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Body x Materials @ CHI: Exploring the intersections of body and materiality in a full-day workshop

We published a blog post on ACM Interactions about our Body x Materials workshop at CHI 2023: Body x Materials @ CHI: Exploring the intersections of body and materiality in a full-day workshop!

During the 2023 CHI conference, we ran a one-day workshop to consider the design space at the intersection of the body and materials [1]. The workshop gathered designers, makers, researchers, and artists to explore current theories, approaches, methods, and tools that emphasize the critical role of materiality in body-based interactions with technology. We were motivated by developments in HCI and interaction design over the past 15 years, namely the “material turn,” which explores the materiality of technology and computation and methods for working with materials, and “first-person” approaches emphasizing design for and from lived experience and the physical body. Recognizing the valuable contributions of approaches that foregrounded materiality [2] and the body [3] in HCI, we proposed to explore the intersection of these two turns.

Read more: Body x Materials @ CHI: Exploring the intersections of body and materiality in a full-day workshop

Ciencia y Tecnología en Femenino: Round Table

Ana Tajadura-Jiménez participated in the 6th conference Ciencia y Tecnología en Femenino (Women’s Science and Technology) as part of the roundtable discussion about Realities and Opportunities. The panel happened in Parque Científico UC3M, on Thursday, November 17th, 2023. Other participants were Marga Torre, Alicia Santos and Ana Ye, and it was moderated by María Lacalle.

You can find the full program of the event here: Programa 6° edición Ciencia y Tecnología en Femenino

On the occasion of the event, InnovaSpain published a feature piece about Ana: Ana Tajadura-Jiménez, la ingeniera que hackea los sentidos para mejorar la salud

Semana de la Ciencia 2023: Muévete como un cíborg! Hackea tu cuerpo con tecnología sensorial vestible

¿Te gustaría probar y entender cómo se pueden diseñar nuevas tecnologías que cambien tu forma de moverte? ¿O que cambien la percepción de tu cuerpo y cómo te sientes con él, p.ej. tecnología que te haga sentir más ligero/a, más ágil o más feliz? En este taller participativo os invitamos a probar los materiales y herramientas que usamos en nuestros proyectos de investigación Magic outFit, BODYinTRANSIT y MovIntPlay Lab para diseñar tecnologías sensoriales vestibles que hackean nuestros sentidos, impactan la percepción de nuestro cuerpo, comportamiento, emoción y salud. Te invitaremos a que elijas un movimiento (p.ej. caminar) y que pruebes en primera persona distintos materiales y herramientas de nuestro laboratorio para cambiar cómo realizas ese movimiento, o cómo te sientes y percibes cuando lo realizas. Probarás herramientas tales como siliconas blandas que se engrandecen y se mueven con aire, sonidos que cambian dependiendo de cómo te muevas, o vibraciones en distintas partes del cuerpo. También te invitaremos a que nos compartas tus ideas para futuras tecnologías que te gustaría que diseñemos.

Taller impartido por Joaquín Díaz Durán, José Manuel Vega Cebrián, Ana Tajadura Jiménez y Elena Márquez Segura, investigadoras del Dpto. de Informática de la UC3M en colaboración con Laia Turmo Vidal, investigadora de KTH Royal Institute of Sweden

17 de noviembre a las 17h
Aula Puerta de la Cultura, UC3M Campus Puerta de Toledo

Reserva tu plaza en este formulario o en la siguiente dirección: jodiazd@pa.uc3m.es

Semana de la Ciencia 2023: Fomentando la Creatividad y Diseño con Tecnología y Materiales Cotidianos

Taller impartido por José Manuel Vega Cebrián, Elena Márquez Segura, Ana Tajadura Jiménez, Joaquín Díaz Durán y Judith Ley Flores, investigadoras del Dpto. de Informática de la UC3M.

Reserva tu plaza en este formulario

En este taller participativo y divulgativo enseñamos al público a usar su propio cuerpo y el de otros/as participantes; tecnología y elementos cotidianos; y el espacio físico para pensar creativamente, y diseñar tecnología innovadora.

En concreto, usaremos una serie de “bodystorming baskets” o cajas de ideación corporal, que contendrán materiales cotidianos (juguetes, plastilina, cartulinas, ropa, estropajos, piedras, y plásticos, etc.), y materiales tecnológicos desarrollados por nuestro grupo de investigación para fomentar la creatividad e idear tecnología para el movimiento. Por ejemplo, un brazalete que se ilumina cuando te mueves rápido: un cinturón que vibra, o unas hombreras que suenan como si cayera agua al inclinarte para los lados.

Juntos/as, usaremos estas cajas de ideación corporal para encontrar un problema relevante para los/las participantes en el ámbito de la actividad física, el deporte y/o rehabilitación; y diseñar posible tecnología futura.

El taller está dirigido para el público general; no es necesario tener experiencia previa de diseño, ni con la tecnología. Se anima especialmente a la participación de educadores/as, diseñadores/as, o cualquier otro/a profesional al que le interesen los métodos innovadores para fomentar la creatividad e imaginar situaciones y tecnología futura.

Plenary: Research & Industry in the Metaverse

Ana Tajadura-Jiménez will be part of the Research & Industry in the Metaverse plenary in Stereopsia Europe, The Immersion forum with XR4Europe, in Maison de la Poste, Brussels, Belgium, from October 18th to 20th, 2023. The plenary will happen on Thursday, October 18th, from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. The other participants will be Will Steptoe, AC Coppens, Tim Devlin and Mel Slater.

