Sketching is an integral part of the design process, and it often occurs in the early ideation phase where the focus is on expressing ideas, thoughts, and emotions, allowing them to take shape and making it possible to share them with others to propel the design process forwards. In principle, sketching is a process of externalising thoughts into visualisations, and it influences the creator and collaborators by enabling them to realise and reflect on the possibility and viability of their ideas and develop them further by adding to or subtracting from the sketches. This process of creation and reflection cannot be achieved by merely imagining ideas in the abstract, especially when working in teams.

In interaction design, sketching is an essential activity. It is (often) done on paper, pro- viding a way to externalise interaction ideas. Sketching in interaction design is usually followed by methods that have a similar goal but are done differently, and an example of that is concept formation or prototyping. In this regard, prototyping is a commitment to shift early, sketched ideas into concrete, refined, and specific artefacts attainable for testing and presentation. Prototypes are, in that sense, more ‘closed’ and harder to change and are thereby less evocative and inspirational than a sketch.

This thesis focuses on soma design, a process that aims to incorporate our whole living bodies into the design process. Soma design applications often engage with technology on or around the entire body, but the processes can be used for a diverse set of design challenges and interaction modalities. Common to soma design processes is how sketching is done with and through the body, integrating, acknowledging, and encouraging a first-person, subjective design stance. When digital technology enters a soma design pro- cess, the fluency of sketching slows down as every nuance of the technology, its aesthetic potential, and its affordances need to be repeatedly felt and shaped, engaging all senses. However, there is a gap in the methods and tools necessary to make digital technology fit for the sensuous, explorative, felt work done in soma design processes. This becomes particularly problematic as digital technology, social practices, and somatic change are seen as entangled in soma design and should thus be explored together.

Through a constructive design research (CDR) process, I have explored how haptic materials can be introduced in the sketching phase of a soma design process. In this regard, I created a toolkit named the Soma Bits. The Soma Bits are simple one-bit haptic actuators that enable heat, vibration, or shape-change onto the body through simple interactions. They can be combined and connected to sensors through an MIDI interface. The Soma Bits toolkit allows designers to craft haptic sketches.

The Soma Bits toolkit (in different incarnations) was developed and used in a range of soma design processes. By analysing the process of using the Soma Bits repeatedly with other groups of designers, I uncovered a key property of sketching that I frame as malleable permanence. A sketch, be it on paper or in haptic materials, needs to be expressed where others can see or touch it, creating a shared understanding of the design idea— that is, it needs to have some permanence. At the same time, changing it and, and adding or detracting elements from it should be easy, thus making it malleable. For haptic ma- terials, malleable permanence supports a mindset I frame as feeling-shaping-feeling. This mindset resonates with the aims of soma design to engage with “the lived, sentient, bodily subjectivity.” Ultimately, the Soma Bits toolkit allows for this malleable permanence, adding a designerly, crafting, creative stance to soma design and thus making the haptics materials sketchable 

Att skissa är en integrerad del av designprocessen, särskilt i den tidiga idéutformnings- fasen, där fokus ligger på att uttrycka idéer, tankar och känslor, låta dem ta form och göra det möjligt att dela dem med andra för att driva designprocessen framåt. Skiss- ande är en process för att externalisera tankar genom visualiseringar som påverkar både kreatören och medarbetare. Processen låter dem inse och reflektera över potentialen och genomförbarheten av idéer samt vidareutveckla dem genom att modifiera skisserna. Denna process är omöjlig att genomföra enbart genom att föreställa sig idéer i det abstrakta, speciellt när man arbetar i team.

Inom interaktionsdesign är skissande en central aktivitet. Det görs (ofta) på papper, vilket ger ett sätt att externalisera interaktionsidéer. Skissande följs vanligtvis av andra metoder som har liknande mål men utförs på ett annat sätt, som konceptualisering eller prototypframställning. Till skillnad från skissande inbegriper prototypframställning ett åtagande att förvandla skissartade idéer till konkreta, genomarbetade och specifika artefakter som kan testas och presenteras på ett tidigt stadium. I den meningen är prototyper mer “stängda” och svårare att ändra, och därmed också mindre suggestiva och inspirerande än skisser.

