An embodied approach to designing meaningful experiences with ambient media

Abstract

With the emerging trend in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) shifting focus from usability to facilitating meaningful experiences, the notion of embodied cognition provides designers and researchers with valuable insight into how the body–mind interplay can influence meaning-making during embodied experiences. This paper presents an approach to designing embodied interactions with ambient media. Building on theories of embodied cognition and cognitive semantics, we developed our approach by conducting a series of studies, including an interpretive case analysis, empirical research into audience experience and design ideations, as well as designerly reflections on design. Our findings showed that an embodied approach is applicable for designing meaningful interactions, by coupling bodily engagement with metaphorical meanings.Design implications and future work are also presented.