Thecla Schiphorst

soft(n): toward a somaesthetics of touch

This paper explores the concept of somaesthetics as an approach to the design of expressive interaction. This concept is exemplified through the design process of soft(n), an interactive tangible art installation developed in conjunction with V2_Lab in Rotterdam. Somaesthetics is a term coined by Richard Shusterman, a pragmatist philosopher interested in the critical study of bodily experience as a focus of sensory-aesthetic appreciation and agency. In the context of interaction, somaesthetics offers a bridging strategy between embodied practices based in somatics, and the design of an aesthetics of interaction for HCI. This paper argues for the value of exploring design strategies that employ a somaesthetic approach, presents a definitional framework of somaesthetics that can be applied to interaction, and links the concept of somaesthetics to a specific design case in which tactile interaction is applied to the design of a networked, tangible interactive artwork called soft(n).

Composition of multiple figure sequences for dance and animation

Insights gained from an interdisciplinary study of the creative processes involved in dance composition are the basis for developing computer-based tools to support dance composition and animation. The system that has been developed, Life Forms, provides an interactive hierarchical environment where the user can reduce the complexity of the task by flexibly switching between spatial and temporal views of the composition. Realistic animation of the final result is also available. Life Forms, which is implemented on IRIS and Macintosh workstations, has proven itself to be of real value in dance composition. It is now being tested as the front end of a conventional animation system for use in animating multiple articulated figures.

The evolution of an interface for choreographers

This paper describes the evolution of the interface to Life Forms, a compositional tool for the creation of dance choreography, and highlights some of the important lessons we have learned during a six year design and implementation period. The lessons learned can be grouped into two categories: 1) Process, and 2) Architecture of the Interface. Our goal in developing a tool for choreography has been to provide computer-based creative design support for the conception and development of dance. The evolution was driven by feedback from the choreographers and users who were members of the development team, combined with our knowledge of current thinking on design and composition. Although the interface evolved in a relatively unconstrained way, the resulting system has many of the features that theoretical discussion in human interface design has projected necessary. The Life Forms interface has evolved incrementally with one major discontinuity where adoption of a new compositional primitive required a completely new version.

Tools for interaction with the creative process of composition

This paper explores the nature of creative composition particularly as it applies to dance, and describes the development of interactive computer based tools to assist the composer. The hierarchical nature of the composition process calls for an interface which allows the composer the flexibility to move back and forth between alternate views and conceptual levels of abstraction. COMPOSE, an interactive system for the composition of dance has been implemented on Silicon Graphics and Apple workstations. The user visually composes in space and in time using menus of postures and sequences. Paths can be edited and an animation of the dance composition allows the final result to be evaluated.

Using a gestural interface toolkit for tactile input to a dynamic virtual space

In this paper, we describe the development of a gesture interface toolkit that has been applied to an application of tactile gesture recognition within an artificial life environment. The goal is to design a gestural semantics of caress, in which qualitative attributes of gesture are expressed as a function of tactility. A touch-sensitive tablet capable of detecting multiple simultaneous contacts was used to provide a source of tactile gestures (stroking, pressing, tapping, wrapping, spreading, pinching, nudging) which were then interpreted by the software as events to be sent to the active creature in the environment. Participants could observe the creature reactions within a three-dimensional immersive display system.

PillowTalk: can we afford intimacy?

This paper describes the move.me interaction prototype developed in conjunction with V2_lab in Rotterdam. move.me proposes a scenario for social interaction and the notion of social intimacy. Interaction with sensory--enhanced, soft, pliable, tactile, throw-able cushions afford new approaches to pleasure, movement and play. A somatics approach to touch and kinaesthesia provides an underlying design framework. The technology developed for move.me uses the surface of the cushion as an intelligent tactile interface. Making use of a movement analysis system called Laban Effort-Shape, we have developed a model that provides a high-level interpretation of varying qualities of touch and motion trajectory. We describe the notion of social intimacy, and how we model it through techniques in somatics and performance practice. We describe the underlying concepts of move.me and its motivations. We illustrate the structural layers of interaction and related technical detail. Finally, we discuss the related body of work in the context of evaluating our approach and conclude with plans for future work.

Designing for movement: evaluating computational models using LMA effort qualities

While single-accelerometers are a common consumer embedded sensors, their use in representing movement data as an intelligent resource remains scarce. Accelerometers have been used in movement recognition systems, but rarely to assess expressive qualities of movement. We present a prototype of wearable system for the real-time detection and classification of movement quality using acceleration data. The system applies Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) to recognize Laban Effort qualities from acceleration input using a Machine Learning software that generates classifications in real time. Existing LMA-recognition systems rely on motion capture data and video data, and can only be deployed in controlled settings. Our single-accelerometer system is portable and can be used under a wide range of environmental conditions. We evaluate the performance of the system, present two applications using the system in the digital arts and discuss future directions.

Designing a wearable social network

This paper presents a framework and design for a wearable social network based on Facebook. We begin with a discussion of social networking by isolating key characteristics of social interactions in three research areas: Social Networking Sites, Mobile Computing, and Wearable Computing. These characteristics are analyzed to suggest a design framework that can be applied to the design of social networks. Using this framework, we have designed and created a wearable social network called Patches, which extends the social interactions available in most wearable devices today.

Personalized ambient media experience: move.me case study

The move.me prototype illustrates a scenario for social interaction in which users can manipulate audio-visual sources presented on various screens through an interaction with a sensor-enhanced pillow. The technology developed for move.me uses the surface of a pillow as a tactile interface. We describe the underlying concepts of move.me and its motivations. We present a case study of the environment as the context of evaluating aspects of our approach and conclude with plans for future work.

Affectionate computing: can we fall in love with a machine?

This article addresses new ways of computer interaction beyond the known mouse and button paradigm. The author explores haptics as a means to pay attention to the self, and using this sense to connect with others.