3,586 research outputs found
Embracing first-person perspectives in soma-based design
This article belongs to the Special Issue Tangible and Embodied InteractionA set of prominent designers embarked on a research journey to explore aesthetics in movement-based design. Here we unpack one of the design sensitivities unique to our practice: A strong first person perspective-where the movements, somatics and aesthetic sensibilities of the designer, design researcher and user are at the forefront. We present an annotated portfolio of design exemplars and a brief introduction to some of the design methods and theory we use, together substantiating and explaining the first-person perspective. At the same time, we show how this felt dimension, despite its subjective nature, is what provides rigor and structure to our design research. Our aim is to assist researchers in soma-based design and designers wanting to consider the multiple facets when designing for the aesthetics of movement. The applications span a large field of designs, including slow introspective, contemplative interactions, arts, dance, health applications, games, work applications and many others
Integrating art into bodily interactions : exploring digital art in HCI design to foster somaesthetic experiences
PhD ThesisMy interdisciplinary doctoral research of this thesis explored how interaction design â with a
combination of digital art, body-centred practice and biophysical sensing technology â
cultivates self-awareness and self-reflection to foster somaesthetic experiences in everyday
walking. My research followed a Research through Design (RtD) approach to provide design
artefacts as examples of research in the expanded territory of Somaesthetic Design,
technology-enhanced body-centred practices and digital art applied in interaction design.
Background research included a critical review of Affective Computing, the concept of
somaesthetic experience, existing body-centred practices (e.g. mindfulness and deep
listening), HCI designs for somaesthetic experiences, and interactive digital art applications
(using biophysical data as input) to express bodily activities.
In methodological terms the research could be summarized as a process of âmaking design
theoriesâ (Redström, 2017) that draws upon a Research through Design (RtD) approach. The
whole research process could be described with a âbucketâ model in making design theories
(Redström, 2017): identified initial design space as the initial âbucketâ; derived the first design
artefact âAmbient Walkâ as a âfactâ to represent the initial design space and the cause of
transitioning, re-accenting process from mindfulness to âadding a sixth-senseâ (i.e. to extend
the initial âbucketâ); the making of second design artefact âHearing the Hiddenâ as a âfactâ to
represent the re-accented research rationale in designing for somaesthetic experience by
âadding a sixth senseâ. I followed a qualitative approach to evaluate individual user feedbacks
on enhancing somaesthetic experiences, the aspects to be considered in designing for
experiences, and how my design process contributed to refining design for experiences. At the
end of this thesis, I discuss the findings from the two practical projects regarding the
somaesthetic experiences that have been provoked during usersâ engagement with âAmbient
Walkâ and âHearing the Hiddenâ; the inclusion of bodily interactions with surroundings in
somaesthetic design; the use of âprovotypesâ in experience-centred design practices; and the
benefit of integrating digital art into technology for body-centred practices
Imagining a digital future: how could we design for enchantment within the special education curriculum?
