Abstract

Full Paper. Theme: Social Experiences Subtheme: Symbiotic Individuations

With interactive computing, the metaphorical use of biological notions of hybridization and symbiosis has become widespread. They refer to the possibilities of mixing as well as to the conditions of emergence of relationships ranging from mutual benefit to instrumentalization between technologies and humans. In order to better understand the relevance of such analogies with the field of biology, this article relies on scientific and artistic research concerning interactive avatars. These seem particularly instructive on our relationship to technology because this kind of virtual being hybridizes the living and the artificial, while constituting a key- condition to access some digital spaces, to co-evolve with other users, who are likewise avatarized, or other autonomized agents. In this paper, we wish to to make a distinction between “cyber” avatars populating persistent universes, video games, virtual realities, that is to say, cybermedia environments of simulation and interaction; and “hyper” avatars that are found on the Web, online services, 2.0 platforms or social media that are juxtaposed in a networked informational and documentary hypermedia. What is at stake here is the way we could be able to reconsider the potentialities and the responsibilities linked to our potential of augmentation and simulation, in particular by supporting cooperative interactions, by striving for synergy between Science, Arts and Technologies.

• Etienne Armand Amato (FR) Lecturer at Gustave Eiffel University in Information and Communication Sciences; has been studying interactive devices for 24 years, mainly hypermedia. https://www.linkedin.com/in/eamato/?originalSubdomain=fr
• Etienne Pereny (FR) Université de Vincennes, Paris 8, Hypermedia Departement