A Dialogue of the Senses

A comprehensive introduction to embodied cognition for designers of interactive artifacts, systems, and environments.

In this introduction to embodied cognition and the design of interactive systems, A Dialogue of the Senses, Sile O’Modhrain argues for turning the interaction design process inside out. We cannot design the experiences of those who use our artifacts and devices, she says; we can only put in place the conditions under which users can bring forth, through their actions, an embodied experience of the world that includes the things we build. Our interactions with artifacts and devices are physical interactions, even if partly or wholly simulated.

The world our devices bring into being is one that people experience by moving their bodies to elicit changes in the stimuli they pick up through their senses. O’Modhrain centers the role of movement in interaction design, introducing techniques of motion capture, design practices in movement-based interaction, and considerations of the many perceptual and motor skills that people bring to bear when they interact with their digitally augmented world through devices such as phones, home assistants, and VR gaming controllers.