Drafts by Alessandra Prunotto
For those who have access to them, locative digital technologies are becoming increasingly pervas... more For those who have access to them, locative digital technologies are becoming increasingly pervasive in everyday life. It is therefore important to understand the processes by which such technologies are shaping how people engage with the world. This thesis uses a postphenomenological approach to examine these processes in the context of geocaching, a locative digital game that combines aspects of treasure hunting and orienteering. In particular, this thesis focuses on how technologies indirectly mediate how geocachers engage with the world; that is, how technologies might shape experience even when they are not co-present with humans. Interpreting data from interviews and participant observations conducted in metropolitan Melbourne, this thesis discusses how indirect technological mediations shape a geocaching world and a geocaching subjectivity. Firstly, it argues that directly mediated social relations shape the parts of the landscape that geocachers engage with and give rise to a shared mode of interpreting that landscape. Secondly, it argues that differentiated access to digital information creates a divide between the worlds of geocachers and non-geocachers, compelling geocachers to employ distinctive modes of interacting with and being in the landscape while playing the game. Its findings suggest that embodied interactions with technologies may create the conditions for the indirect mediating effects of technologies, but that we require further investigation to better understand the intricacies of indirect mediation. Hence, this thesis not only develops a relatively under-theorised aspect of technological mediation, but also contributes rich empirical data to understandings of geocaching and experiences of public space more generally.
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Drafts by Alessandra Prunotto