Michaela Honauer
Bauhaus-University-Weimar, Faculty of Media, Faculty Member
Interactive costumes for theater stages is an unexplored field in HCI. Examples and user studies are not known. This paper begins a basic discussion on this domain and explains the teaching approach of a student project that creates... more
Interactive costumes for theater stages is an unexplored field in HCI. Examples and user studies are not known. This paper begins a basic discussion on this domain and explains the teaching approach of a student project that creates costumes for a well-known story.
Die Vision des Ubiquitous Computing ist Realität geworden. Mit der fortschreitenden Integration und der zunehmenden Selbstverständlichkeit allgegenwärtiger Computersysteme in unserem täglichen Handeln entwickelt sich auch die Be-greifbare... more
Die Vision des Ubiquitous Computing ist Realität geworden. Mit der fortschreitenden Integration und der zunehmenden Selbstverständlichkeit allgegenwärtiger Computersysteme in unserem täglichen Handeln entwickelt sich auch die Be-greifbare Interaktion (Tangible Interaction) zu einem wichtigen Bestandteil unseres Alltags. Die Fachgruppe "Be-greifbare Interaktion" des GI-Fachbereichs Mensch-Computer-Interaktion bietet in ihrem gleichnamigen Workshop ein Forum zur Präsentation, des wissenschaftlichen Diskurses und der interdisziplinären Auseinandersetzung mit den neuesten Entwicklungen und Forschungsergebnissen in diesem Forschungsfeld. Sowohl theoretische, kritische und zukunftsweisende Reflexionen, als auch gestalterische Arbeiten und Studien, Berichte praktischer Umsetzung und Systemdemonstrationen sind willkommen. Der Workshop soll die Diskussionen für ein breiteres Fachpublikum öffnen, aktuelle Entwicklungen und Fragestellungen offenlegen und neue Impulse für das Forschungsgebiet schaffen.
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Designing for interactive play brings new dimensions for play experience blended with digital and physical characteristics. Starting from the insights of two interactive soft toy projects, the authors explore interactive soft materials in... more
Designing for interactive play brings new dimensions for play experience blended with digital and physical characteristics. Starting from the insights of two interactive soft toy projects, the authors explore interactive soft materials in designing for playfulness through a material-driven design approach. This can bring a new dimension in designing interaction for ludic experiences and reveal specific characteristics of soft materials. By combining somaesthetic and embodied design methods, the studio aims at exploring what makes soft materials playful. Moreover, it addresses how technology can enhance the playfulness of these materials and what kind of playful interaction scenarios can be imagined with interactive soft materials by involving the whole-body in the design process. The learnings from the studio will help the authors build a framework which shows the potential and describes the characteristics of interactive soft materials to create new tangible, embedded and embodied interactions for play.
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This paper presents the concept design of an interactive costume for contemporary dance projects. The costume can be configured and cued remotely through a graphical user interface providing the ability to connect to any other stage... more
This paper presents the concept design of an interactive costume for contemporary dance projects. The costume can be configured and cued remotely through a graphical user interface providing the ability to connect to any other stage technologies via OSC or to work in standalone mode. The concept further contributes to integrate IMUs as motion sensors and vibration motors as motion actuators for exploring interactivity of dance movements. Its fashion design is characterized by the aesthetics of illuminated fiber optic cables distributed over the whole performing body but almost invisible when turned off. The presented concept design is part of a larger research project and a performance with such a costume prototype is currently realized and tested for stage environments, in close collaboration with dancer/choreographer, visual artists, and sound composer.
Research Interests: Multimedia and Dance
A growing part of HCI is research on wearables, e-textiles and performances with technology. However, conventional theatre productions underlie traditionally grown structures and have predefined production process that do not allow for... more
A growing part of HCI is research on wearables, e-textiles and performances with technology. However, conventional theatre productions underlie traditionally grown structures and have predefined production process that do not allow for in-house creations of interactive costumes. This research project addresses this issue and tries to figure out how this cultural sector and traditional costume design could engage with contemporary e-textile and wearable technologies.
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Interactive costumes enrich performance concepts and means of artistic expression. However, their creation challenges costume designers and technicians because they demand expertise in interaction design and electronic engineering. This... more
Interactive costumes enrich performance concepts and means of artistic expression. However, their creation challenges costume designers and technicians because they demand expertise in interaction design and electronic engineering. This article aims at empowering performance professionals to exploit the full potential of interactive costumes by discussing the creation process from the creators’ perspectives. Insights from expert interviews highlight that costume design combined with interaction design underlies the profile of interactive costume designers, whilst costume construction combined with electronic engineering underlies the profile of interactive costume technicians. Together, these profiles are capable of creating interactive costumes if complemented with expertise in e-textiles and body-centred design and development approaches. The findings suggest that teamwork between disciplines is essential, resulting ideally in transcending disciplinarity through shared practices, ...
