Trumpa drono operatoriaus fenomenologija
Short Penomenology of Drone Operator

Summary/Abstract: This article employs phenomenological and post-phenomenological approaches to analyse the effect that using FPV (first-person view) military drones has on the consciousness of the operator. Contemporary technologies, especially drones, transform human sensory experience, the relationship between the body and the world, and the perception of warfare. Drones act as extensions of the human senses, hypertrophying vision at the expense of the other senses. Consequently, the operator’s sensorium becomes distorted to such an extent that they can be likened to a Cyclops or a cyborg – symbols reflecting the blurring of the boundaries between the real and the virtual. Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s concept of the ‚body schema‘ helps to explain how FPV drones disrupt the usual sensory balance, effectively turning the operator into an ‚eye without a body‘. The operator exists in two realities simultaneously, which leads to psychological tension. Furthermore, the similarity between drone operation and video gaming raises concerns about the emergence of a “PlayStation mentality”, in which remote killing may appear overly sanitised.

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