Using Heterotopias to Characterise Interactions in Physical/Digital Spaces

This paper addresses the complexity of designing interactions in hybrid digital/physical spaces, in which notions of public and private are becoming increasingly blurred, by using a philosophical lens to characterise such spaces. In particular it references the ideas presented by Michel Foucault in his essay “Of Other Spaces”. It proposes the presence of a spatial division within physical and virtual, in terms of private and public, and juxtaposes them through a Heterotopical Model for Inter-Spatial Interaction through which designers can examine the coexistence of physical and digital interactions. The purpose of modelling this juxtaposition is to help designers understand the nature of connections that happen between physical and digital objects in these spaces and consider how meaningful interactions can respond to this complexity.