Lecturers:

Dr Joëlle Bitton
Johannes Reck

Office hours by appointment

The course runs from 12.11.24 - 20.12.24, from 9.00 - 17.00. See Timetable for more detailed hours.

PROPOSED UPDATES BY J.RECK

THIS COLOR WAS CURRENT VERSION - THIS COLOR IS PROPOSED VERSION

Overview and Objectives

We move through life with body and mind as an interconnected whole; this course invites you to explore how data, materials, and technology reveal the wide spectrum of movements and presence, deepening our attention to ourselves and our environment. Through this lens, we examine technologies as they relate to forms of Embodied Interaction—mobility, corporality, sensory interfaces, materiality, and the body as an interface.

We constantly leave traces, visible or invisible, conscious or unconscious... In turn, the world around us impacts our selves - shapes our perceptions.

The course also emphasizes Embodied Fabrication, approaching digital fabrication from the perspective of embodiment. As accessible fabrication processes, generative design, and ML tools continue to evolve, we have new opportunities to transform our physical selves and surroundings. These changes bring forth questions about resource scarcity, environmental impact, and the societal narratives we construct through design. This journey will guide us in bridging the analog and digital worlds, with the body as a mediator.

Our body is our interface with others: humans, non-humans, nature, infrastructure, machines.... We interact with the world through our senses, our mind, our limbs, our movements, our emotions.... We constantly leave traces, visible or invisible, conscious or unconscious... In turn, the world around us impacts our selves, shapes our perceptions; technology transforms our physicality, provides body extensions; materials mediate our experiences, etc.

And yet, the body is not often addressed as a primary factor in designing interactive experiences. This course proposes in turn to put the physical body at the center point of our ideation - in a literal way, by designing on it, with it, for it, because of it.
What if we could design a body extension and a movement that reveals some of these interactions and that alters the physical world?

In order to create this experience, we propose an examination and speculation of design factors that emphasise embodiment and physicality: we use personal data, wearability, materials, fabrication processes, technologies and movements to ground the story we tell.
Forms of embodied Interaction can include wearables, mobile interfaces, corporeal devices, orthotics and prosthetics, sensorial interfaces, interactive materials, immersive experiences, tangible interfaces, etc.
In this design process, we also include societal, ethical and social influences.

In parallel, we now face a convergence of tools and processes that dramatically facilitate an even greater tangible interaction between bits & atoms, giving us access to shape interfaces between the analog/physical and the digital/programmed: interactive modes of digital fabrication, data-tracking, sensors, physical computing, generative design, AI-driven outputs, biodesign, material affordances...we thus have the opportunity to investigate ways that we can transform our physical selves and environments.
*And as materials and data that are used in interaction design become more easily entangled with our visions, we also ask questions of extraction, and human and environmental impacts.

By group work (2-4 students max), you'll propose interactive forms of body extension/representation/mirror/sense.

During this module, we’ll explore the analog-digital interface with the body as the mediator and examine technology’s impact on bodily perception, movement, and awareness. Through group work (2-4 students max), you’ll propose interactive forms of body extension, representation, mirroring, or sensing, with attention to what narratives your design choices create.

The starting point of your design can be a feeling, a story, a movement, an interaction, a case study, a sensor, a technology, data, material, or scarcity. This course is about understanding what drives your design directions, encouraging you to reflect on how these inspirations shape your process and the embodied interactions you envision.

The course is divided into 6 weeks:

Week 1: Data Collection. Understanding the topic, context and possibilities
Understanding the topic, context, and possibilities,
including technological impact on body awareness
Week 2: Material collection, experimentations and first prototype
Material collection, experimentations, sensing, and first prototype
w/ attention to material scarcity, environmental & social impact, and resource-conscious design.
Week 3: Fabrication, advancing prototypes
Fabrication, advancing prototypes
using digital fabrication and data w/ focus on validity of core design choices
Week 4: Fabrication, advancing prototypes & first performance
Fabrication, advancing prototypes & first performance w/ following analysis of the interplay bodily / sensory responses and movement inspired by design / material.
Week 5: Production & performative engagement
Production & performative engagement, including shaping/understanding emerging narrative of final performance
Week 6: Final production, finalising details & Documentation
Final production, finalizing details & Documentation. Putting it all together ending w/ reflection on the project & process.

