Posthumanism

[close] The media is full of stories asserting how technology is going to change our health futures. Developments in assistive technology design and production – from prosthetic limbs that duplicate the function of missing arms or legs, to smart drugs that will help preserve memory in old age, and companion robots that will serve as carers – promise huge benefits for improved health. Our project asks what ideas of body and personhood are at stake in these processes; how are hopes and fears about our bodies and minds expressed in the stories we tell ourselves about how we will interact with technology? In particular, we are interested in how this promise connects to the lives of people living with disabilities today. We will work with disability focus groups and family members, and develop prototype product designs and robot platforms, in exploring how we imagine future encounters between disability and technology.