Long-distance running is introduced as an example of a sport-specific somatic and embodied data practice that may expand the repertoire of techniques and methods of embodied interaction design and provide insights into the design of technologies for running specifically and sports technology more broadly. Through an autobiographic study of everyday experiences of running and the use of a basic sports watch, a number of themes revolving around the multi-sensoriality of running are introduced. Reflections on the intimate coupling of digital data, running skills, and somatic sensing in the practice of 'doing endurance running' are provided in order to conceptualise the specific sensitivities, perceptions and experiences of body-data-environment entanglements that emerge during long-distance running. By unpacking a number of such sports-specific skills and data practices involved in long-distance running, six themes for novel perspectives on the design of sports technology are discussed.
Bodily fluids associated with the menstruating body are often disregarded in the design of menstrual-tracking technologies despite their potential to provide valuable knowledge about the menstrual cycle. We prototyped a finger-worn sensor that measures vaginal fluid conductivity, which fluctuates throughout the cycle, and brought it into conversation with people through two speculative workshops (18 people), four fabrication workshops (17 people), and a deployment study where participants brought the sensor into their daily lives (7 people). We unpack that taking a material and sensory approach to intimate tracking nurtures a feminist way of sensing while creating tensions around how we want to know our bodies—tensions around how, where, and when to touch the body, hygiene, data storage, interpretation practices, and labor. With epistemological commitments to feminist materialist and posthuman theory, we invite designers to embrace these tensions.
Designing technologies that clothe, adorn, or are otherwise placed on the body raises questions concerning the role they will play in dressing ourselves. We situate self-fashioning – or the process through which we stylise and present our bodies – as a complex practice where a series of social, material, and contextual factors shape how we present ourselves. Informed by reflective discussions and projective design tools, we contribute three critical points of departure for self-fashioning technologies: (i) Purposeful examining discomfort as an ongoing phenomenon, (ii) Supporting mimesis and visibility as qualities to be negotiated, and (iii) Envisioning the multiplicity of the body. We call for the design community to help devise fashionable technologies that are sensitive, caring, and responsive to the complexities of fashioning our bodies.
Kuddi is a haptic data physicalisation in the form of a soft pillow which combines 12 inflatable pockets to dynamically touch and be touched in relation to the changing menstruating body. This paper presents the soma design process that led to Kuddi's design, as well as Kuddi's evaluation through an auto-ethnographic approach, where the first author lived with Kuddi for two menstrual cycles. The resulting dataset was analysed by the research team using a narrative-led approach. Based on this analysis, we present five thick descriptions that capture how the experience of living with Kuddi led to a changing relation with menstrual pain. We contribute a design case of a haptic data physicalisation intended to touch the body and discuss how the material and interaction design choices embodied in Kuddi led to data visceralisation - a way of feeling data in ways which promote new somatic knowledge and experience.
Menstrual discomfort is a prevalent, diverse, and cyclical lived experience, impacting everyday lives. However, in HCI, it has been mostly approached as a data point, leaving much unknown on how technologies can care for these experiences. In response, we designed Touchware, a collection of on-body touch probes with pneumatic shape-change and weight components, which invite wearers to engage with and care for their menstrual discomfort. We report on the participatory soma design process of making Touchware and its two-week-long deployment study with 6 participants in a workplace setting. Our data analysis highlights diffuse and lingering qualities of menstrual discomfort, shedding light on how technologies may touch bodies in vulnerable states. We discuss the importance and challenges of designing touch technologies for and with bodies in the moments of menstrual discomfort. We conclude with a reflection on the agency of touch and its potential to support the self-care labour and nurturing the radical normalization of rest.
Self-managing chronic conditions typically involves a diverse network of individuals and devices, forming a self-management ecosystem. For this ecosystem to be effective, components need to work together cohesively. The rapid advancement of technology means new devices need to be repeatedly integrated into existing self-management ecosystems. To examine this process, we used the case study of young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the UK who were given a smartwatch. Over six months, interviews and focus groups were performed to explore their smartwatch use alongside T1D management. Thematic analysis highlighted that smartwatches have potential as a display, interface and data source in T1D management, which is of particular importance as artificial intelligence plays a growing role in self-management ecosystems. It also emphasised the need for customisation, flexibility and adaptability, and automation in the design of technology to promote integration into existing self-management ecosystems for both T1D and other chronic conditions.