Paper presentation at IASDR 2023 in Milan

In the frame of a post-pandemic era, LIFE-CHANGING DESIGN will explore how design drives and responds to current transformation processes.

10/13/20231 min read

Last Monday, I presented my paper at the 2023-congress of the International Association of Societies of Design Research at the Politecnico di Milano.

Olthof, A.M., Verlinden, J.,and Ben Allouch, S. (2023), 'The body gets the notion: performative design practice for human computer integration to encourage innovation in the domains of health and well-being.', in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.667 & ResearchGate

The concept of human-computer integration (HInt) is entering a new evolutionary phase, that leads to a paradigm shift from interaction to the integration of computing devices with the human body (Farooq & Grudin, 2017). This embodied integration, where a computer tightly integrates with the human body (Mueller, Maes & Grudin, 2019), engages the human being in mutual give-and-take relationships with computational systems. The paradigm shift in human-computer integration might have more to do with ‘becoming-in-the-world’ (Shildrick, 2022) than with ‘being-in-the-world’ requires a rethinking in the philosophy on the human body and its technological intertwining. Our research project starts from the belief that new insight and meanings on bodily understanding in the context of Human-Computer Integration can only be achieved through a creative and artistic exploration of the ‘lived experience’ of disabled bodies. In this project, research activities will be grounded in feminist philosophy and performed into the context of disability, yet the methodological approach of exploring the ‘felt sense’ and ‘kinaesthetics’ of the disability materiality takes place through performative design practice at the intersection of the HCI-related research fields of Soma Design (Höök, 2018) and Somaesthetics (Shusterman, 2008), as well as artistic disciplines, such as Musicology and Music Therapy, Dance and Dance Movement Therapy, Disability Arts and Critical Disability Studies.

I will, I will, I will, I will

I do, I do, I do, I do

4th and Vine - Sinead O'Connor