Ready to Wear

More about the book

NEW MEDIA THEORY, SERIES EDITOR: BYRON HAWK - READY TO WEAR: A RHETORIC OF WEARABLE COMPUTERS AND REALITY-SHIFTING MEDIA examines the present implications of future technologies. Increasingly, we are encouraged to adopt innovations before experiencing them firsthand. This rhetoric of innovation extends beyond advertising into social media, blogs, news, popular culture, and various media platforms, often highlighting emerging or disruptive technologies long before they are available. The book investigates how wearable technologies enhance or alter reality and the promotional claims surrounding them. As computer components become smaller and mobile culture becomes normalized, we integrate computers into our daily lives to create immersive experiences. Isabel Pedersen poses critical questions about the construction of augmented digital life, its impact on identity, and the implications of advocating for wearable technology. Her insights are both provocative and timely. The work surveys a wide array of emerging technologies, many previously unaddressed in rhetoric and new media scholarship, expanding the field's understanding amid rapid innovation and planned obsolescence. Isabel Pedersen serves as a Canada Research Chair in Digital Life, Media, and Culture and is an Associate Professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, with a longstanding interest in human-computer interaction.