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Within the application context of interior spaces, this thesis investigates the emerging area of body-driven energy harvesting technologies from the perspective of human computer interaction (HCI) design. Upcoming innovations in new materials and low-power devices have enabled the conversion of body movements such as steps and arm movements into electrical energy for powering small computational things. Everyday interior spaces such as public buildings or homes can be fitted with new materials that harness human kinetic energy to produce electrical energy. Recent developments in the area of engineering and materials science aim to make these technologies more efficient. However, research about the implications of implementing them in the everyday from the perspective of the experiences and interactions of the people adopting these technologies is highly under-explored. In order to examine this design space, this research proposes to identify emerging concerns and challenges brought by everyday engagement with electricity production that need to be addressed through an interaction design inquiry.
To investigate the above proposition, a design program situated between the field of human computer interaction research and the practice of e-textile design is formulated with the aim to
investigate, at the scale of the interior, how static electricity can bring new perspectives and possibilities for ways of engaging with e-textiles, and designing interactions for energy harvesting with textiles.
The research sets up four research studies to systematically explore the design program. These research studies focus on four questions of how static electricity shapes e-textiles, how electrostatic textiles shape e-textile interactions, how e-static interactions shape everyday behaviours and how e-static studies shape energy interpretations. By developing a working knowledge of textile-based triboelectric generators, various body-generated electricity systems of different scales are envisioned. In the process of making, discovering and exploring different textile systems, questions regarding human interactions, material behaviours and the role of electricity in the everyday are discussed.
This thesis contributes to the practice of e-textiles by creating the foundational knowledge of using static electricity as a resource in e-textile design and development without needing specialised materials. Furthermore, it contributes to the field of human computer interaction research by further developing the topic of energy harvesting as a research area of interaction design. The thesis identifies two key areas for addressing challenges presented by body-driven energy harvesting with HCI which include considering accumulation of interactions over time and incorporating the electric properties of the body in interaction.
Additionally, practical outcomes of this research include:
1) www.estatictextiles.cc- An online handbook for learning about and working with static electricity and e-textiles which includes tutorials and examples from the research process.
And 2) E-static textiles prototyping board- A prototyping board developed for easy integration of static electricity and textiles to be used as an educational tool for designing and prototyping electrostatic energy-related interactions.
The project DAAN (Design of Assistive Ambient Notification Systems, funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research) explored ambient notification as a part of an assistive computing system for elderly users. Within the framework of this project we investigated the potential of textiles as ambient notification devices, with a focus on knitted fabric. This is the documentation of the project activities at University of Arts Berlin.
Encountering the Digital: Representational and Experiential Embodiment in Tangible User Interfaces
(2014)
This dissertation is concerned with the concept of »embodiment« in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). It investigates the issue by the means of Research Through Design
(RTD).
The notion of »embodiment« has many meanings in HCI. It is therefore the aim of this work to contribute to its clarification. I propose a distinction between two major meanings: »embodiment« in the sense of »representation« and »embodiment« in the sense of how the experience of one’s socio-physical world is fundamentally grounded in having a living body. I propose to name these two meanings »representational embodiment« and »experiential embodiment«.
Having separated the two meanings, I then look at those moments in which they encounter: I investigate moments in which »embodied« users face »embodiments« of digital information. These moments of encounter appear to be a central aspect of Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs), which are often concerned with making digital information graspable. Therefore, I focus on TUIs, pursuing the question of how the design of the »representational embodiments« of digital information affects the user’s experience of the interaction.
RTD is a research concept that promises to offer a new, »designerly« perspective on a subject matter. There are different approaches to RTD, of which I have chosen Findeli’s model of Project-Grounded Research (PGR). I introduce RTD and PGR, contextualising them in their historical context. I underline the central roles of the prototype and the »project« in PGR. I also relate RTD to its academic reference points: action research and grounded theory. Afterwards, I transform my research question into a design question, namely how the »embodiments« of digital information could be designed in a way that is oriented to the users’ »embodiment«.
In everyday language, physical (e. g. »disk size«, »data mining«) and social metaphors (»smart phone«, »battery life«) are often used to describe concepts of interacting with digital information. These metaphors form the starting point of my investigation into TUIs that make digital information graspable through socio-physical manifestations – through shape change, weight shift, and life-like signals. I describe the prototypes and report several previous studies that were conducted with them. These assess, for example, the accuracy at which users could feel the shifted weight on the phone’s inside, or the experiences of users carrying the »living mobile« for a weekend.
I then report a comparative study of the three prototypes and three vibration-based comparison prototypes. In this study, I make use of the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT). RGT is based on so-called »personal constructs«, which the users name themselves, as to describe the prototypes (e. g. »knowledge required – easy to understand«, »biological – technical«, »exciting – boring«). The users then use their own personal constructs to rate the prototypes. The findings of the RGT study indicate that the interaction with the Shape-Changing Mobile, Weight-Shifting Mobile, and Ambient Life prototypes was experienced by the users as novel and interesting, but at times also as irritating, and even annoying. The mixed results from this study can be described as three »two-sided coins«: the interaction with the prototypes was rated as rich in associations, but requiring prior knowledge and, at times, disappointing. It was rated as permanent, but at times annoying. Lastly, it was described as cute, but sometimes creepy.
I conclude that the encounter of »representational embodiment« and »experiential embodiment« can open a conceptual space for interaction design that is rich in opportunities, but also rich in challenges. It is this space that I set out to explore with this dissertation.
In summary, the main contributions of this dissertation are a separation of different meanings of »embodiment« in HCI and a study of TUI prototypes that explore the encounter of these meanings.