Embodied Ideation, Toolkits, and Sketching

Movement-based design foregrounds the moving and sentient body, fostering holistic engagement with the surrounding physical, material, and sociospatial contexts. Over the years, this approach has yielded multiple methodologies, tools, and exemplars to support body-based ideation. In this studio, we explore tools that facilitate embodied thinking and the creative processes of designing with, through, and for the body. In particular, we focus on: i) embodied ideation tools, kits, and technology probes to prompt ideation; ii) sketching and other documentation techniques to materialise ephemeral embodied action during ideation. We will bring tools and techniques to engage with both aspects, and we will invite participants to bring their own, which can be physical or technological, low or high-fidelity. 

This hands-on studio will provide a space to collectively engage in embodied ideation and sketching; exploring, analysing, and engaging deeply with the available objects and methods. The studio will culminate in a rich set of visual material and an annotated portfolio, which will be shared with the broader community, fostering connections among designers interested in movement-based and tangible design.

We invite practitioners interested in, and practising movement-based design, to gather, share, and engage with technological objects and toolkits that support body-based ideation and design. The studio is organized in the context of the the ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI'25) in Bordeaux.

This studio will open space to connect as a body-based design community, and demonstrate these objects and deeply interact with them through embodied ideation sessions. We will explore and analyse these objects based on their diverse features, paving the way for the collective creation of an annotated portfolio of technological objects and toolkits. Further, in group, we will develop a collective bodystorming basket, which will extend particular technological probes and toolkits that the studio participants might bring. 

To participate, please submit a 2-page position paper to the studio organisers before February 11th, AoE: <jovegac@inf.uc3m.es>. As we wish to bring together multiple perspectives, please tell us about your interest/experience/perspective of sketching, using or developing toolkits for physical interactions. The position paper can be loosely formatted and we encourage applicants to play with the format, at a 2-page maximum. We will respond before February 12th, AoE.

Update (February 13th, 2025): We still have some spots left so you can still contact us and submit a position paper to register for the studio!

The studio is open for both novice and seasoned designers interested in embodied design methods and technology to assist design processes. We particularly welcome position papers foregrounding particular technological probes or toolkits that the authors might bring to the studio, as well as position papers explaining past and describing potential future engagement with bodystorming baskets featuring different technological and non-technological tools. 

If accepted, at least one author of the position paper must register for the studio before the standard registration deadline through the conference registration system. Note that there is the possibility of registering both to the conference and studio, or to the studio only.

Applicants will be selected based on their potential contribution to the studio, and their interest and future vision, and how well their skills can contribute to the discussion. In as much as possible, we will balance expertise, location, affiliation, gender, etc.