Transcension: an exploration of the creative potentials for wearable technology and interactive media art in fantasy worldbuilding

Technology has long been used for creating what seems to be inexplicable, impossible phenomena, hereafter described as magic. Magic is also present in many forms of fictional world narratives as one of the central elements in worldbuilding, including in the magical girl genre stemming from Japanese anime. The magical girl character(s) that the narratives center around are depicted as seemingly ordinary girls who become immersed in a magical world, overlaying the world that they typically occupy, through a transformation process which morphs them from the ordinary to the extraordinary and grants them magical powers along with hyper-feminine costume changes. In the production part of this thesis, titled ☆･*:.｡. .｡.:*･ transcension ･*:.｡. .｡.:*･☆, I use new media technology to intersect a fantasy world of my own making with the real world, mimicking the transition which occurs in magical girl anime. The creative part of this thesis consists of an interactive sculpture and three costumes of original magical girl characters, which are enhanced by technology to become wearables. The costumes respond to interactions, while the sculpture provides a means through which participants can experience magic. The combination of these parts makes a form of interactive media art that blurs the boundaries between the real world and a magical world. Through the production process, I explore possible uses of technology and physical computing for physically manifesting a slice of a fantasy world, while investigating my own personal artistic practice as I designed and produced these four art pieces. The research question therefore is how interactive media art, specifically in the form of wearables and interactive sculptures, can be used to obscure the delineations between magic and reality. The structure of the written part of this thesis first introduces the project and its scope, and then discusses the multitude of disciplines that are touched upon in the inspiration and creation of the artistic production. I then explore in depth the design and production processes for the physical part of this thesis and perform an analysis of my artistic process as well as of the outcomes of the final exhibition. Through the written and artistic parts of this thesis, I demonstrate potential uses of technology in translating magical aspects of a fantasy world into the real world

Wearable performance

This is the post-print version of the article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2009 Taylor & FrancisWearable computing devices worn on the body provide the potential for digital interaction in the world. A new stage of computing technology at the beginning of the 21st Century links the personal and the pervasive through mobile wearables. The convergence between the miniaturisation of microchips (nanotechnology), intelligent textile or interfacial materials production, advances in biotechnology and the growth of wireless, ubiquitous computing emphasises not only mobility but integration into clothing or the human body. In artistic contexts one expects such integrated wearable devices to have the two-way function of interface instruments (e.g. sensor data acquisition and exchange) worn for particular purposes, either for communication with the environment or various aesthetic and compositional expressions. 'Wearable performance' briefly surveys the context for wearables in the performance arts and distinguishes display and performative/interfacial garments. It then focuses on the authors' experiments with 'design in motion' and digital performance, examining prototyping at the DAP-Lab which involves transdisciplinary convergences between fashion and dance, interactive system architecture, electronic textiles, wearable technologies and digital animation. The concept of an 'evolving' garment design that is materialised (mobilised) in live performance between partners originates from DAP Lab's work with telepresence and distributed media addressing the 'connective tissues' and 'wearabilities' of projected bodies through a study of shared embodiment and perception/proprioception in the wearer (tactile sensory processing). Such notions of wearability are applied both to the immediate sensory processing on the performer's body and to the processing of the responsive, animate environment. Wearable computing devices worn on the body provide the potential for digital interaction in the world. A new stage of computing technology at the beginning of the 21st Century links the personal and the pervasive through mobile wearables. The convergence between the miniaturisation of microchips (nanotechnology), intelligent textile or interfacial materials production, advances in biotechnology and the growth of wireless, ubiquitous computing emphasises not only mobility but integration into clothing or the human body. In artistic contexts one expects such integrated wearable devices to have the two-way function of interface instruments (e.g. sensor data acquisition and exchange) worn for particular purposes, either for communication with the environment or various aesthetic and compositional expressions. 'Wearable performance' briefly surveys the context for wearables in the performance arts and distinguishes display and performative/interfacial garments. It then focuses on the authors' experiments with 'design in motion' and digital performance, examining prototyping at the DAP-Lab which involves transdisciplinary convergences between fashion and dance, interactive system architecture, electronic textiles, wearable technologies and digital animation. The concept of an 'evolving' garment design that is materialised (mobilised) in live performance between partners originates from DAP Lab's work with telepresence and distributed media addressing the 'connective tissues' and 'wearabilities' of projected bodies through a study of shared embodiment and perception/proprioception in the wearer (tactile sensory processing). Such notions of wearability are applied both to the immediate sensory processing on the performer's body and to the processing of the responsive, animate environment