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sssnake is a soft toy that allows multi-user play over distance as well as single users playing alone. It has a haptic interface and can connect children (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic) while avoiding the usage of screen-based... more
sssnake is a soft toy that allows multi-user play over distance as well as single users playing alone. It has a haptic interface and can connect children (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic) while avoiding the usage of screen-based media. It combines social interaction inspired from online gaming with a playful way to learn about music and instruments. We present a handcrafted prototype manufactured from e-textiles, wool and grape seeds. The sssnake prototype was evaluated in a user study with ten children aged between one and eight years. The study showed that online-connected soft toys can be an extension to traditional possibilities of socializing and play.
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Very young children (below three) are characterized by sensory-motor exploration and pre-cognitive development. There is little work on interactive toys for this age group. This raises the question of what interactions are developmentally... more
Very young children (below three) are characterized by sensory-motor exploration and pre-cognitive development. There is little work on interactive toys for this age group. This raises the question of what interactions are developmentally appropriate at this age. We here propose recommendations for designing meaningful interactive toys, gained from designing an interactive soft (textile) book prototype, testing it with children and discussion of observations with parents, as well as three expert interviews. Recommendations concern what types of interactions to implement (transparent and one-step), inviting full-body activity and exploration with all senses, what kind of effects to generate (appropriate for children's abilities, being predictable, with clear relation to real-world experiences, but also accounting for the needs of caregivers), and the importance of allowing for shared experience.
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This is the abstract of my PhD research focusing on smart costuming and its production processes for theatre, ballet, or related cultural stage performances.
This chapter deals with smart costumes that are made for the usage on professional stages, e.g., theatre, ballet or performances of pop stars. Such costumes can be active or interactive depending on whether they are reactive to their... more
This chapter deals with smart costumes that are made for the usage on professional stages, e.g., theatre, ballet or performances of pop stars. Such costumes can be active or interactive depending on whether they are reactive to their wearers or the environment, or not. The requirements of (inter)active costumes are different in comparison with conventional costume design because the individual computational features have to be developed and integrated properly. Creating, staging and maintaining them challenge in particular the established structures of traditional production houses in theatre. This chapter analyses the crafting process of (inter)active costumes for the performances of singers or musicians and for professional theatre or ballet. Furthermore, it seeks to outline the requirements that are needed to succeed.
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A variety of interactive books, including 'touch and feel books', enable children to physically learn and develop knowledge. We developed an interactive touch and feel book for children that integrates sound and LED light to... more
A variety of interactive books, including 'touch and feel books', enable children to physically learn and develop knowledge. We developed an interactive touch and feel book for children that integrates sound and LED light to enhance the child's interaction. Our project explores the development of textile-based electronic touch and feel books, integrating textiles with ready-made and self-made sensors and actuators in a book format. It is called 'Hello World' as this is the common name of the very first program by someone new to software or hardware development, and thought ta good metaphor for children exploring their very first touch-and-feel book enhanced with interactive features.
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Very young children (below three) are characterized by sensory motor exploration and pre-cognitive development. There is little work on interactive toys for this age group. This raises the question of what interactions are developmentally... more
Very young children (below three) are characterized by sensory motor exploration and pre-cognitive development. There is little work on interactive toys for this age group. This raises the question of what interactions are developmentally appropriate at this age. We here propose recommendations for designing meaningful interactive toys, gained from designing an interactive soft (textile) book prototype, testing it with children and discussion of observations with parents, as well as three expert interviews. Recommendations concern what types of interactions to implement (transparent and one-step), inviting full-body activity and exploration with all senses, what kind of effects to generate (appropriate for chil-dren's abilities, being predictable, with clear relation to real-world experiences, but also accounting for the needs of care-givers), and the importance of allowing for shared experience .
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Tangible and embodied technologies can enrich cultural heritage sites. Their design requires a solid understanding of the specific site, the needs and interests of user communities and stakeholders. Many types of heritage sites have been... more
Tangible and embodied technologies can enrich cultural heritage sites. Their design requires a solid understanding of the specific site, the needs and interests of user communities and stakeholders. Many types of heritage sites have been studied by HCI researchers, however our work focuses on a little-known one: historical cemeteries. Here we describe some early investigations of how the physical and socio-cultural contexts influence potential design solutions for two historic cemeteries, despite of a seemingly similar setting.
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In this paper, we discuss the requirements and critical challenges for creating and staging interactive costumes in the theatre. Different to other types of performance, theatre costumes are secondary to acting. Our investigations are... more
In this paper, we discuss the requirements and critical challenges for creating and staging interactive costumes in the theatre. Different to other types of performance, theatre costumes are secondary to acting. Our investigations are based on two practice-based case studies: a self-directed design research within a student project, and a collaboration with a local theatre house, where interactive costume elements were developed in a real-life setting. These reveal requirements and challenges for the design process as well as the effective staging of interactive costumes, the biggest challenge being how to integrate these into existing structures of traditional theatre houses, and requirements for the costumes themselves. Because interactive costumes integrate technological features and traditional analogue crafts, they require interdisciplinary collaboration and transcend established boundaries between departments in theatre houses, challenging established work processes and structures.