From the Research & Industry in the Metaverse plenary description:

In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, the synergy between academic research and industry plays a pivotal role in driving innovation, shaping economies, and addressing global challenges. Both are also crucial for building the next chapter of the internet, the metaverse. This panel delves into the relationship between academic research and industry and explores how these domains intersect and collaborate with each other in the context of emerging technologies. What are possible forms of collaborations between academic partners and industry players? What are the formats, skills and mindset that are essential for the success of bridging academia and industry. What motivates researchers to collaborate with industry partners and vice versa? What role do academic researchers play in the development of the metaverse? Join us for a stimulating discussion featuring speakers from academia as well as industry professionals

FESN: “Pieces of Me”: Debating the Constituents of Bodily Self-Awareness along the Lifespan in Healthy and Pathological Populations

We were part of the symposium “Pieces of Me”: Debating the Constituents of Bodily Self-Awareness along the Lifespan in Healthy and Pathological Populations as part of the 8th Scientific Meeting of the Federation of European Societies of Neuropsychology (FESN), from September 27th to 29th, 2023 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The symposium’s chair was Gerardo Salvato and the speakers were:

  • Thermoregulation and bodily self-awareness: is there a link? Evidence from pathological populations. Gerardo Salvato, Italy
  • The contribution of skin-mediated interoceptive signals to the sense of body ownership. Laura Crucianelli, H.H. Ehrsson, Sweden
  • Neural correlates of self-recognition in 6- to 8- month-old infants. S. Rigato, R. De Sepulveda, Richardson, Maria Laura Filippetti, United Kingdom
  • The Hearing Body: Exploring the Interplay between Audition and the Bodily Self. Ana Tajadura-Jiménez, Spain, United Kingdom.

You can find here the complete Scientific program of the meeting.

Academic Mindtrek 2023: On Futuring Body Perception Transformation Technologies: Roles, Goals and Values

We are presenting our paper On Futuring Body Perception Transformation Technologies: Roles, Goals and Values at the 26th International Academic Mindtrek conference, between the 3rd and 6th of October 2023 in the Nokia Arena, Tampere, Finland. We will be part of Session 6: Fictional, Speculative and Critical Futures, on Thursday, October 5th, from 13:45 to 15:10. See here the full program.

The paper’s abstract:

Body perception transformation technologies augment or alter our own body perception outside of our usual bodily experience. As emerging technologies, research on these technologies is limited to proofs-of-concept and lab studies. Consequently, their potential impact on the way we perceive and experience our bodies in everyday contexts is not yet well understood. Through a speculative design inquiry, our multidisciplinary team envisioned utopian and dystopian technology visions. We surfaced potential roles, goals and values that current and future body perception transformation technologies could incorporate, including non-utilitarian purposes. We contribute insights on such roles, goals and values to inspire current and future work. We also present three provocations to stimulate discussions. Finally, we contribute methodologically with insights into the value of speculative design as a fruitful approach for articulating and bridging diverse perspectives in multidisciplinary teams.

As Light as Your Footsteps: Show and Tell Demo in MLSP 2023

As Light as Your Footsteps: A shoe-based wearable device for real-time modification of footstep sounds for illusory changes in body weight, will be part of the Show and Tell Demo Sessions in the 33rd IEEE International Workshop on Machine Learning for Signal Processing (MLSP 2023), Rome, Italy. The Show and Tell Session will happen on Wednesday, September 20th, 2023, in the Foscolo Hall of Fontana di Trevi Conference Centre, Rome, Italy, from 9:30 to 13:00. See here the Technical Program of the conference.

Amar D’Adamo and Mohammad Mahdi Dehshibi will be there showing the device and poster and asking for valuable feedback.

BRNet 5: Body Representation Network Conference 2023

We co-organized the Body Representation Network Conference 2023: The interactive body: Multisensory and embodied signatures of bodies interacting in the world, in Mallorca, Spain on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th September 2023.

From the BRNet 5 conference site:

We usually take the ability to identify our body as our own for granted, but empirical research in the past few decades has shown that our body representations rely on the cognitive ability to combine information about the body originating from different sensory modalities. Indeed, the development of our models of the self and the world around us relies on the contribution of both exteroceptive (e.g., visual, tactile and auditory cues) and interoceptive (e.g., physiological) bodily signals.

The present conference aims to discuss recent research lines that, albeit different, converge on the idea that the experience of our body is not a fixed phenomenon but rather an active, ever changing and dynamic process. It relies on the interplay between environmental, interoceptive, and exteroceptive bodily signals which are received during motor, social and technological interactions with the world and with others. The present conference will be of broad interest to researchers from different communities including cognitive, social, and affective neuroscientists, experimental psychologists, neurophysiologists, human-computer interaction researchers interested in the acting, sensing and feeling body in general and to researchers studying body representation, multisensory integration, interoception, virtual reality, robotics, embodied cognition, and the sensorimotor system, in particular.

Participation in SportsHCI Dagstuhl Seminar

Laia Turmo Vidal was part of Dagstuhl Seminar 23292: SportsHCI, from July 16th to July 21st, 2023.

From the Seminar description:

This Dagstuhl Seminar builds on prior work that highlighted that supporting sport and exercise activities with technology should not only be concerned with functional aspects, such as measuring and comparing athletic performance, but also consider the experiential aspects, in other words, how sports people feel about their athletic performance. Therefore, the seminar brings together researchers and industry members who understand that successful sport and exercise activity-support technology needs to be designed with also this experiential perspective in mind, and seek to develop guidance on how to support it. This seminar invites experts from both industry and academia, including experts from sports science as well as HCI and design experts, to work towards identifying the grand challenges in SportsHCI so that a coherent approach can be developed in order to help more people profit from the benefits of sports and physical exercise.