Towards Designing Playful Bodily Extensions : Learning from Expert Interviews

Interactive technologies offer novel opportunities for physically extending our bodies, with the most prominent examples being prosthetics along with systems emerging from the wearables community. However, most such systems appear to focus on instrumental benefits, missing out on the opportunity to use bodily extensions for play and its associated benefits (including a lower adoption barrier and the potential to reveal a broader understanding of such technologies). To begin understanding the design of playful bodily extensions, we interviewed five designers of bodily extensions that have been showcased in prestigious academic venues or turned into commercial products. Here we present themes and actionable advice from these interviews for the design of playful bodily extensions through a thematic analysis. Our work aims to support the design of future playful bodily extensions while promoting the experiential qualities of bodily extension design, with the ultimate goal of bringing more playful experiences to people's lives.Peer reviewe

Vulnerable narcissism and body image centrality in cosplay practice: A sequential mediation model

In recent years, the cosplay practice has become a ubiquitous activity, representing a pivotal way to get in touch with the so-called geek culture and its media content (such as videogames, comics, manga). Cosplaying appeared related to narcissistic fragility which in turn is strictly linked to social appearance anxiety and self-objectification experiences. However, despite the body image centrality in cosplay practice, no studies evaluated cosplayers’ narcissistic vulnerability in association with these body imagerelated issues. A total of 926 young adults (73.2% female; 47.3% cosplayer; mean age=25.3 years) participated in the study. Results confirmed the direct and indirect effect of narcissistic vulnerability on social appearance anxiety (via body surveillance and body shame) among both cosplayers and noncosplayers. Overall, narcissistically vulnerable individuals, regardless of their involvement in cosplay practice, seem to experience higher body surveillance and body shame, which in turn might promote social appearance anxiety

Exploring the Player Experiences of Wearable Gaming Interfaces : A User Elicitation Study

The design and development of playful wearable devices is a challenging and complicated problem. It entails not only multidisciplinary expertise but also a comprehensive understanding of player experience. There is a scarcity of evidence-based studies in current state-of-art literature that investigate general design practices and provide pragmatic design implications and suggestions based on solid user-centered research. To bridge the gap, we developed five experience prototypes based on the speculative design concepts from previous studies, and a Wizard of Oz experiment was conducted to elicit end users' feedback regarding general gaming experience as well as specific design themes in different gaming scenarios. The user experiment results were analyzed qualitatively following a rigorous thematic analysis, generating five major design implications as output. We believe this study will offer forward-looking insights to designers, developers and the research community, facilitating future work in this field.Peer reviewe

Digitalizing performance: The influence of wearable technology on costume design and on the work dynamics of interdisciplinary collaboration

When wearable electronics are used in a costume, they become a tool to expand its basic visual function and explore new, multi-sensory layers. Through technology, the performer’s body breaks the conventional frames and pushes the aesthetics and functions of costume design to the foreground of performance making. This thesis investigates the use of wearable electronics in a costume, their functions and influences on various aspects of the performance making process, specifically on costume design and the work dynamics of interdisciplinary collaboration. The work is based on the application of data captured by a 3D position tracking software to different wearables in a live demo performance, and examines the development of a performance dramaturgy around such material and the performer experience in a costume with embedded technology. As this thesis shows, the functions of technology in the costume made for this project upgraded the performer’s role in the staging, as the performer became the agent who provoked interactions between the stage elements by simply moving around the space. The location of tags embedded in the performance costume was tracked and the position data was used to generate location-related cues that would trigger interactions with the set, sound, lighting and costume lights without any other mediating operator. An interdisciplinary team of students collaborated on creating such a costume as well as the performance, whose narrative was built around the interactions the embedded technology offered. The creative process and results of the project are used as the case-study for this practice-based, design oriented artistic research, providing insights collected through qualitative methods, such as auto-ethnography, observation, and informal semi-structured interviews. Wearable technologies that are becoming part of the costume design process offer possibilities for a new layer of visual or sensorial effects, encourage wider conversations and create unexpected collaborations. They initiate different approaches to the design of a costume and to make performance from an aesthetic and also practical perspective, as the components provide new functions and expressive possibilities, but need to meet certain safety and comfort requirements when embedded. Taking full advantage of the wearable elements requires the costume to take the lead in the performance making process, affecting the work dynamics as a whole, as the collaboration develops around the costume. Such situation creates an opportunity for interdisciplinary team members to work closer together, proposing the purpose, functionality and design elements of the costume, making it a shared domain that supports storytelling

