[Previous entry: "How to study a game play experience"] [Close Window] [Next entry: "Theory, no substance?"]

01/21/2003 Archived Entry: "Life by Design acceptance"

Breaking news! I've been invited to present at the "Life by Design: Everyday Digital Culture" symposium to be held at UC Irvine April 10-12, 2003. The paper in question? "A Feminine Mindstorms Robotics" (to be posted soon):

Initially conceived as a children’s toy, the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System is increasingly used by adults for both serious prototyping and creative play. What is particularly interesting about Lego Mindstorms is that it offers women the opportunity to participate in an embodied computing environment that supports theoretically women-friendly programming concepts such as constructionism and bricolage. So where are the female hobbyists and artists? How can we develop a feminine/feminist Mindstorms robotics practice that subverts the male agency of the product and creates a discourse surrounding women and robotic play?

A little bit of rhetoric, a little bit of feminism, a lot of techno-play. Not so much agency...I think I needed a bit of a breather ;-)