological experimentation with the senses and sensory communication. 
David Parisi pulls together an impressive wealth of resources for 
scholars to understand how we ‘haptic subjects’ became haptic in the 
first place."*—Mark Paterson, author of /The Senses of Touch: Haptics, 
Affects and Technologies/*

Since the rise of radio and television, we have lived in an era defined 
increasingly by the electronic circulation of images and sounds. But the 
flood of new computing technologies known as haptic interfaces—which use 
electricity, vibration, and force feedback to stimulate the sense of 
touch—offering an alternative way of mediating and experiencing reality.

In /Archaeologies of Touch/, David Parisi offers the first full history 
of these increasingly vital technologies, showing how the efforts of 
scientists and engineers over the past three hundred years have 
gradually remade and redefined our sense of touch. Through lively 
analyses of electrical machines, videogames, sex toys, sensory 
substitution systems, robotics, and human–computer interfaces, Parisi 
shows how the materiality of touch technologies has been shaped by 
attempts to transform humans into more efficient processors of information.

With haptics becoming ever more central to emerging virtual-reality 
platforms (immersive bodysuits loaded with touch-stimulating actuators), 
wearable computers (haptic messaging systems like the Apple Watch’s 
Taptic Engine), and smartphones (vibrations that emulate the feel of 
buttons and onscreen objects), /Archaeologies of Touch/ offers a timely 
and provocative engagement with the long history of touch technology 
that helps us confront and question the power relations underpinning the 
project of giving touch its own set of technical media.

*David Parisi*is associate professor of emerging media at the College of 
Charleston.


---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please
use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------