MIT General Exams. Grounding interfaces: shifting the body boundaries, 2008.

GROUNDING INTERFACES
Shifting the body boundaries

Oral Exam by Cati Vaucelle
14th of November 2008

Committee:

Professor Hiroshi Ishii
Professor Edith Ackermann
Professor Joe Paradiso

GROUNDING INTERFACES: Shifting the body boundaries

INTRODUCTION


Definitions

Grounding
Taking something that’s ephemeral
and pulling it down into reality and
foundation.

Grounding Interfaces
Physical interfaces that actively
construct a relationship between the
digital and the physical body of an
individual.

By Hannah HoneypieLiving (2008).

Oral Exam Introduction Part I - Motivation Part II - Oppportunities Part III - Vision Part IV - Sensing Technologies Conclusion
Cati Vaucelle [] Inspiration [] Percepts [] Where do I stand? [] Exchange information
Tangible Media [] Beyond Picture This! Vision . Smell . Hearing . Touch [] Dimensions in my work [] Gesture communication
MIT Media Lab [] Lifecycle [] Concepts [] Picture This! [] Piezo vibration sensor
14-11-2008 [] Learning Memory . Intelligence . Identity [] Hap-bit [] Harware vs software
[] Communication [] Conducts [] Synthesis [] Generalizing Picture This!
[] Connection Feedback . Perspective . Friendship [] Other methods
[] Mindful Learning [] Mapping
[] Motivating Feedback


Example
Picture This! a grounding object

Physical body Digital body

The body holds the dolls Video of the doll

The dolls become the body, and then becomes
the video. The doll is a gesture object.
Picture This! (2007).

Grounding via body and visual perspectives.



Example
Picture This! a gesture object

The child’s anthropomorphism makes
the objects become part of the child’s
physical body.

Combining the gestures with the objects
grounds the child in his physical world
while playing with a digital body.

The physical body is then directly
connected to the digital body via the
doll (a gesture object).



Semiotic square
Grounding Interfaces



Committee

Tangible interaction techniques
Main area with Dr. Hiroshi Ishii

Psychology, cultural artifacts and
semiotics
Contextual area with Dr. Edith Ackermann

Technologies for body sensing and
expression
Technical area with Dr. Joe Paradiso



Committee

Interaction techniques are key to
pushing the way people engage with
digital information.

Psychology is key to an interaction
that is defined by the nature of human
attention, cognition, and perceptual
abilities.

Sensing technology is the key to
translating a user’s environment as part
of new applications.



MOTIVATION

GROUNDING INTERFACES: Shifting the body boundaries 10

Inspiration

Is it really so sad and dangerous to be fed up
with seeing with your eyes, breathing with
your lungs, swallowing with your mouth,
talking with your tongue, thinking with your
brain…

Why not walk on your head, sing with your
sinuses, see through your skin….

Where psychoanalysis says, stop, find your
self again, we should say instead, let’s go
further still! Find your body without organs.
Find out how to make it. It’s a question of life
and death!

–Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus: Capi-
talism and Schizophrenia.



Inspiration

Is it really so sad and dangerous to be fed up Imagine when one can say:
with seeing with your eyes, breathing with
your lungs, swallowing with your mouth,
talking with your tongue, thinking with your “the technology delivered
brain…
him from all his automatic
Why not walk on your head, sing with your reactions and restored him to
sinuses, see through your skin….
his true freedom.”
Where psychoanalysis says, stop, find your
self again, we should say instead, let’s go
further still! Find your body without organs.
Find out how to make it. It’s a question of life
and death!

–Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand
Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia.



Digital Body
Beyond Picture This!

We have already partially discovered a
body without organs by creating:

[] A digital copy of oneself.
[] A copy that will coexist online starting from
birth. The Human Speechome MyLifeBits by Gordon Bell,
[] A copy that will perpetuate its existence Project by Deb Roy. Record 2003.
every minute of a baby’s Capture everything and
after death, living in a digital reality. life, 2006. going paperless.

Socioscope by Alex The goal of Lifelogging:
This copy will be our digital body, a body Pentland, 2006. to record and archive all
without organs. Track location and information in one’s life.
conversation patterns.



