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Towards an Initial Understanding of the Design of Playful Water Experiences Through Flotation

Published: 07 November 2022 Publication History

Abstract

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers are increasingly captivated by water interactions and hence explored interactive devices to support aquatic activities in different settings (e.g., mixed realities in water parks). However, our understanding of the user experience in interacting with water and technology is still underdeveloped. To begin closing this gap, we explore flotation tanks as a water setting for playful interactive experiences. The goal of the associated somaesthetic design approach was to sensitize the body of the designer (the first author) by engaging with her experiences interacting with water and create meaningful interactions. This preliminary work presents four different user experiences that can facilitate play through a defamiliarization analysis of water interaction with the body mediated by technology. We offer HCI insights for design researchers interested in creating playful experiences in water settings, while also providing industry with initial strategies on how to enrich flotation tank sessions.

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  • (2024)Towards the Design of Playful Water Experiences using Interactive TechnologyCompanion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play10.1145/3665463.3678849(434-437)Online publication date: 14-Oct-2024
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    cover image ACM Conferences
    CHI PLAY '22: Extended Abstracts of the 2022 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
    November 2022
    419 pages
    ISBN:9781450392112
    DOI:10.1145/3505270
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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    Published: 07 November 2022

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    Author Tags

    1. Flotation tank
    2. playful experience
    3. soma design
    4. water interaction.

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    • Refereed limited

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    • Australian Research Council award number DP200102612.

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    • (2024)Towards the Design of Playful Water Experiences using Interactive TechnologyCompanion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play10.1145/3665463.3678849(434-437)Online publication date: 14-Oct-2024
    • (2024)Exploring the Design of Playful Devices for SurfingCompanion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play10.1145/3665463.3678786(200-207)Online publication date: 14-Oct-2024
    • (2024)Exploring Shared Bodily Control: Designing Augmented Human Systems for Intra- and Inter-CorporealityProceedings of the Augmented Humans International Conference 202410.1145/3652920.3653037(318-323)Online publication date: 4-Apr-2024
    • (2024)ICY Interfaces: Exploration of Ice’s Ephemeral Features for Digital Game User ExperienceProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3660725(2107-2124)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
    • (2024)Towards Lenses for Reviewing Playfulness in HCIExtended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3650888(1-8)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
    • (2024)Exploring an Extended Reality Floatation Tank Experience to Reduce the Fear of Being in WaterProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642285(1-17)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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    • (2023)Demonstrating Fluito: A playful floatation tank experienceExtended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3583908(1-4)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023

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