Towards understanding the design of bodily integration

Foundations and Trends® in Human-Computer Interaction

Human-Computer Integration (short: HInt) is an emerging new paradigm in the humancomputer interaction (HCI) field. Its goal is to integrate the human body and the computational machine. This article presents two key dimensions of Human-Computer Integration (bodily agency and bodily ownership) and proposes a set of challenges that we believe need to be resolved in order to bring the paradigm forward. Ultimately, our work aims to facilitate a more structured investigation into human body and computational machine integration.

This paper offers the beginnings of a methodological framework for the design of body-centric artifacts, understood as those that use embodied self-awareness as a tool for bodily self-knowledge and wellbeing. We present a case study on the design of artifacts to be applied in the self-practice of the psychotherapeutic technique Focusing. The autobiographical journey of the researcher is documented in the use of different methods to be integrated into design research, such as crafting devices through autoethnographic phenomenological annotations, the application of secondperson methods such as facilitated interaction for novices, and the use of a design kit to be tested by previously trained users. Even though wellbeing is a core concern of this project, the application of autoethnographic exploration through Focusing has an important creative potential, particularly in the generation of selfreporting narratives informed by somatic exploration. These rich descriptions can be utilised as a core construction material in the creation of art and design pieces for bodily understanding.

CHI '14 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2014

The goal of this panel is to reflect on the past and discuss the present and future of designing for an experiencing body in HCI. The motivation is to discuss the full range of rich body/movement-based experiences and how the CHI community can embrace and extend these perspectives on designing for the body. The panelists and audience will be asked to share their perspectives on what has most influenced thought in designing for the body, how new sensing technologies are crafting the HCI perspective, and where they see this line of research and design heading in the next ten years.

2006

Our physical bodies play a central role in shaping human experience in the world, understanding of the world, and interactions in the world. This paper draws on theories of embodiment -from psychology, sociology, and philosophy -synthesizing five themes we believe are particularly salient for interaction design: thinking through doing, performance, visibility, risk, and thick practice. We introduce aspects of human embodied engagement in the world with the goal of inspiring new interaction design approaches and evaluations that better integrate the physical and computational worlds.

2005

Abstract. Bodyarchitecture is a research platform for investigating different forms of natural, multimodal human-computer interaction. It involves the research and development of computer vision, speech and gesture recognition systems that connect media and ...

2014

To build creative links between ethnographic findings of bodily practices and design, we developed so called body cards to document experiential qualities to be used in idea generation and early prototyping. These focus on the stages of a design process that involves investigating a use domain and making such knowledge relevant and usable for design. This involves challenges of effectively describing-with theoretical and empirical grounding-how bodily action and experience actually occur, in relation to people, artefacts, and activities. We discuss challenges in bridging between ethnographic findings and design of technologies for bodily experiences. Designing for the body in interaction is then not only about better ways of sensing bodily actions, but just as much about integrating these in the space of social interaction.

The Workshop Call for Participation

The body remains to some degree an elusive entity in our understandings of human cognition and our evolving relations with technology. With the advent of mobile and wearable sensor technologies, the body is brought to the fore as the essential and defining site of interaction and experience. Devices hosted by and around the body, or distributed in the environment, are able to read, measure, track and provide feedback on our location, proximity, gestures, movement patterns, pulse, breathing, emotional state, gaze and so on. What and how we carry or wear and how we move through space in our daily interactions have distinct influences on our experiences of the world around us and of course, our agency to act in our everyday lives.

The Workshop Call for …, 2011

The body remains to some degree an elusive entity in our understandings of human cognition and our evolving relations with technology. With the advent of mobile and wearable sensor technologies, the body is brought to the fore as the essential and defining site of interaction and experience. Devices hosted by and around the body, or distributed in the environment, are able to read, measure, track and provide feedback on our location, proximity, gestures, movement patterns, pulse, breathing, emotional state, gaze and so on. What and how we carry or wear and how we move through space in our daily interactions have distinct influences on our experiences of the world around us and of course, our agency to act in our everyday lives.

Interactions, 2018

The body contains the particular condition of being simultaneously subject and object. In this regard, this position paper advocates for the importance of developing technologies that celebrate the subjective aspects of the body. As a theoretical ground, I find inspiration from Shusterman’s concept of soma and his philosophical project of Somaesthetics, which acknowledges the body as mindful as well as a source of meaning-generation. Nowadays, technologies for self-exploration are mostly focused on supervising and shaping the objective body towards the interpretation of quantified outcomes. Even when the objective and subjective approaches can be complementary, I discuss about the current need for technology that takes into account the experiential and smart body that expands its semiotic world, providing new channels for self-expression and learning.