Arbetet i denna avhandling fokuserar på soma design, en process som syftar till att införliva hela våra levande kroppar i designprocessen. Soma designapplikationer inbegriper ofta teknik på eller runt hela kroppen, men soma designprocessen i sig kan användas för en mängd olika designutmaningar och interaktionsmodaliteter. Gemens- amt för soma designprocesser är hur man skissar med och genom kroppen, integrerar, erkänner och uppmuntrar ett förstapersons, subjektivt designperspektiv. När digital teknik kommer in i en soma designprocess, saktar skissnings processen ner eftersom varje nyans av tekniken, dess estetiska potential och dess möjligheter måste upplevas och omformas upprepade gånger, vilket engagerar alla sinnen. Idag finns en brist på metoder och verktyg för att göra digital teknik lämplig för den sortens sinnliga, ut- forskande, upplevda arbete som utförs i soma designprocesser. Detta blir särskilt prob- lematiskt då digital teknik, sociala praktiker och somatisk förändring ses som beroende av varandra i soma design och därför bör utforskas tillsammans.

Att skissa är en integrerad del av designprocessen, särskilt i den tidiga idéutformnings- fasen, där fokus ligger på att uttrycka idéer, tankar och känslor, låta dem ta form och göra det möjligt att dela dem med andra för att driva designprocessen framåt. Skiss- ande är en process för att externalisera tankar genom visualiseringar som påverkar både kreatören och medarbetare. Processen låter dem inse och reflektera över potentialen och genomförbarheten av idéer samt vidareutveckla dem genom att modifiera skisserna. Denna process är omöjlig att genomföra enbart genom att föreställa sig idéer i det abstrakta, speciellt när man arbetar i team. 

Inom interaktionsdesign är skissande en central aktivitet. Det görs (ofta) på papper, vilket ger ett sätt att externalisera interaktionsidéer. Skissande följs vanligtvis av andra metoder som har liknande mål men utförs på ett annat sätt, som konceptualisering eller prototypframställning. Till skillnad från skissande inbegriper prototypframställning ett åtagande att förvandla skissartade idéer till konkreta, genomarbetade och specifika artefakter som kan testas och presenteras på ett tidigt stadium. I den meningen är prototyper mer “stängda” och svårare att ändra, och därmed också mindre suggestiva och inspirerande än skisser. 

Arbetet i denna avhandling fokuserar på soma design, en process som syftar till att införliva hela våra levande kroppar i designprocessen. Soma designapplikationer inbegriper ofta teknik på eller runt hela kroppen, men soma designprocessen i sig kan användas för en mängd olika designutmaningar och interaktionsmodaliteter. Gemens- amt för soma designprocesser är hur man skissar med och genom kroppen, integrerar, erkänner och uppmuntrar ett förstapersons, subjektivt designperspektiv. När digital teknik kommer in i en soma designprocess, saktar skissnings processen ner eftersom varje nyans av tekniken, dess estetiska potential och dess möjligheter måste upplevas och omformas upprepade gånger, vilket engagerar alla sinnen. Idag finns en brist på metoder och verktyg för att göra digital teknik lämplig för den sortens sinnliga, ut- forskande, upplevda arbete som utförs i soma designprocesser. Detta blir särskilt prob- lematiskt då digital teknik, sociala praktiker och somatisk förändring ses som beroende av varandra i soma design och därför bör utforskas tillsammans. 

Genom en Constructive Design Research (CDR) process har jag utforskat hur haptis- ka material kan introduceras i skissfasen av en soma designprocess genom att skapa en verktygslåda kallad Soma Bits. Soma Bits verktygslådan låter designers skapa haptiska skisser genom att kombinera enkla ställdon och sensorer via ett MIDI-gränssnitt. Skisserna gör det möjligt att genom enkla interaktioner uppleva värme, vibration eller formförändring direkt på kroppen.

Soma Bits-verktygslådan (i dess olika inkarnationer) utvecklades och användes i enrad soma-designprocesser. Genom att analysera användandet av Soma Bits upprepade gånger med olika grupper av designers, avslöjade jag en nyckelegenskap hos skissande som jag ramar in som formbar beständighet. En skiss, vare sig den är gjord på papper eller i haptiska material, måste uttryckas så att andra kan se eller röra den, vilket skapar en gemensam förståelse för designidén. Det vill säga: den måste ha en viss beständighet. Samtidigt ska skissen vara lätt att ändra, t.ex genom att lägga till eller ta bort element från den, vilket gör den formbar. För haptiska material stödjer formbar beständighet ett tänkesätt jag benämner som känna-forma-känna. Detta tänkesätt överenstämmer med målet att engagera sig i “den levda, kännande, kroppsliga subjektiviteten.” inom soma design. Soma Bits verktygslådan gör det möjligt att skissa med haptiska material genom att tillåta formbar beständighet och lägger därigenom till en designmässig, hantverksmässig, kreativ hållning till soma design, vilket gör de haptiska materialen skissbara. 