“I read comics from a feministic point of view”: conceptualizing the transmedia ethos of the Captain Marvel fan community

The contemporary media industries may be thinking transmedially so to engage their audiences across multiple platforms, but it is not enough to assume that the creation of a coherent brand, narrative or storyworld is enough to explain the specificities and the reasons for why audiences choose (or choose not) to engage in transmedia activities. This article argues for the need to analyse the behaviours and motivations of a media-crossing audience according to a more fluid, ephemeral and value-laden transmedia ethos. Specifically, this article uses Captain Marvel – alongside a wide-scale online survey made up of over 200 of the character’s fans – as a case study for examining the politics of transmediality, demonstrating how the migration of the Captain Marvel fan base across multiple platforms and iterations of the character is based not on the lure of interconnected storytelling or world-building, but is rather built up of a much more layered transmedia ethos based on feminism, alternativism and a digi-gratis economy

Improving Community Engagement through Urban Physical and Technological Experiences

There is an opportunity to add value to community engagement by provoking the interaction between urban dwellers, physical urban space and virtual experiences. This research project focuses on identifying the experiential and participatory tools embedded in temporary and architectural elements, interactive technological platforms and urban supports in order to build a link between virtual and physical realms. A variety of research methods, analysis, visual tools and foresight exploration techniques serve for the creation of design principles that become the foundation of the conceptual framework of civic portals that enhance individual and collective appreciation of physical space

Augmenting Appearance with Wearable Technology - Open-ended Practices-oriented Design for Adornment and Identity as Routes to Adoption

Adornment, as a practice that expresses personality through appearance alterations based on clothing and other embellishments, is fundamental to all cultures. Hence, the social function of 'wearables' exemplifies a core application of technology. In the last two decades, advancements in wearable and ubiquitous computing have yielded novel forms of augmenting humans' appearance and face-to-face social interactions, ranging from smart clothing/accessories to bodily and augmented-reality-based modifications. Yet, notwithstanding its potential to drastically alter our social lives, the adoption of wearable technology has been limited to primarily health-related applications. Studies of 'social wearables' and expressive technologies have revealed barriers to adoption related to social acceptability and identity conflicts. Though recent efforts have led to guidelines and frameworks, the challenges of designing to overcome those hindrances remain. Conceptualising wearable technologies for appearance augmentation in terms of the social practice of augmented adornment, this doctoral research investigated how augmented adornment shapes social practices and identities. Utilising generative design research, it identified design guidelines that support the adoption of interactive expressive wearable technologies. Following an approach wherein the investigation and design process are centred on the practice, not the user, the work drew together ethnographic fieldwork, co-creative design, and open-ended technological interventions. The dissertation presents three case studies of employing practices-oriented design to investigate social practices of adornment in situ in Finland: an exploratory case study considering a zoomorphic accessory for eliciting social touch; an exploratory study examining opportunities for displaying personal sketches on one's clothing in urban public spaces; and an extensive investigation, conducted over a two-year span, of the striking tradition of Finnish university students wearing and adorning boiler suits. All three field studies revealed ways in which the meanings of a personal-identity-connected adornment practice form a crucial aspect of augmenting appearance, with the final study demonstrating an especially vivid interplay between embracing local traditions and standing out through individualistic adornments – the students linked their novel practices of augmented adorning to an existing digital practice, e.g. memeing. The findings exemplify an open-ended, dialogue-based perspective and a practices-oriented approach for generating further intermediate design knowledge. As a first milestone, the work presents a strong concept for design called Memetic Expression. By situating augmented adornment in context as a social practice, the results should assist designers in embedding social wearables in people's lives. The design approaches presented offer assistance in working through conflicts that might arise by merging digital practices with adornment and helping pinpoint routes to adoption