Persuasive design forbinder teknologi og kultur

According to Aristotle, rhetoric is "the ability, in each particular case, to see the available means of persuasion."

Persuasion is the key concept of the rhetorical tradition which began in Ancient Greece and which has formed a most important part of Western cultural history. The insights of Aristotle and Cicero, as well as much later work within the rhetorical tradition, are also strikingly relevant for Persuasive Technology.

And Persuasive Technology is a striking example of how technology and culture – how ultra-modern and age-old concerns – are interwoven.

We have come a long ways since the Greek discussions on rhetoric and this is obviously not Hellas! But I am delighted to be with you here this morning to open this Fifth International Conference on Persuasive Technology. And I am pleased to see that so many international researchers and representatives from different commercial industries have taken the opportunity to join each other here in the beautiful surroundings of The Royal Library.

Persuasive Technology is a young and vibrant research field, and I am glad, that The Royal School of Library and Information Science - in collaboration with Aalborg University and Oulu University - has been able to attract this conference.

The conference is an example of how disciplines with origins in a cultural institution can reach out to science, audiences and commercial industries. And I am certain, that this example is the future for developing our societies. You are the experts that think research and design for the future. You use cutting-edge technologies and, as the title of the conference states - Design for Change.

Seen from my point of view as Minister for Culture, some of the general features of software applications using Persuasive Technology, are very interesting.

The relevance of Persuasive Technology to culture runs both ways. Persuasive Technology itself can be seen as a technology based just as much on sociological and humanistic traditions as on information technology itself.

In a cultural perspective it can justly be seen as the continuation, or revival, of the age-old rhetorical tradition using highly modern means. It is an endeavour permeated with the classical notions of persuasion, kairos and ethos. But on the other hand, Persuasive Technology is also an obvious basis for making the cultural experience attractive and appealing to modern people.

Websites that make information accessible with the aim of motivating users to take an interest in certain information can, undoubtedly create new possibilities. Websites presenting some part of our cultural heritage will try to make the field exciting and attractive. This can also be used in trying to persuade users, implicitly or explicitly, to go to the theatre, to visit a museum, a monument or the suchlike in non-virtual reality, too.

Such endeavors are increasingly being combined with using cell phones to enhance the experience of visiting museums, historical sites and so forth. The use of cell phones and location-based services will hopefully become a ‘persuasive’ tool in helping new generations to discover the richness of culture.

Today, democratic institutions in Denmark and elsewhere risk being eroded by a complacency and indifference towards people’s own history and culture. If we are too lazy to study our past and culture, we become blind to the fact that democracy requires active citizen participation to sustain itself.

And therefore a persuasive aspect can be necessary to show people the way.

To give you an example - recently, a pilot project has developed a proposal on how to use Persuasive Technology for cultural communication at one important historic site in Denmark, namely the Vicarage of Vedersoe, where the Danish theologian and playwright Kaj Munk lived.

Kaj Munk also became a figure of national resistance, speaking out against Nazism in his sermons and elsewhere. And for that reason he was murdered by the SS in 1944.

I have myself researched Kaj Munk and published a very thick and academic book on his life – which for some people might take some persuasion to get them to read. So I have also published a smaller one.

The new project proposes making use of mobile devices and location-based services at Vedersoe Vicarage. This will motivate enthusiasts for mobile devices and geo-caching to visit the vicarage. It will also enrich the cultural experience of visitors in general.

Based on these experiences, users may be further motivated to use a software application, the successful use of which depends on finding out about facts and items connected with Kaj Munk. And in the end maybe even read thick books about Kaj Munk himself!!

I wish you all a most interesting conference and I will most certainly look forward to hearing about the results of the conference and the achievements in this field in coming years.