Digital Body
Lifecycle

[] Googleindexes our name and we can
be found at any time!

[] Evenafter our death, we remain on the
Google search engine!

[] If
Google sentences us to an electronic
death, we cease to exist online and we
cease to be found!



Digital Body
Learning

Reference
50 years ago Gauthier, J. M. and
Progressive learning under the family’s Moukalou, R. (2007) De la
guerre des boutons a Harry
supervision. Potter: Un siecle d’evolution
de l’espace-temps des
adolescents, pp 5-16 and
Now pp153-173.
Very fast “learning” curve. Children
believe that one can be a champion of
Karate without moving a finger. However A champion of Karate!

there is almost no common point
between physical and digital Karate.

Despite a learning curve, there is no
limitation from the physical body.



Digital Body
Learning

Reference
50 years ago Gauthier, J. M. and
Progressive learning under the family’s Moukalou, R. (2007) De la
guerre des boutons a Harry
supervision. Potter: Un siecle d’evolution
de l’espace-temps des
adolescents, pp 5-16 and
Now pp153-173.
Very fast “learning” curve. Children
believe that one can be a champion of
Karate without moving a finger. However A champion of Karate!

there is almost no common point
between physical and digital Karate.
You will never be denied the
Despite a learning curve, there is no
limitation from the physical body.
opportunity of being a digital
Karate champion because you
are physically weak!



Digital Body
Communication

With the computer, the
[] Noneed to interact through body relationship between dis-
tance and proximity, direct
language! communication, corporeal
versus indirect and me-
diation is transformed.
[] It might avoid miscommunication! (Gauthier and Moukalou,
2007).
[] Now we coommunicate via our digital
body, on social networks controlling the
level of engagement and disengagement.
Twins in tree by Rodney Reference
Smith, 1999. Hall, E. T (1973) The Silent
[] Construct your digital body *free of In face to face Language. A Doubleday
risk*! communication, distance Anchor Book.
between people can be an
obstacle.



Digital Body
Connection

Reference
[] Childrenwith atypical interests find Harel, I. and Papert, S.
(1991) Constructionism,
other children with the same hobbies. Ablex Publishing
Corporation.
[] Byconnecting to someone else, one
can relate and create bonds, can project
onto someone else’s life and empathize.

[] Connecting with a digital body might
sharpen our perception through sharing Moving Pictures, 2004.
Children capture media to
perspectives. share with children who live
in a different city.



Digital Body
Mindful Learning

Walking through the Internet requires:

[] being open to novelty
[] being alert to distinction
[] being sensitive to different contexts
[] being aware of multiple perspectives

Scratch, Resnick et al. The Internet teaches
(2008). children to adapt
themselves to new
Reference situations rather than
Langer, E. J. (1998) The providing them with
Power of Mindful Learning. conditional learning -
Published by Da Capo Press, - fitting themselves to an
1998 external norm (Langer,
1998).



Digital Body
Motivating Feedback

[] Adigital body motivates us in
exercising!

[] Joysticks
that vibrate are ironic: they
remind us of our body! As if the joystick
said: Remember! You had a body!

[]This is not entirely grounding: this is
the difference between a reminder that My virtual model! Wii Fit, 2008.
Free weight-loss calculator
your hands exist and giving someone on a virtual model, Glamour
tools, asking them to craft a piece of magazine, 2007.

furniture.



Things get lost with de-materialization.

Where are the senses?

The digital world gives us power at the
same time that it disconnects us from our
physical body.

We connect to the world using our senses.

To have the benefits of technology without
loosing our connections to the body,
technology needs to bridge to our senses,
grounding us in our surroundings.

Only being grounded in experience can
Delicate Boundaries
give birth to new ways of living and new
by Chris Sugrue. dreams.
Using human touch to dissolve
the barrier of the computer screen.



OPPORTUNITIES


Opportunities
Percepts - Concepts - Conducts



Percepts
Vision

Observation
[] Current displays restrict vision to one
depth of field, supporting visual fatigue
and myopia.
[] Stereoscopic vision rehabilitates the
effects of looking at one depth of field.

