Crafting Movement in Digital Art and Human Computer Interaction

A Research Axis 1 (Instruments, devices, and systems) and Research Axis 3 (Cognition, perception, and movement) seminar by Sarah Fdili Alaoui.

Sarah Alaoui 

CRAFTING MOVEMENT IN DIGITAL ART AND HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

11:00am-12:30pm

Free admission.

 

Abstract

Human movement has historically been approached as a functional component of interaction within Human Computer Interaction (HCI). This design approach reflects the task-oriented focus of early HCI research, which was preoccupied with ergonomics and efficiency. Yet movement is not solely functional, it is also highly experiential, expressive and creative.

As embodied organisms, movement is our primary means of accessing the world. While human movement is ubiquitously present in all forms of technology interaction, movement expertise is often absent in the design of technology. In my work, I apply human movement knowledge in Laban Movement Analysis to design technologies for the experiential body within digital art and dance. Moreover, I integrate notions of movement from my practice of dance and choreography such as the movement qualities, as interaction modalities in an attempt to meet human needs as a whole and to encourage movement exploration, curiosity and reflection.

From a methodological perspective, I consider first person methodologies that research experience and support both the designer’s and the user’s expression. I use research through practice, ethnographic or phenomenological methods instead of those advocating abstract notions such efficiency, accuracy and usability.  

Finally, from HCI theories of substrates, instrumental and embodied interaction, I design interactive systems that support user agency, system guidance and novelty in the choreographic process. The goal is to design a technology that encourages movement crafting and highlights choreographic patterns that support users’ creative choices and strategies.

 

Sarah Fdili Alaoui

Sarah Fdili Alaoui is an assistant professor at LRI-Université Paris-Sud 11, part of the Ex)site (ex InSitu) research team in interaction design, human computer interaction, and interactive arts. She is a dance artist, choreographer, dancer, and a Laban Movement Analyst. Before her current position, she was a researcher at the School of Interactive Arts+ Technology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, within the MovingStories project. She holds a PhD in Art and Science from Université Paris-Sud 11, the IRCAM-Centre Pompidou and LIMSI-CNRS research institutes. In her PhD, she studied how movement qualities in dance can be modelled, computational analyzed, represented and applied to the design of Human Computer Interaction. She holds a MSc from Université Joseph Fourier and an Engineering Degree from ENSILAGE in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science as well as over 20 years of training in ballet and contemporary dance. Sarah completed a certification as a Laban Movement Analyst at the Laban/Bartienieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York, USA. Sarah is interested in bridging scientific and experimental research in the movement based arts to radically alter and affect our understanding of movement, human knowledge, and cognition. She has been involved in many art and science projects, collaborating with dancers, visual artists, computer scientists, and designers to create interactive installations, performance, and tools for supporting choreography.