soft(n): toward a somaesthetics of touch

This paper explores the concept of somaesthetics as an approach to the design of expressive interaction. This concept is exemplified through the design process of soft(n), an interactive tangible art installation developed in conjunction with V2_Lab in Rotterdam. Somaesthetics is a term coined by Richard Shusterman, a pragmatist philosopher interested in the critical study of bodily experience as a focus of sensory-aesthetic appreciation and agency. In the context of interaction, somaesthetics offers a bridging strategy between embodied practices based in somatics, and the design of an aesthetics of interaction for HCI. This paper argues for the value of exploring design strategies that employ a somaesthetic approach, presents a definitional framework of somaesthetics that can be applied to interaction, and links the concept of somaesthetics to a specific design case in which tactile interaction is applied to the design of a networked, tangible interactive artwork called soft(n).

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