Our bodies mediate every interaction with technology, yet - as soma design and feminist HCI remind us - the body is not a neutral canvas. We introduce and examine felt asymmetries - somaesthetic experiences of difference in the body - as a site for generative and critical engagement in interaction design. Through an autobiographical design exploration, and a series of somatic explorations with nine designers including individual inquiries and workshops, we sensitised to, articulated, and shared personal experiences of asymmetry. We draw from these explorations to contribute: (1) Opening a design space exploring the aesthetics of felt asymmetries; (2) Reflections on engaging with asymmetry in design, e.g. as a design material, an estrangement activity or doorway into intimate experience; (3) Considerations for creating technologies that resonate with, rather than erase, the asymmetries of lived experience. We argue that bodily asymmetries are not only to be accommodated in design, but embraced as aesthetic resources - sources of joy, tension, and creativity.

Haptic technologies have advanced rapidly, yet exploration of robotic touch remains dominated by replicating realistic environmental cues or hand gestures, which narrows the design space and risks social resistance. This paper argues for alternatives: grounded in the notion of “otherness” from human-robot interaction (HRI), we propose treating robotic touch’s inherent otherness as a design quality. Instead of being a limitation in pursuing realism, otherness can be embraced to elicit ambiguity and provoke alternative interpretations, fostering expressive and evocative robotic touch design. To develop this perspective, we analyze inspirational art and design precedents and four design research cases through a reflective Research through Design (RtD) approach. Through this analysis, we articulate a set of design languages structured around why otherness matters for touch meaning-making, how it can be shaped through design strategies, and where it can be embedded within robotic touch systems. We conclude by reflecting on the tensions and risks involved in designing robotic touch with otherness in mind.

As haptic interfaces integrate more seamlessly into wearables and everyday environments, they increasingly require actuators that are soft, thin, silent, and energy efficient. However, conventional motors and temperature-responsive polymers often struggle to deliver these properties due to their bulky form factors and high power consumption. High-Voltage Electrostatic Actuators (HVEAs), which generate force by applying an electric field to localized charge concentrations using high voltages and ultra-low currents, have recently emerged as a compelling alternative due to their fast, silent, and low-power operation within highly customizable and compliant form factors. This paper presents a focused review of HVEAs for haptics, examining four major classes: electrostatic switchable adhesives, dielectric elastomer actuators, soft electrohydraulic actuators, and electrokinetic pumps. For each class, we describe their mechanisms that enable haptic output; characterize their band widths, force densities, and spatial scalability; and evaluate their versatility for rendering cutaneous and kinesthetic feedback across wearable and world-grounded interfaces. Through this cross-technology analysis, we identify common design constraints and emerging strategies for improving ergonomics, streamlining fabrication, and integrating self-sensing. We conclude by out lining where HVEAs are uniquely positioned to advance haptic interaction and highlighting key research directions needed to translate these technologies into practical systems.

Daily interactions with things are becoming increasingly virtual and hidden, tucked away in minimalist UI’s or dependent on clear voice commands. Motivated by a love for physical interactions, this work uses keys, a mundane, everyday technology, as our object of study, identifying what is being ‘designed away’ in the process of digitalization. This is achieved through a collection of found objects, material samples, and design probes. We present a visual exhibition in pictorial format, where each piece represents material qualities of physical, interactive artefacts. We conclude by discussing how the embodied qualities of these artifacts can be extended to the broader landscape of everyday physical things. Our work contributes to the TEI community through both the tangible artifacts and the identified qualities for designing future physical, everyday, interactive things.

Driven by the vision of everyday haptics, the HCI community is advocating for “design touch first” and investigating “how to touch well.” However, a gap remains between the exploratory nature of haptic design and technical reproducibility. We present Shape-Kit, a hybrid design toolkit embodying our “crafting haptics” metaphor. The Shape-Kit analog tool can transduce and amplify (or minify) human touch behaviors into dynamic pin-based haptic sensations through a flexible and long transducer, enabling free-form sensorial exploration of touch across the body. An ad-hoc tracking module captures and digitizes these patterns, while our graphical user interface includes real-time 3D visualization, recording, tuning, and playback functionalities. To showcase a full design cycle, we built a programmable shape display for tangible playback. This demonstration invites attendees to experience how the analog crafting method offers an intuitive entry point for collaborative touch prototyping while excelling at uncovering subtle nuances that shape touch quality and how touch digitization enables touch recording and playback while enhancing reflective creation.

