Contesting control: journeys through surrender, self-awareness and looseness of control in embodied interaction

As Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) engages with technologies that sense and actuate the body, there is a need to reconsider the human bodily experience. We present three case studies that each involve different forms of bodily experience: a breath-controlled amusement ride, a brain-controlled film, and an interactive musical duet with a physically actuated piano. We introduce a conceptual framework to describe how control becomes contested between human and computer in such experiences, using the three dimensions of: surrender of control, self-awareness of control, and looseness of control. We reveal how our experiences took users on journeys through control that traversed the space of these dimensions. We propose that our framework is not only relevant to playful cultural experiences, such as those charted in our case studies, but can also inform the design of embodied interaction more widely by emphasising the human experience of control when engaging with autonomous and bodily-focused systems, from future robots and vehicles to today’s gaze, speech and gestural interfaces

The ethical implications of HCI’s turn to the cultural

We explore the ethical implications of HCI’s turn to the ‘cultural’. This is motivated by an awareness of how cultural applications, in our case interactive performances, raise ethical issues that may challenge established research ethics processes. We review research ethics, HCI’s engagement with ethics and the ethics of theatrical performance. Following an approach grounded in Responsible Research Innovation, we present the findings from a workshop in which artists, curators, commissioners, and researchers explored ethical challenges revealed by four case studies. We identify six ethical challenges for HCI’s engagement with cultural applications: transgression, boundaries, consent, withdrawal, data, and integrity. We discuss two broader implications of these: managing tensions between multiple overlapping ethical frames; and the importance of managing ethical challenges during and after an experience as well as beforehand. Finally, we discuss how our findings extend previous discussions of Value Sensitive Design in HCI

Abstract machines: overlaying virtual worlds on physical rides

Overlaying virtual worlds onto existing physical rides and altering the sensations of motion can deliver new experiences of thrill, but designing how motion is mapped between physical ride and virtual world is challenging. In this paper, we present the notion of an abstract machine, a new form of intermediate design knowledge that communicates motion mappings at the level of metaphor, mechanism and implementation. Following a performance-led, in-the-wild approach we report lessons from creating and touring VR Playground, a ride that overlays four distinct abstract machines and virtual worlds on a playground swing. We compare the artist's rationale with riders' reported experiences and analysis of their physical behaviours to reveal the distinct thrills of each abstract machine. Finally, we discuss how to make and use abstract machines in terms of heuristics for designing motion mappings, principles for virtual world design and communicating experiences to riders

Dead fun: uncomfortable interactions in a virtual reality game for coffins

Uncomfortable interactions are a common aspect of daily life, and have been explored in Human-Computer Interaction; yet little is known about uncomfortable gaming experiences. In this paper, we report on the design and preliminary evaluation of a game in which one player is invited to lie down in a coffin. Results of an exploratory user study suggest that the restricted space of the coffin along with its unsettling cultural connotation led to an engaging, thought provoking experience. By combining the previously separately explored dimensions of physical and psychological discomfort, we hope to better understand the effects that such challenges can have on player experience

Designing the audience journey through repeated experiences

We report on the design, premiere and public evaluation of a multifaceted audience interface for a complex non-linear musical performance called Climb! which is particularly suited to being experienced more than once. This interface is designed to enable audiences to understand and appreciate the work, and integrates a physical instrument and staging, projected visuals, personal devices and an online archive. A public premiere concert comprising two performances of Climb! revealed how the audience reoriented to the second performance through growing understanding and comparison to the first. Using trajectories as an analytical framework for the audience ‘journey’ made apparent: how the trajectories of a single performance are embedded within the larger trajectories of a concert and the creative work as a whole; the distinctive demands of understanding and interpretation; and the potential of the archive in enabling appreciation across repeated performances

A survey of the trajectories conceptual framework: investigating theory use in HCI

We present a case study of how Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) theory is reused within the field. We analyze the HCI literature in order to reveal the impact of one particular theory, the trajectories framework that has been cited as an example of both contemporary HCI theory and a strong concept that sits between theory and design practice. Our analysis of 60 papers that seriously engaged with trajectories reveals the purposes that the framework served and which parts of it they used. We compare our findings to the originally stated goals of trajectories and to subsequent claims of its status as both theory and strong concept. The results shed new light on what we mean by theory in HCI, including its relationship to practice and to other disciplines