Mechanism
Train stereoscopy as new means of
environment interaction.
Tri-Vision, a stereo camera, (1946-49).
Opportunity
See all surfaces in 3D with your own eyes!



Percepts
Smell

Observation
Smell is key to past experience and is
unexplored.

Mechanism
[] Collect senses of smell to create and
recall stories.
[] Associate memories of smells, places
and objects.

Opportunity
Smell the grass by reading a book and
remember an afternoon tea party!



Percepts
Hearing

Observation
The spectrum of high frequencies that
one can hear drops off with age.

Mechanism
Encode information at frequencies
discernible by some populations and not
others.

Opportunity
Hear secret messages that no one else can
hear!



Percepts
Touch

Observation
Touch interfaces between the physical
space and the nervous system.

Mechanism
[] Injectable electrodes at the peripheral
limb where the leg has been amputated.
[] Electrodes stimulate the nervous
system, actuated by a prosthetic Reference
Aaron R., Herr H., Ciombor D., Hochberg L., Donoghue
J., Briant C., Morgan J., Ehrlich M.(2006). Horizons
Opportunity in Prosthesis Development for the Restoration of Limb
Function, Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Feel the sand from a foot that doesn’t Surgeons. 14 (10): 198-204.
exist!



Concepts
Memory

Externalizing body functions People use pen and paper
Observation with technology might be to simplify cognitive tasks!
liberating (Serres, M.). You could just lean on
Memory aids could both allow us to focus the structure of the
on more important matters, or destroy environment to remember!
our ability to recall.

Mechanism
Develop a taxonomy of cognitive tasks to
determine when cognitive aids liberate
higher cognitive functions. Putting brain, body and
world together in epistemic
action! (Andy Clark).
Opportunity
The computer does low level tasks while
you create bridges between disciplines!



Concepts
Intelligence as calculation

Observation
[] Humans often outperform technology
in pattern recognition.
[] Technology outperforms humans in raw
calculation.

Mechanism
Assist a player in becoming a better
calculator, and defer to the person what A Go competition. MoGo (2008). MoGo beat
Myungwan Kim who is an
she is uniquely expert in. 8-dan master on a 19 x 19
board (most previous wins
by computers were done
Opportunity on smaller amateur level
Become a superhuman computer! 9 x 9 boards). Kin gave
the computer a nine-stone
handicap.



Concepts
Intelligence as adaptation

Observation
[] A majority of westerners think that as
we get old, we don’t remember as well.
[] Langer showed that the degree of
memory loss is dependent on how we
value aging!

Mechanism
Structure societal change in the
conception of value in aging.

Opportunity
Revisit every stereotype you can think of!



Concepts
Identity

Observation
[] Some role playing games have more
than 10.9 million monthly subscribers!
[] In RPG we are equipped with sonic
hearing, super vision, abnormal strength!

Mechanism
Use virtual environments to ask people
to rediscover what they can do with their
senses in the real world.
Borderland by Lucien Alma and Laurent Hart, 2001.
Opportunity
“Borderland” is based on video game duels such as
Be an everyday super hero! “Tekken” or “Mortal Kombat”. They use ordinary people as
the characters: old ladies, tramps, workmen to fight each
other against the backdrop of the suburbs of Paris that
have become a desolated no-man’s land.



Conducts
Feedback

Observation
Ungrounded, “magical” interaction,
romanticized via video games and TV,
deny the power of real-life cause and
effect.

Mechanism
Combine children’s physical limits with
digital action and reward to reinstate the 50 years ago children had In Harry Potter they use a
a direct understanding and “magic wand” to confront
relationship between cause and effect. relationship to cause an others!
effect of a physical action.

Opportunity
Feel your own body limits when you play
video games!



Conducts
Perspective

You are getting better day Designers envisioned the
Observation after day by Broadhong physical representation
50 years ago, kids with ADHD were given Design, 2006. of the healing process as
part of a pharmaceutical
means to catalyze their energy (Golse). treatment.
Now quick fix: pharmaceutical treatment.

Mechanism
Kids with ADHD can focus if they vary
the target of their attention in their own
minds (Langer).

Opportunity
Play hopscotch in a museum and recall all
the details of a Botticelli painting!



