On Looking at the Vagina through LabellaShow others and affiliations
2016 (English)In: 34th annual chi conference on human factors in computing systems, CHI 2016, ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY , 2016, p. 1810-1821Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
Women's understandings of their own intimate anatomy has been identified as critical to women's reproductive health and sexual wellbeing. However, talking about it, seeking medical help when necessary as well as examining oneself in order to 'know' oneself is complicated by social-cultural constructions of the vagina, i.e. it is something private, shameful and not to be talked about. In response to this, we designed Lobelia, an augmented system that supports intimate bodily knowledge and pelvic fitness in women. It combines a pair of underwear and a mobile phone as a tool for embodied intimate self-discovery. In this paper, we describe Labella, and its evaluation with fourteen women, aged 25-63. We show how through situated embodied perception Labella empowers 'looking'. We highlight how the simple act of augmented looking enables the construction of knowledge which ranges from establishing the 'very basics' through to a nuanced understanding of pelvic muscle structure. Finally, we highlight the role of awkwardness and humour in the design of interactions to overcome taboo.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY , 2016. p. 1810-1821
Keywords [en]
Wellbeing, women's health, women's experiences, pelvic floor muscles, learning, feminist HCI, smartphone technology, intimate care, wearables, on-body interactions
National Category
Human Computer Interaction
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-259231DOI: 10.1145/2858036.2858119ISI: 000380532901078Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85015108181OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-259231DiVA, id: diva2:1471897
Conference
CONFERENCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN COMPUTING SYSTEMS
Note
QC 20201012
2020-09-302020-09-302024-03-18Bibliographically approved