To support sketching in soma design processes, we built the Soma Bits. These simple technology pieces enable one bit actuation like vibration, heat or shape-changing behaviors. After using them for three years, we ask how well they support soma design processes and what designs they spur? Through analyzing nine soma design projects, we note how they contributes to forming subtle, intimate, body awareness designs, as well as fast, uncomfortable, sensory misaligned, somaesthetic designs or skill training. More importantly, experiencing actuation in the early sketching phases helps the design team to articulate joint somatic understanding and direction. During past design sessions, we noticed that the Soma Bits lack support for the overall orchestration: looping, tweaking, or arranging sequences of interactions, and coupling sensing to actuation. Hence, we present a novel Soma Bits toolkit concept for sketching, composing, documenting, and sharing somatic experience.

Our workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners across disciplines in HCI who share an interest in promoting well-being through tangible interaction. The workshop forms an impassioned response to the worldwide push towards more digital and remote interaction in nearly all domains of our lives in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. One question we raise is: to what extent will measures like remote interaction remain in place post-pandemic, and to what extent these changes may influence future agendas for the design of interactive products and services to support living well? We aim to ensure that the workshop serves as a space for diverse participants to share ideas and engage in cooperative discussions through hands-on activities resulting in the co-creation of a Manifesto to demonstrate the importance of embodied and sensory interaction for supporting well-being in a post-pandemic context. All the workshop materials will be published online on the workshop website and disseminated through ongoing collaboration.

In this paper, we reflect on the applicability of the concept of trajectories to soma design. Soma design is a first-person design method which considers users’ subjective somatic or bodily experiences of a design. Due to bodily changes over time, soma experiences are inherently temporal. Current instruments for articulating soma experiences lack the power to express the effects of experiences on the body over time. To address this, we turn to trajectories, a well-known concept in the HCI community, as a way of mapping this aspect of soma experience. By showing trajectories through a range of dimensions, we can articulate individual experiences and differences in those experiences. Through analysis of a set of soma experience designs and a set of temporal dimensions within the experiences, this paper demonstrates how trajectories can provide a practical conceptual framing for articulating the temporal complexity of soma designs.

We report on a somaesthetic design workshop and the subsequent analytical work aiming to demystify what is entailed in a non-dualistic design stance on embodied interaction and why a first-person engagement is crucial to its unfoldings. However, as we will uncover through a detailed account of our process, these first-person engagements are deeply entangled with second- and third-person perspectives, sometimes even overlapping. The analysis furthermore reveals some strategies for bridging the body-mind divide by attending to our inner universe and dissolving or traversing dichotomies between inside and outside; individual and social; body and technology. By detailing the creative process, we show how soma design becomes a process of designing with and through kinesthetic experience, in turn letting us confront several dualisms that run like fault lines through HCI's engagement with embodied interaction.

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 designer's 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 "orchestration". 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 users' 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.

AbstractWe report on three ongoing human-powered interactionexplorations with a focus on batteryless interactions using hand cranking movements. Importantly, our explorations concerned not only the matter of powering but also using human physical engagement for controlling interactive systems, and how to support designers in testing, exploring, and making such interactions. The three demonstrators consist of a) a hand cranked quote reader, b) an email sending device, and 3) a new bit for exploring this mode of interaction within the LittleBits ecosystem.

In my thesis, I am exploring a soma-based workshop format where I want to co-design a highly personalized artefact with former sufferers of mental health issues. The workshop explores if it could allow the participants to articulate and express their felt experiences of their mental health and result in an individually designed artefact to help address their emotion regulation skills. In this paper, I will look at my work halfway into my PhD and outline my rational, methodology, current state and my next steps.

Biosensing technologies are increasingly available as off-the-shelf products, yet for many designers, artists and non-engineers, these technologies remain difficult to design with. Through a soma design stance, we devised a novel approach for exploring qualities in biodata. Our explorative process culminated in the design of three artefacts, coupling biosignals to tangible actuation formats. By making biodata perceivable as sound, in tangible form or directly on the skin, it became possible to link qualities of the measurements to our own somatics - our felt experience of our bodily bioprocesses - as they dynamically unfold, spurring somatically-grounded design discoveries of novel possible interactions. We show that making biodata attainable for a felt experience - or as we frame it: turning biodata into somadata - enables not only first-person encounters, but also supports collaborative design processes as the somadata can be shared and experienced dynamically, right at the moment when we explore design ideas.

Movement plays an increasingly important role in interactive systems design, from users' physical engagement, to how designed artefacts can move or be moved, and to the concert between users and artefacts. Designers, as well as programmers, have to engage more and more in physical activities when they want to create appealing experiences involving movement. There is a need for articulating emerging dialogues between designers, developers, and their materials. We will explore such dialogues in a 2-half-day workshop, focusing on data and its challenges, on tools and methods, on sensing and actuation when designing or detecting subtle body movements, and on catering for bodily changes over time.