Questions to cover in your design process:

how tech influences-changes-permeates the body, note about increasing scarcity of resources, AI for prototyping/imagining/generating data

how does movement influence body/mind and vice-versa,
how tech/clothing can influence movement - what meaning does it give, what mindset.. philosophy, how : s it make you see the world? interact with it, with others, with yourself?

framing sensory exercise as attention - situated awareness - at different levels (seeing things at scale of dog)

add reflections on observations

push more fabrication and validity of concept

show process of fab in the material workshop

mental setting - recognize own feelings, own mindset - how a particular item influences the body, how the information is processed by the body (a light, a space, a person next to me, reading the news) - how does it affect the body, how does that create a performance,

what is the story you tell, what output makes sense,

what movement does the wearable creates, how does the body behave, mind?

in a discussion, ask them something in their lives that they would label as embodied - mind shows through body

analysis of performance - asking them questions after catwalk, etc... - what worked, what didn't

avoid types of projects basic, literal, not layered, too hiding behind choreographic - how to explain that?

the starting point can be a feeling, a story, a movement, an interaction, a storyline, a case study, a sensor, a tech, a data, a material, scarcity - what drives your inspiration, your process? > this course is about understanding what drives your design directions..

add first sentence on the syllabus that states the point of the course in terms of meaning, purpose: ie "we move through our life with body and mind...." how does that data, materials and tech help us see the wide spectrum of movements, and presence to ourselves, attention or reverse the sentence.. how this allows us to understand better how we can process info, materials,

Your work will encounter some of these research questions (review questioans/factors below)

Define your own meaning of an interaction that is 'embodied'
How does that translate with materials?
What are the possible interactive experiences with materials?
What tools/technology can be used to facilitate this process?
In what ways does material influence the perception of data?
How is digital fabrication influencing embodied interaction?
How does technology influence, change, or permeate the body, and in what ways is this shaped by increasing resource scarcity?
How can ML tools for prototyping, imagining, or generating data affect our design approaches to embodied interaction?
How does technology, including wearable design or clothing, impact movement, mindset, or perception, and how does this shift one’s interaction with self, others, and the environment?
In what ways do movement and physicality affect the connection between body and mind, and how does this relationship inform design?
What is the impact of situational or mental awareness—recognizing one’s feelings or mindset—on the way objects, spaces, or environments are perceived or processed by the body?
How does an item or space affect bodily perception and performance, and what does this reveal about embodied interactions?
How do wearables or bodily apparatuses shape bodily movement and behavior, and in turn, influence mental and emotional states?

Questions to consider in your process:
- What drives the design? (example: is it functional, speculation or critique)
- Where could the data come from? (example: sensors)
  Where does the data originate, and how does it connect to the embodied experience (e.g., sensors, environmental data, self-generated data)?
- How do you map the data to a geometry? (example: using a metaphor)
  How do you map or translate the data into a meaningful physical form (e.g., using metaphor, narrative, or situational relevance)?
- Or is the form making process inspired by existing models? (example: fungus, cell division, mathematical geometry,…)
  (would remove this one)
- How did bodily feedback during performance shape your design choices / made you adapt your design?
- What are the materials used? What are their properties, lifecycle, etc
  What materials are chosen, and what considerations of their properties, life cycle, or scarcity shape the design?
- What is the fabrication process?
- What does your body extension connect with the surrounding environment?
  How does your design interact with the surrounding environment, and what relationships does it reveal?
- What does it embody?
  What does the design embody in terms of sensory experience, movement, or mindset?
- What meanings does it create?
  What meanings, narratives, or mental shifts does it aim to evoke in the wearer / person interacting / observer?
  OR What narrative or story does the design communicate, and what types of outputs create meaningful interactions within that story?
- What led you to the final performance - what made you choose the aspects of it? (Sound, Setting, Participants, Randomness/Chance vs. Structure, Light)
- How do you relate to the design emotionally - how does/did the creation process influence your relationship to the material / fabrication / data / topic?
Design factors should include:

• material intimacy
• processes of fabrication
• data tracking & mapping / generative design / AI components
• wearability or extension or external or sensorial apparatus
• performative aspects
• interactive components
• political / environmental / societal context

Expectations and Gradings

Grades will be based on group presentations and exercises, class participation, documentation (journal) and final work.
Contributing to constructive group feedback is an essential aspect of class participation.
Attendance to inputs is required. Attendance to final presentation is required.
Two or more unexcused absences will affect the final grade. Arriving late on more than one occasion will also affect the grade.