Conducts
Friendship

Observation
With social networks, we build “instant”
friends. We are perpetually connected but
out of touch!

Mechanism
Social networks could better support
realistic relationships by monitoring and
reflecting activity between users.

Opportunity
Live on Mars and have millions of real
earth friends!



Grounding the body: the Me ++

The link between the dematerialized digital
body and sensory opportunities is:

Grounding
Creating a shift in perspectives, from a new
es. discovery of the environment to playing
with our senses.
t
Don’t just passively deliver information or
stimulate the senses, actively construct a
relationship between digital and physical
body in the individual!

w Squeeze Me! (2006)
This vest simulates therapeutic
holding to “ground” patients
with sensory issues.



VISION


Where do I stand?

[] Betweenbeing nostalgic of the past
and being a technophile.

[] Theones who innovate create new
bridges between the past and the future.

[] Eachtime one transcends, one builds a Wallmaster Home transporter by Antal Lakner, 1999.
hybrid with a nostalgic vision from the
past/present and from the real/virtual.

Everyday activities are transformed into indoor sport activi-
ties!



Dimensions in my work
STANCE IN THE WORLD PERSPECTIVE
There are four consistent dimensions I design mechanisms of I design sensing technology
interaction to enable users to to translate the undiscovered
that comprise my work: position themselves in their environment, and create a
environment. shift in perspective.

Stance in the world.
Perspective.
Time.
Space and proxemics.

TIME SPACE AND PROXEMICS
I aim to synchronize users I design systems for users to
All these dimensions merge to ground with their internal motion understand spatially their
the body in the physical environment and with life. Users take time environment, where they
and go through an iterative are situated in relation to
while interacting with a digital body process of discovering / someone else and where they
understanding / reflecting. are located in regards to
objects



Picture This!
The Secret Lives of Objects

STANCE IN THE WORLD
A child projects his personal experiences I design mechanisms of
interaction to enable users to
while playing with toys. His stories position themselves in their
reflect his stance in the world. environment.

He wants to make a movie from the point
of view of his Naruto action figure!

Lego people can even embed
a scene drawn by Edward
Hopper, Nighthawks, from
1942!



Picture This!
The dolls become the body

PERSPECTIVE
The dolls become the body - a point of I design sensing technology
to translate the undiscovered
new perpective. environment, and create a
shift in perspective.
What if the toy had a visual perspective?

What if any objects could share their
perspectives with a child?

Wouldn’t this open a new world to the
child?



Picture This!
Iterative process via visual feedback

TIME
Children methodically progress … I aim to synchronize users
with their internal motion
and with life. Users take time
[] iterate
back and forth to discover new and go through an iterative
visual angles process of discovering /
understanding / reflecting.

[] slowly appropriate the “new eye”

[] expand their visual sense

[] synchronize their senses



Picture This!
Spatial understanding

SPACE AND PROXEMICS
Children discover spatially their I design systems for users to
understand spatially their
environment: environment, where they
[] where their body is situated in are situated in relation to
someone else and where they
relation to someone else are located in regards to
[] where they are located in regards to objects

objects.

Picture This! is a gesture objects
interface at the extension of natural
play.



Semiotic square
Gesture Object Interfaces



Hap-bit
Talking to Objects

STANCE IN THE WORLD
Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative I design mechanisms of
interaction to enable users to
disorder with primary symptoms position themselves in their
occurring due to a loss of motor timing environment.

mechanisms in the brain.

What if patient with Parkinson’s disease
could communicate to objects their need
to be synchronized?

Would they be able to walk with accurate
timing and not fall?

Sir William Richard Gowers,
1886.



Hap-bit
Alternating body perspectives

PERSPECTIVE
It has been shown that the delivery I design sensing technology
to translate the undiscovered
of an external auditory metronome, in environment, and create a
home-based rehabilitation programs, shift in perspective.

significantly increases gait rehabilitation
of patients.

Would it work with a haptic stimulus?
Could it be customized?

Patients could alternate amplitude of
pulse stimuli to alternate their body
perspectives.


MIT General Exams. Grounding interfaces: shifting the body boundaries, 2008.

MIT General Exams. Grounding interfaces: shifting the body boundaries, 2008.

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