Socioenactive Interaction: Addressing Intersubjectivity in Ubiquitous Design Scenarios

AbstractAbstractPeople’s interaction with computers has been explained through several theories and methods throughout the history of computers and their uses; more complex scenarios of ubiquitous and pervasive computing experimented nowadays invite other ways of considering human-technology interaction. The enactive approach to cognition, centered in human experience in the environment, has shown itself as a possibility to understand interaction in these new scenarios. In this paper we present a view of interaction, named socioenactive, to explain our relation with contemporary computational technologies in scenarios of ubiquitous and pervasive systems, understood from the enactivist perspective. After presenting core concepts related to intersubjectivity that helped to build up what we mean by socioenactive interaction, we illustrate it with some scenarios of ubiquitous and pervasive technology (situated in a school, a museum and a hospital), designed for the study of the phenomena of interaction. Graspable aspects of intersubjectivity are raised in the considered scenarios and affordances for the socioenactive interaction are illustrated. Implications of the study are discussed leading to aspects to consider in a research agenda in the field.HIGHLIGHTSInteraction with technology involves the body’s physical, emotional, and social aspects;Human-technology relation presupposes a mutual specification in and with the environment;Intersubjective aspects must be addressed in the design of ubiquitous environments;Socioenactive interaction presupposes a social-physical-digital tripartite coupling;Socioenactive systems are materialized in school, museum and hospital scenarios.Keywords: Enactivismpervasive technologyhuman-technology interactionsocioenactive systems Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Selection and participation of childrenThe workshops illustrated in this paper are part of a research Project approved by a research ethics committee (CAAE 72413817.3.0000.5404) and were conducted in partnership with partner institutions (the Division of Child and Complementary Education, the Exploratory Science Museum, both at the University of Campinas, and the Sobrapar Hospital, Brazilian Society of Research and Assistance for Craniofacial Rehabilitation, in Campinas, SP, Brazil). Parents or companions of the attendees were informally invited to participate as well. Participated in the workshops reported in this work, children between 7 and 12 years old accompanied by their parents. The first section of the workshop was dedicated to introducing the theme, the researchers, the proposed activities, and the ethical procedures. As part of a research Project, written consent was provided by the children’s parents, who signed it. As for the children, assent terms were provided, with the language adapted to the different age-groups (7–10-year-old, 11–14-year-old) and signed by them. The consent and assent terms for the parents and for children respectively, informed about the aims, methods, sources of funding for the research, institutional affiliations of the researchers, the anticipated benefits, and the absence of predictable risks. The participants were informed of the right to refuse to participate in the study or to withdraw consent to participate at any time, and methods used to deliver research results.Data availability statementThe datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to ethical commitments but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Additional informationFundingWe gratefully acknowledge the supporters of this research: São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) grants #2015/16528-0 and #2020/04242-2; the National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq) grants #310854/2019-9 and #304708/2020-8.Notes on contributorsMaria Cecilia Calani BaranauskasMaria Cecília Calani Baranauskas is Full Professor at the State University of Campinas, IC, Unicamp, Brazil. Her research interests include the design of computer-based systems and artifacts under phenomenological view, investigating the experience of interaction within ubiquitous technology environments. She was recently conferred the ACM Social Impact Award (2021).Emanuel Felipe DuarteEmanuel Felipe Duarte is a postdoctoral researcher at Unicamp. His research in Human-Computer Interaction addresses topics such as ubiquitous computing, participatory design, and interactive installations. He is particularly interested in the design and evaluation of interactive systems that go beyond the screen and into the physical and social world.José A. ValenteJosé Armando Valente MSc and PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Full Professor (retired) at the Department of Multimedia and collaborating researcher at the Nucleus of Informatics Applied to Education (NIED), at State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Currently research topics are maker education and socioenactive systems as an enactivist human-technology interaction.Notes1 We acknowledge that the terms “enactive” and “enaction” represent a concept previously discussed by other authors, e.g., Bruner (1966 Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction. Harvard University Press. [Google Scholar]) and Dewey (1929 Dewey, J. (1929). The quest for certainty: A study of the relation of knowledge and action (p. 318). Minton, Balch and Co. [Google Scholar]).2 The term “socioenactive” was first introduced in a long run research Project that we have been conducting in the last 4 years: Socioenative Systems: Investigating New Dimensions in the Design of Interaction Mediated by Information and Communication Technologies (FAPESP #2015/16528-0).3 Workshops in the three contexts are part of the project approved by a research ethics committee (CAAE 72413817.3.0000.5404).4 mBot Robot Kit. 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