Design and semantics of form and movement (DeSForM 2006)

Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM) grew from applied research exploring emerging design methods and practices to support new generation product and interface design. The products and interfaces are concerned with: the context of ubiquitous computing and ambient technologies and the need for greater empathy in the pre-programmed behaviour of the ‘machines’ that populate our lives. Such explorative research in the CfDR has been led by Young, supported by Kyffin, Visiting Professor from Philips Design and sponsored by Philips Design over a period of four years (research funding £87k). DeSForM1 was the first of a series of three conferences that enable the presentation and debate of international work within this field: • 1st European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM1), Baltic, Gateshead, 2005, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 2nd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM2), Evoluon, Eindhoven, 2006, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 3rd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM3), New Design School Building, Newcastle, 2007, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. Philips sponsorship of practice-based enquiry led to research by three teams of research students over three years and on-going sponsorship of research through the Northumbria University Design and Innovation Laboratory (nuDIL). Young has been invited on the steering panel of the UK Thinking Digital Conference concerning the latest developments in digital and media technologies. Informed by this research is the work of PhD student Yukie Nakano who examines new technologies in relation to eco-design textiles

Hands on Design : Comparing the use of sketching and gesturing in collaborative designing

This study explored the remaining potential of gestures as creative tools for collaborative designing. We compared novice designers' use of sketching against gesturing in early ideation and rough visualisation. To preserve the kinesic character of gestures, we developed a detailed video analysis method, which revealed that the majority of sketching and gesturing was complementary to speech. Sketching was important for defining complicated structures, while gesturing was frequently used for all aspects of designing. Moreover, we identified that the level of collaboration – the level and immediacy of sharing one's ideas for others – is an important factor. As an underrepresented phenomenon in the design literature, the meaning of collaboration unearthed here leads to unmistakable conclusions regarding the nature of gesturing, to the process of learning design, and to the use of design tools. Most notably, gesturing offers a complementary creative dimension - kinaesthetic thinking - which invites us to communicate and share instantaneously.Peer reviewe

Computer Interfaces to Organizations: Perspectives on Borg-Human Interaction Design

We use the term borg to refer to the complex organizations composed of people, machines, and processes with which users frequently interact using computer interfaces and websites. Unlike interfaces to pure machines, we contend that borg-human interaction (BHI) happens in a context combining the anthropomorphization of the interface, conflict with users, and dramatization of the interaction process. We believe this context requires designers to construct the human facet of the borg, a structure encompassing the borg's personality, social behavior, and embodied actions; and the strategies to co-create dramatic narratives with the user. To design the human facet of a borg, different concepts and models are explored and discussed, borrowing ideas from psychology, sociology, and arts. Based on those foundations, we propose six design methodologies to complement traditional computer-human interface design techniques, including play-and-freeze enactment of conflicts and the use of giant puppets as interface prototypes.Comment: 10 page

Audio-tactile stimuli to improve health and well-being : a preliminary position paper

From literature and through common experience it is known that stimulation of the tactile (touch) sense or auditory (hearing) sense can be used to improve people's health and well-being. For example, to make people relax, feel better, sleep better or feel comforted. In this position paper we propose the concept of combined auditory-tactile stimulation and argue that it potentially has positive effects on human health and well-being through influencing a user's body and mental state. Such effects have, to date, not yet been fully explored in scientific research. The current relevant state of the art is briefly addressed and its limitations are indicated. Based on this, a vision is presented of how auditory-tactile stimulation could be used in healthcare and various other application domains. Three interesting research challenges in this field are identified: 1) identifying relevant mechanisms of human perception of combined auditory-tactile stimuli; 2) finding methods for automatic conversions between audio and tactile content; 3) using measurement and analysis of human bio-signals and behavior to adapt the stimulation in an optimal way to the user. Ideas and possible routes to address these challenges are presented

The Meaning of Movement: Using Motion Design to Enrich Words for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

This thesis aims to address challenging areas of vocabulary for deaf and hard of hearing children by developing an open resource for students, parents, teachers, and content creators that utilizes motion to enhance written words for deaf and hard of hearing children. This research seeks to study the means of nonverbal communication such as body language expression and paralinguistic prosody (i.e., tone, intonation, volume, and pitch) qualities within the framework of graphic design through motion design. Body movement and expression are essential during face-to-face communication, but written language lacks such context clues. Additionally, the hard of hearing may not fully detect prosody within their range of hearing. This lack of information gathered through body language and paralanguage can be replicated with animated movement, which adds greater context to otherwise static text, enhancing insight into the meaning or use of a word. Seeing how a word in written form correlates with enhanced meaning through movement provides greater understanding and retention. This enhancement promotes improved communication in the world through graphic design. Motion design, specifically kinetic typography, offers a promising tool to help aid with language learning for continued exploration and development