Ubiquitous—Alife In Technosphere 2.0

This chapter explores a fascinating, instructive example of the actualization of such ubiquity-effects— the case of locative media technologies designed for and by people with disabilities. It discusses the joining of two kinds of complexity at play in these ubiquity-effects centering on disability-inflected locative media. First, there is the complexity of the cultural shaping of the technology, and its materiality. Second, there is the complexity of disability, as it is constituted in contemporary society. The chapter also discusses how the dynamics of complex ubiquity play in relation to disability through two case studies: way-finding locative media smartphones and apps and Google Glass. Emerging locative mobile media technology was fashioned and marshalled, for purposes of civic action and political activism concerning disability and accessibility. Google glass is a ubiquitous computing device in a pair of glasses that operates like a hands-free smartphone. Users can run apps, make voice or video calls, take photos, and play music.