Capturing the embodied nature of knowledge work: Test #1

What our bodies are like and how they function in the world…structure the very concepts we can use to think.

- Lakoff and Johnson

\”I think, therefore I am\” Descartes said all those years ago, and we still trudge along this path.  Our technology may have evolved light-years ahead but somehow our way of thinking stutters.  One might think that the impending ecological catastrophes that our way of being in the world has brought about would challenge our way of thought, but explorations such as Mind-Uploading (a hypothetical process by which you upload your scanned brain to the computer and it functions exactly the same, now sans body) proves that we continue a train of thought that allows for our existence outside of our bodies, outside of our mortality, outside of our nature.

Our knowledge is inextricably linked to our body, to our sensory perceptions of the world.  Our fingers remember numbers and keys even when our minds do not.  \”You can never forget how to ride a bike.\”  Contemporary work patterns often discount the embodied nature of knowledge, treating the human body as a vessel to be accommodated while the mind does all the work.

In a recent conversation with Joe Dumit, Director of Science and Technology Studies at UC Davis, and a man that knows a lot about knowing the brain, Joe shared with me his explorations into a visual study of knowledge work.  Fascinating.  \”Boring\” pictures of people at their desks, at their computers, come to illuminate minute differences in how we use our bodies to think.  But getting people to send you photos of themselves at work is not always the easiest thing to accomplish.

What if the computer did it for them?

As a first test, I decided to take advantage of the built-in-webcam that comes with so many laptops these days – and the laptop (and wherever it happens to be located) being often the \”place\” of knowledge work.  Using Processing, I built a simple little program that sits in the background while you write, or send emails, or do whatever it is you do, and it takes your photo.  It is currently set to take your photo every second for a total minute capture of you at work.

These photos are saved as JPGs in a folder, then played back in processing in realtime, and loaded into a quicktime movie which is easy to upload to the web.  The movie is sped up to 1ps, providing for a sped-up, exaggerated, more internet-friendly experience.  The processing playback has a tediously slow quality to it – that is, if your body movements are tediously slow in the minute.  It\’s nice to have both.

I\’d like to start a collection somewhere online – maybe Flickr? – where people can share an hour of their face at work.  We talked about starting a \”sitzfleish\” tag, the working title Joe has for this project.

\”Sitzfleisch,\” or \”sitting flesh,\” essentially refers to your rear end, butt, derriere or whatever else you chose to call the padded part of your body that you sit on. \”You have Sitzfleisch!\” can mean you have strong muscles down there (and can hang on when the airplane hits turbulence or the car makes a sharp turn, for example). It can, however, be somewhat less intimate and refer to your admirable patience in \”sitting out\” a difficult situation. Since this ladies\’ bench isn\’t experiencing any turbulence, we\’ll assume they\’re exhibiting incredible patience in waiting for their afternoon tea.

Here are some images from me at work, a final video, and the code.  Thanks to Sofy Yuditskaya for her sharp eyes and willing fingers.

import processing.video.*;

int n=0;

// the number of pictures it takes before it starts to show you and saves the movie
int you= 60;

int maxqImage = you;
PImage[] qImage = new PImage[maxqImage];

Capture video;
PImage saved;

int p=0; //p for picture, to load images

int x=0;
int y=0;

int time = 0;

int keeper = 1000;// 1 sec

int a=0;

//record a movie
MovieMaker mm;

void setup() {
frameRate(1);
size(500,400);
video = new Capture(this, width, height, 30);
saved = createImage(video.width,video.height,RGB);
mm = new MovieMaker(this, width, height, \”drawing.mov\”);
}

void draw() {

if (a==0) {

video.read();
//image(video,0,0,width,height);

// if one second has gone by, save a picture and restart the timer
if ((millis()-time) > keeper) {
time = millis();
video.save(\”q\” + n + \”.jpg\”);
println(n);
n++;
}

if (n==you) {
a=1;
}
}

if (a==1) {
//load the images
for (int i = 0; i < qImage.length; i++) {
qImage[i] = loadImage(\”q\” + i + \”.jpg\”);
println(\”loaded: \” + qImage[i]);
a=2;

}
}

if (a==2) {

//void display() {
//display the images
image(qImage[p],0,0);
mm.addFrame();
p++;
if (p >= qImage.length) {
a=3;
//save the movie
mm.finish();
}
}

if (a==3) {
p = 0;
a = 2;
}
}

sitzfleish face capture #1 from miriam on Vimeo.

Possible future developments:

- Include date stamp in the name of the saved video.

- Have the video and or/images upload directly to the web from the user\’s computer.

- Play with different animation possibilities.

- Allow users to choose at the start how often an image will save.