Tangible computing

Embodied cognition and interaction

“Embodied interaction is the creation, manipulation, and sharing of meaning through engaged interaction with artifacts’ (Dourish, 2001, cited by Bekker et al. 2008).

“Embodied cognition emphasizes how the particulars of human bodies acting in physical, social, and cultural environments determine perceptual and cognitive structures, processes and operations” (Antle, 2009, cited by Bekker et al. 2008))

A framework for tangible interaction

“The framework is structured around four themes […..]. Themes are: • Tangible Manipulation refers to the material representations with distinct tactile qualities, which are typically physically manipulated in tangible interaction. • Spatial Interaction refers to the fact that tangible interaction is embedded in real space and interaction therefore occurs by movement in space. • Embodied Facilitation highlights how the configuration of material objects and space affects and directs emerging group behavior. • Expressive Representation focuses on the material and digital representations employed by tangible (Hornecker and Bluur, 2006, cited by Bekker et al. 2008)

Bibliography

• Antle, A. (2009) Embodied Child Computer Interaction:

Why embodiment matters, Interactions, March + April 2009, 27-30.

• Bekker, Tilde and Eggen, Berry, (2008) Designing for Children’s Physical Play, (2008), CHI 08 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, Florence, Italy, 2871-2876. Abstract/PDF.

• Bekker, M.M. and Sturm, J. (2009) Stimulating Physical and Social Activity through Open-Ended Play , Interact 2009, Uppsala, Sweden, 952- 953. PDF

• Dourish, P. (2001) Where the action is: The foundations of embodied interaction. Cambridge University Press.

• Hornecker, E. and Buur, J. (2006) Getting a grip on

tangible interaction: a framework on physical space and social interaction, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in computing systems table of contents, Montréal, Québec, Canada,: 437 - 446