EXPLORING SONIC INTERACTION WITH ARTIFACTS IN EVERYDAY CONTEXTS

ABSTRACTThis workshop aims to introduce ICAD participants to the use ofcreative interaction design methods when exploring the design ofsonic interactions with computational artefacts. Speciﬁcally, fo-cus will be on physical interactions that rely on continuous sonicfeedback. Participants will generate future scenarios and conceptsfor such interactions, and everyday sounding objects in contextwill be taken as a starting point. By taking part in the workshopactivities, participants will get an embodied understanding of thechallenges of designing for meaningful and engaging physical in-teraction with computational sonic artefacts. Methods employedin the workshop will thus be good complements to the cognitionortechnology-basedapproachestodesigningsoundingobjectsthatare mainstream within the ICAD community.1. INTRODUCTIONDesigning for continuous feedback rather than a discrete triggerresponse opens up a range of new design opportunities, questionsand problems [1], [2], [3] . Usually, when designing an interactionwithabuttononacertainproduct,differentkeysareindexedbythemeans of symbols and icons, as in the case of computer keyboard.However, designers can also make use of in the way the key istouched (e.g. how fast, how long and how strong). How can thesephysical aspects of interaction be meaningfully related to sonicfeedback in tangible artifacts? In order to address this question, we designed a workshop thatconsistofexplorationsofeverydaysoundingobjectsincontext. Itsgoal is to collaboratively, through design exercises, develop con-cepts and scenarios for future products that use continuous soundfeedback. Through the latter, everyday objects naturally respondto their physical manipulation. Pouring a cup of tea generates thesound of continuously ﬂowing water, while the act of walking isaccompanied by the rhythm of the footsteps. Sounds producedwhen interacting with everyday objects communicate about thisphysical coupling: the richness of gestures it is made of (e.g. howfast and from which distance we pour the waters) as well as thecontext surrounding the interaction (e.g. what kind of pavementwe walk on). Therefore, they are good starting points in explor-ing the design of tangible computational artefacts with continuoussonic feedback.Rather than exploring the question by addressing technical is-sues such of gestural data acquisition, sensing techniques, ﬁndingappropriate sound tools or using physical modelling (e.g. [4]), thisworkshopaimstoembracethedesignopportunitiesemergingfromthe application of such interactive sound technologies to everydaylife. Participants will explore the meanings and importance of tan-gible sonic interactions in variety of contexts and imagine howsuch contexts might be changed. They will do so by trying outa sample of creative and physically engaging interaction designtechniques such as bodystorming [5] and interaction relabeling[6]. Originating from the ﬁeld of interaction design, such play-ful and collaborative approaches to the development of interactionconcepts are meant to allow the workshop participants to directlyengage in everyday sonic experiences an embodied way. This willinform the design of tangible computational artefacts where inter-active sound will provide meaningful contribution to overall expe-rience. Therefore, these methods constitute a good complementto the scientiﬁc and technological approaches to auditory displaysthat the ICAD audience is accustomed to.Figure1: Everydayobjectsaffordsimpleactions: Turningthehan-dleincircle, squeezesandpureesvegetablesgeneratingarangeofsounds that change during the activity.2. WORKSHOP STRUCTURE, TECHNIQUES ANDMETHODSThis one day, hands-on workshop will be divided in fours parts:warm-up exercises, creative idea generation, concept explorationthroughbodystomingandﬁnalpresentationanddiscussion. Work-shopparticipantsandfacilitatorswillusenodigitaltechnology. Byfocusing on the experience rather than technology this workshopallowstoforegroundthecontextualandembodiedaspectsofsonicICAD08-1