Third-Wave HCI Perspectives on the Internet of Things

This chapter draws out three threads from contemporary HCI, design research, and design practice to consider the Internet of Things from a third wave HCI perspective. These stances towards the IoT emphasize an agentic thing in itself as component of a broader system; the network that a system resides inside of as members of a broader social or cultural context; and the role of a system to articulate and maintain sites of contestation around public issues. These perspectives both build on and react to a set of categories that describe how the existing Internet of Things has been approached from a second-wave HCI orientation, as primarily providing opportunities for command and control, making technologies more efficient, and consuming products and services. This third-wave perspective hopes to broaden the conversation around the potentials for networked technologies that operate inside of rich cultural and social context.