Body in Transit

Years: 2022-2023 Location: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

In collaboration with: i_mBODY Lab, UCL Interaction Centre

The way we perceive our body (our own body size, shape, capabilities, among others) deeply influences our behaviour, our emotions and our social interactions. Our body perception is highly plastic and can be altered through sensor-based and bodily sensory feedback interactions. Body in Transit is a project funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant (P.I. Ana Tajadura-Jiménez). It combines cognitive neuroscience, interaction design, interactive arts, and machine learning to explore and design sensory-driven changes in body perception.

I led the interaction design research efforts within the project - in the context of my postdoc. My focus was on designing and evaluating various audio and haptic feedback wearables to induce desirable perceptual transformations in different groups (e.g. physically active and inactive individuals, professional dancers). Additionally, I articulated design knowledge (methods, experiential qualities) to aid in the design and evaluation of interactive experiences that transform body perception. Finally, I led collective speculation work within our multidisciplinary team to reflect on the potential personal and societal impacts of our designs in a fictitious, near future.

PUBLICATIONS:

Laia Turmo Vidal, José Vega-Cebrián, María Gastelum, Elena Márquez Segura, Judith Ley-Flores, Joaquín Díaz Durán, and Ana Tajadura-Jiménez. 2024. Body Sensations as Design Material: An Approach to Design Sensory Technology for Altering Body Perception. In Proc. ACM DIS, 2024.

Amar D’Adamo, Marte Roel Lesur, Laia Turmo Vidal, Mohammad Mahdi Dehshibi, Daniel De La Prida, Joaquín R. Diaz-Durán, Luis Antonio Azpicueta-Ruiz, Aleksander Väljamäe, and Ana Tajadura-Jiménez. 2024. SoniWeight Shoes: Investigating Effects and Personalization of a Wearable Sound Device for Altering Body Perception and Behavior. In Proc. ACM CHI, 2024.

Judith Ley-Flores, Laia Turmo Vidal, Elena Márquez Segura, Aneesha Singh, Frederic Bevilacqua, Francisco Cuadrado, Joaquín Roberto Díaz Durán, Omar Valdiviezo-Hernández, Milagrosa Sánchez-Martin, and Ana Tajadura-Jiménez. 2024. Co-Designing Sensory Feedback for Wearables to Support Physical Activity through Body Sensations. In Proc. ACM IMWUT, 2024.

Laia Turmo Vidal, Ana Tajadura-Jiménez, José Manuel Vega-Cebrián, Judith Ley-Flores, Joaquin R. Díaz-Durán, and Elena Márquez Segura. 2024. Body Transformation: An Experiential Quality of Sensory Feedback Wearables for Altering Body Perception. In Proc. ACM TEI, 2024.

Laia Turmo Vidal, José Manuel Vega-Cebrián, Amar D’Adamo, Marte Roel Lesur, Mohammad Mahdi Dehshibi, Joaquín Díaz Durán, and Ana Tajadura-Jiménez. 2023. On Futuring Body Perception Transformation Technologies: Roles, Goals and Values In Proc. Mindtrek, 2023.

Joaquín Roberto Díaz Durán, Laia Turmo Vidal, and Ana Tajadura Jiménez. 2023. Joakinator: An Interface for Transforming Body Movement and Perception through Machine Learning and Sonification of Muscle-Tone and Force. In Proc. NIME (2023).

Bruna Beatriz Petreca, Ana Tajadura-Jiménez, Laia Turmo Vidal, Ricardo O Nascimento, Hasti Seifi, Judith Ley-Flores, Aneesha Singh, Nadia Berthouze, Marianna Obrist, and Sharon Baurley. 2023. Body x Materials: A workshop exploring the role of material-enabled body-based multisensory experiences. In EA. ACM CHI, 2023.

Judith Ley-Flores, Laia Turmo Vidal, Nadia Berthouze, Aneesha Singh, Frédéric Bevilacqua, and Ana Tajadura-Jiménez. 2021. SoniBand: Understanding the Effects of Metaphorical Movement Sonifications on Body Perception and Physical Activity. In Proc. ACM CHI, 2021.