I will speak at the Vision Society of Japan 2025 Winter Meeting symposium, “Editing and Extending Sensory Perception.”
Human–Computer Integration: To What Extent Am I Myself?
Shunichi Kasahara (Sony CSL / OIST)
When humans and computers merge, where does the boundary of “self” lie? Today, computers are no longer mere tools; they are deeply embedded in our bodies and behaviors. As humans integrate with computers to acquire abilities beyond existing limits and gain new forms of embodiment, how can we define the self?
Our research team focuses on “Cybernetic Humanity,” a new human nature emerging from the fusion of humans and computers—exploring the enhancement of physical capabilities, the dynamics of subjectivity and self-awareness, and the transformation of communication modalities. In this talk, I will discuss how we confront human-specific, irrepressible traits and their flexibility—such as subjective experiences shaped by bodily augmentation and visual/multisensory integration, the dissociation and convergence of self-awareness and movement, and the constraints of self-attribution—and how these can serve as footholds for generating new forms of humanity at the intersection of computer science and human science.