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Research articles

Vol. 4 (2026)

The coffee maker and the cyborg: Exploring percolated subjectivity through students’ use of telepresence avatars

DOI
https://doi.org/10.59490/jhtr.2026.4.8194
Submitted
May 28, 2025
Published
2026-05-04

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of percolated subjectivity to explore how telepresence avatars mediate the presence and agency of chronically ill or long-term absent students in educational settings. Using ethnographic and autoethnographic methods, including interviews and observations, the study examines how subjectivity is not simply extended but co-constituted through human-technology-human interactions. Empirical cases from Denmark - such as a class mourning a deceased peer through an offline avatar or a child feeling forgotten when their avatar is left behind - reveal how avatars become sites of emotional, social, and cognitive entanglement - sometimes perceived as subjects or at least quasi-subjects. All cases are from 2023 onward.

Drawing on postphenomenology, new materialism, and poststructuralist theory, the article conceptualizes percolated subjectivity as a process through which human subjectivity seeps into and is reflected by non-human entities. This challenges binaries of presence/absence and human/machine, framing subjectivity as dynamic, shared, and potentially cyborgian. The metaphor of percolation captures this fluid, reciprocal process, offering a nuanced lens for analyzing mediated identity and agency.

The article concludes by suggesting broader applications of the concept in contexts of vulnerability, care, and social inclusion related to technology, including implications for educational practice, technological design, and future research into mediated human experiences - such as gaming or AI-assisted communication.

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