Sound-based Thinking and Design Practices with Embodied Extensions
Erin Lewis and Vidmina Stasiulyte
2020 (English), In: TEI '20: Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, ACM Digital Library, 2020, p. 889-892
Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
The discourse surrounding intangible materials in interaction design is often directed toward
computational materials [2, 9], however, this studio focuses on sonic and electromagnetic fields as
intangible materials with distinctive qualities and methods of interaction. Participants explore the
notion of extended body by augmenting their natural hearing abilities through body-space-object
interactions. Using analog and radio-frequency (RF) sonic extenders, participants direct, block,
amplify, and filter sounds, and perceive the surrounding electromagnetic landscape, thereby
creating a “super sense” of heightened audition. This sonic experience explores the sensorial
possibilities of the future body, where aural augmentation could take place. Using soundwalking
and soundmapping as methods, participants explore transitive sonic forms that change their
qualities and content over time in downtown Sydney. Participants produce a collective soundmap
identifying embodied sonic extensions and acousmatic techniques, along with movements,
gestures, and choreographies. This data will be used to stimulate a final discussion.