The implementation of the new âSuccessful Futuresâ curriculum in the UK, means that
learners between the ages of 3 to 16 will be challenged to use digital media to develop their
life skills, personal confidence, work skills, career planning, health and well-being (Donaldson,
2015). Teaching staff, responsible for delivering this multi-faceted programme for learners
with profound disabilities, have reported that the perceived benefits of technology are
misaligned to individual needs and capabilities. This is particularly evident when combined
with a developmental approach that favours the achievement of milestones rather than
discovery-led, task free, interaction (Simmons, 2019). The work reported here aims to directly
address these gaps. We describe a series of Digital Imagining workshops, which set out to
encourage creative and co-productive relationships between teaching professionals,
academic artists, makers and computer scientists. During the activities, we experimented with
digital fabrication tools as a means to envision contingent, imaginative interactions between
learners with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD), other people and their
environment. In collectively critiquing the ideas developed during the workshops participants
recognized the benefit of simple contingent, cause and effect actions for drawing attention to
the material properties of objects. Almost seamlessly, these sensory explorations became the
trigger for more complex ideas for integrating the demands of the digital curriculum into more
natural daily scenarios. The shared process of ideation and tinkering was reported to be vital
in generating a shift toward inclusion as a creative, imaginative and expressive counterpoint
to the pervasive emphasis on utility and function
Ming Shan Digital Experience
The Ming Shan Digital Experience is an immersive installation designed to support meditation in the context of a new Taoist center. Its creation confronted current academic literature on digital technology for meditation with the practical and cultural requirements of Taoist practice. Quantitative and qualitative learnings show the effectiveness of multimodal biofeedback on individual and collective meditative experience. Now instated in the Taoist center, the installation opens new perspectives for combining digital technology with ancient practice
Biosensing and ActuationâPlatforms Coupling Body Input-Output Modalities for Affective Technologies
Research in the use of ubiquitous technologies, tracking systems and wearables within
mental health domains is on the rise. In recent years, affective technologies have gained
traction and garnered the interest of interdisciplinary fields as the research on such technologies
matured. However, while the role of movement and bodily experience to affective experience is
well-established, how to best address movement and engagement beyond measuring cues and signals
in technology-driven interactions has been unclear. In a joint industry-academia effort, we aim to
remodel how affective technologies can help address body and emotional self-awareness. We present
an overview of biosignals that have become standard in low-cost physiological monitoring and show
how these can be matched with methods and engagements used by interaction designers skilled in
designing for bodily engagement and aesthetic experiences. Taking both strands of work together offers
unprecedented design opportunities that inspire further research. Through first-person soma design,
an approach that draws upon the designerâs felt experience and puts the sentient body at the forefront,
we outline a comprehensive work for the creation of novel interactions in the form of couplings that
combine biosensing and body feedback modalities of relevance to affective health. These couplings lie
within the creation of design toolkits that have the potential to render rich embodied interactions to
the designer/user. As a result we introduce the concept of âorchestrationâ. By orchestration, we refer
to the design of the overall interaction: coupling sensors to actuation of relevance to the affective
experience; initiating and closing the interaction; habituating; helping improve on the usersâ body
awareness and engagement with emotional experiences; soothing, calming, or energising, depending
on the affective health condition and the intentions of the designer. Through the creation of a
range of prototypes and couplings we elicited requirements on broader orchestration mechanisms.
First-person soma design lets researchers look afresh at biosignals that, when experienced through
the body, are called to reshape affective technologies with novel ways to interpret biodata, feel it,
understand it and reflect upon our bodies
Emotion Work in Experience-Centred Design
Experience Centred Design (ECD) implores us to develop empathic relationships and understanding of participants, to actively work with our senses and emotions within the design process. However, theories of experience-centred design do little to account for emotion work undertaken by design researchers when doing this. As a consequence, how a design researcherâs emotions are experienced, navigated and used as part of an ECD process are rarely published. So, while emotion is clearly a tool that we use, we donât share with one another how, why and when it gets used. This has a limiting effect on how we understand design processes, and opportunities for training. Here, we share some of our experiences of working with ECD. We analyse these using Hochschildâs framework of emotion work to show how and where this work occurs. We use our analysis to question current ECD practices and provoke debate
Somaesthetics of Discomfort and Wayfinding: Encouraging Inclusive Architectural Design
Somaesthetics of discomfort facilitates intentionally inclusive designed spaces for wayfinding by accounting for individualsâ distinct navigational experiences. Following the work of Richard Shusterman, somaesthetics of discomfort is a combination of somatic awareness and somaesthetic reflection centered around feeling ill-at-ease or out of place. The increased awareness of discomfort and reciprocal reflection upon feelings of discomfort enhances how activities and places are experienced, recognized, and categorized. How people experience difficult wayfinding is an element that is often missing from architectural planning and development. Considering uncomfortable somatic experiences of navigation would provide designers with tools to conceptualize and create wayfinding affordances within various spaces. Discomfort may be understood as a somatic affordance during wayfinding because it indicates that there is something problematic about the intersection of soma and environment. This paper describes wayfinding and somaesthetics as they pertain to architectural design. By using the examples of hospitals and parking garages, somaesthetics of discomfort is introduced as a tool that uses somatic appreciation and individual reflection about wayfinding experiences for improving how spaces are designed
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