Driven by the vision of everyday haptics, the HCI community is advocating for “design touch first” and investigating “how to touch well.” However, a gap remains between the exploratory nature of haptic design and technical reproducibility. We present Shape-Kit, a hybrid design toolkit embodying our “crafting haptics” metaphor, where hand touch is transduced into dynamic pin-based sensations that can be freely explored across the body. An ad-hoc tracking module captures and digitizes these patterns. Our study with 14 designers and artists demonstrates how Shape-Kit facilitates sensorial exploration for expressive haptic design. We analyze how designers collaboratively ideate, prototype, iterate, and compose touch experiences and show the subtlety and richness of touch that can be achieved through diverse crafting methods with Shape-Kit. Reflecting on the findings, our work contributes key insights into haptic toolkit design and touch design practices centered on the “crafting haptics” metaphor. We discuss in-depth how Shape-Kit’s simplicity, though remaining constrained, enables focused crafting for deeper exploration, while its collaborative nature fosters shared sense-making of touch experiences.

Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is a field of study that focuses on the understanding, design, and evaluation of interactions between humans and robots. This workshop aims to bring together researchers interested in exploring the intersection of UIST and HRI. Our goal is to provide attendees with a deeper understanding of the synergies between the two research communities and to inspire better alignment between technical advancements in UIST and their application to social HRI contexts. The workshop will feature interactive demos, prototyping sessions, and discussions to explore key HRI concepts and considerations for designing robot interfaces that facilitate social interactions with humans.

Driven by the vision of future responsive environments, where everyday surroundings can perceive human behaviors and respond through intelligent robotic actuation, we propose Wizard of Props (WoP): a human-centered design workflow for creating expressive, implicit, and meaningful interactions. This collaborative experience prototyping approach integrates full-scale physical props with Mixed Reality (MR) to support ideation, prototyping, and rapid testing of responsive environments. We present two design explorations that showcase our investigations of diverse design solutions based on varying technology resources, contextual considerations, and target audiences. Design Exploration One focuses on mixed environment building, where we observe fluid prototyping methods. In Design Exploration Two, we explore how novice designers approach WoP, and illustrate their design ideas and behaviors. Our findings reveal that WoP complements conventional design methods, enabling intuitive body-storming, supporting flexible prototyping fidelity, and fostering expressive environment-human interactions through in-situ improvisational performance.

Fostering data visualization literacy (DVL) as part of childhood education could lead to a more data literate society. However, most work in DVL for children relies on a more formal educational context (i.e., a teacher-led approach) that limits children's engagement with data to classroom-based environments and, consequently, children's ability to ask questions about and explore data on topics they find personally meaningful. We explore how a curiosity-driven, child-led approach can provide more agency to children when they are authoring data visualizations. This paper explores how informal learning with crafting physicalizations through play and curiosity may foster increased literacy and engagement with data. Employing a constructionist approach, we designed a do-it-yourself toolkit made out of everyday materials (e.g., paper, cardboard, mirrors) that enables children to create, customize, and personalize three different interactive visualizations (bar, line, pie). We used the toolkit as a design probe in a series of in-person workshops with 5 children (6 to 11-year-olds) and interviews with 5 educators. Our observations reveal that the toolkit helped children creatively engage and interact with visualizations. Children with prior knowledge of data visualization reported the toolkit serving as more of an authoring tool that they envision using in their daily lives, while children with little to no experience found the toolkit as an engaging introduction to data visualization. Our study demonstrates the potential of using the constructionist approach to cultivate children's DVL through curiosity and play.

Emerging research has demonstrated the viability of emotional communication through haptic technology inspired by interpersonal touch. However, the meaning-making of artificial touch remains ambiguous and contextual. We see this ambiguity caused by robotic touch's "otherness" as an opportunity for exploring alternatives. To empower designers to explore emotional robotic touch, we devise TactorBots. It contains eight plug-and-play wearable tactor modules that render a series of social gestures driven by servo motors. Our specialized web GUI allows easy control, modification, and storage of tactile patterns to support fast prototyping. Taking emotional haptics as a "design canvas" with broad opportunities, TactorBots is the first "playground" for designers to try out various tactile sensations, feel around the nuanced connection between touches and emotions, and come up with creative imaginations.