Final Presentation 40%

Assignments/presentations 30%

Journal Documentation 20%

Class participation 10%

Any assignment that remains unfulfilled receives a failing grade.

Deliverables

Collection Exercise I: Analogue Data Collection
Look for sources of your personal body data in the real world. What traces do we leave behind that give us indications about our movements, interactions or emotions?
Be aware of the data you're collecting without intention. Or are you currently collecting data intentionally?
Is there a type of data that reveals something specific about your life, complex patterns of interactions with your environment? Can a short sample offer a nuanced reflection?
Your survey has to comprehend at least 6 hours of tracking and showcase a complex aspect of your entangled life (beyond a specific quantity tracking).
Think of questions you want to answer before you start tracking.
Record videos or take photos to indicate and attempt to extract the data or reflect on it.
Represent that data in a performative way the day after.
Presentation/performance: max 2 minutes - you can invite the audience to take part, use props, etc
Individual work
Collection Exercise II: Sensory and Listening Collection with accompanying Reflection
Collection Exercise III: Material Collection, Demo & Miro board info
In advance, select materials you want to experiment with: biomaterials, minerals, off-the-shelf, chemicals, liquids, growing, reactive, decaying, static, states, duration, texture, smell, taste, touch, etc

Bring them for a collective experimental day, list characteristics, qualities and behaviours and determine which interface and interactive experience could be derived from its properties - you will also demo how the material you chose can inspire an interaction, interface, experience..

As you present and demo properties, cover this info (add all the info on Miro board the day before the workshop - present a short selection):
-where the material comes from,
-how it has been extracted,
-by whom (labor involved),
-their lifecycle,
-their history,
-their trade,
-their legislation,
-their price value,
-their exploitation,
-their environmental impact
-their affordances
+rarity, waste, off-the-shelf, availability, function, unfunction, forms of fabrication, etc...

In-class Exercises, Reflections, Performances-analysis & Weekly progress reviews (bring iterated prototype/sketches/experiments for each mentoring)
Mid-Class Delivery: PDF showcasing concept, prototype & inspirations
PDF featuring texts and visuals: Overall Concept, Main directions, Inspirations/Related Work (references, authors, dates, visuals), Material inquiries, and Prototype
Final Project: Interactive embodied fabricated apparatus
FInal version of your work iterated on for several weeks. Use Data-Collection, Generative Design Methods and Digital Fabrication to create an interactive body apparatus / embodied performative experience (wearable, fashion item, prosthesis, orthesis, prosthetics, implant, extension, external apparatus, architecture, etc).
In groups of 2-4 students
Final Presentation & Performance: Students present with their group an Exhibition of Experiments & Performance with Final Prototypes together with an oral presentation.
Presentation on: 19.12.24
Documentation
- A 'Journal' is developed by each group of students that reflects on experiments and learnings from the course. It should be in the form of an online blog (ie. WordPress, Tumblr or other):
  - The journal should be structured in a generally comprehensible manner
  - The lecture notes, including annotations, are stored
  - Notes, sketches for each lesson should be included as well
- Final Documentation per usual guidelines: title, authors, abstract, hi-res pics, PDF with commentary text, video documentation (see Wiki)

Course outline

Timetable 2024

Student Teams & Journals

Journals Readings

Embodied Interaction: Exploring the Foundations of a New Approach to HCI

http://acadia.org/papers

Creating physical visualizations with makervis

Supporting the design and fabrication of physical visualizations

https://issuu.com/pabloherrera/docs/algorithmicmodelling

Related Projects (small selection)

Visualisation

Magnetic Movie

Technorama Building (analog wind visualization)

Experimental study of apparent behavior

Study for Fifteen Points

Parametric design and Digital Fabrication for Inflatables

Fashion context

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/336573772141747181/

http://behnazfarahi.com/bodyscape/

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/564779609510964664/

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/563794447076862696/

http://www.iaacblog.com/programs/miura-ori-skin/

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/288511919858286303/

https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/rottlace/overview/

Data

https://driesdepoorter.be/thefollower/ (Revealing hidden information)
https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/ (data experienceable)

Tools and Software

Rhino 6.0 Trial for Windows or Rhino 5.2 for Mac (90 Day test license) including Grasshopper
https://shiftr.io/
Skanect (3d scanning with kinect)
Meshmixer (editing meshes)

Tools available: 3D printer (Ultimaker, Delta, Cetus, Single-line), laser cutter, foam cutter, wire bender, photogrammetry....