Choreographic Interfaces: Through the use of dancing & choreography in the design process – encourage and elevate personal movement languages at home.
2023 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master of Fine Arts (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis [Artistic work]
Abstract [en]
We increasingly move through and with technology in our homes. One could, using a dance metaphor, view our home as a stage where we become unintentional performers to an audience of digital devices. Still, the way we interact with our devices is mostly based on us, as humans, adapting to the technology – leading to technology-driven products rather than humanistic. By involving dancers and learning from choreographic approaches, the project aim is to consider the body in the design process to form more humanistic interactions where the technology adapts to our personal ways of moving.
Through interviews, autobiographical research, recurring workshops with professional dancers, and prototyping, the realisation came digital devices make us unlearn how to move creatively at an earlier stage but that feedback on our movements together with how a space is designed can encourage it. Furthermore, that when designing for movement one has a lot of power, since while claiming what is the right movement one is at the same time deciding what is the wrong movement– which might lead to exclusion. This led to the outcome of the project which suggest a way in which we might evaluate Choreographic Interfaces based on how open for personalisation they are. From this a concept is proposed where what role digital devices should have in our home is redefined.
Instead of using conventional ways of interacting with digital devices (e.g., buttons, phone, voice assistant, motion sensors), this project takes the shape of a system which lets the user configure and manage devices using existing “choreographies” and routines that naturally develop over time when people live together. The system learns how people move at home during different times and manifests it in contextual ”zones”, which, through visual feedback, allow users to change the appearance of their space, such as setting the room up for play mode, meditation, or a morning stretch. The suggestion is that future movement technologies might enable us to redefine how we live our lives at home through eliciting joy, play, and wellbeing while we interact with our digital devices.
This project aims to contribute to the field of interaction design through suggesting a shift away from designers creating each interaction and the users just adapting to them. Instead, the suggestion is the approach of Choreographic Interfaces where the designer empower the user to utilise their personal way of moving and encourages an active relationship with their devices at home.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. , p. 85
Keywords [en]
Dancing, Interaction Design, Embodied Design, Choreographic Interfaces, Augmented Realities
National Category
Other Engineering and Technologies Design Information Systems, Social aspects
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-210989OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-210989DiVA, id: diva2:1776123
Subject / course
Degree Project, Interaction Design
Educational program
Master's programme in Interaction Design
Presentation
2023-06-27, Umeå, 17:05 (English)
Supervisors
Examiners
2023-07-052023-06-272025-02-24Bibliographically approved