research-article

Interaction design for and with the lived body: Some implications of merleau-ponty's phenomenology

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Dag SvanæsAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), Volume 20, Issue 1

Article No.: 8, Pages 1 - 30

https://doi.org/10.1145/2442106.2442114

Published: 11 April 2013 Publication History

Abstract

In 2001, Paul Dourish proposed the term embodied interaction to describe a new paradigm for interaction design that focuses on the physical, bodily, and social aspects of our interaction with digital technology. Dourish used Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception as the theoretical basis for his discussion of the bodily nature of embodied interaction. This article extends Dourish's work to introduce the human-computer interaction community to ideas related to Merleau-Ponty's concept of the lived body. It also provides a detailed analysis of two related topics: (1) embodied perception: the active and embodied nature of perception, including the body's ability to extent its sensory apparatus through digital technology; and (2) kinaesthetic creativity: the body's ability to relate in a direct and creative fashion with the “feel” dimension of interactive products during the design process.

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Cited By

Mueller FBuruk OMatjeka LSaini A(2025)Towards understanding the design of playful bodily extensions via body schema and body imageInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103457(103457)Online publication date: Feb-2025
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Economidou EItzlinger AFrauenberger C(2024)Lived experience in human-building interaction (HBI): an initial frameworkFrontiers in Computer Science10.3389/fcomp.2023.12339045Online publication date: 4-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2023.1233904
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Index Terms

Interaction design for and with the lived body: Some implications of merleau-ponty's phenomenology
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction Volume 20, Issue 1

Special issue on the theory and practice of embodied interaction in HCI and interaction design

March 2013

171 pages

ISSN:1073-0516

EISSN:1557-7325

DOI:10.1145/2442106

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Copyright © 2013 ACM.

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Publication History

Published: 11 April 2013

Accepted: 01 December 2012

Revised: 01 December 2012

Received: 01 October 2011

Published in TOCHI Volume 20, Issue 1

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Cited By

Mueller FBuruk OMatjeka LSaini A(2025)Towards understanding the design of playful bodily extensions via body schema and body imageInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103457(103457)Online publication date: Feb-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103457
Economidou EItzlinger AFrauenberger C(2024)Lived experience in human-building interaction (HBI): an initial frameworkFrontiers in Computer Science10.3389/fcomp.2023.12339045Online publication date: 4-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2023.1233904
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https://doi.org/10.18261/nost.8.6.2
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