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Foreignness as a conceptual framework for interaction design

March 2020 – October 2023

Objective
This research takes the experiential notion of being a foreigner as the starting point to represent how crises unfold in distant territories digitally. This ethnographic research utilises earthquakes as case studies to show how everyday experiences are shaped by how our bodies are connected to geographic singularities. By alluding to our human capacity for adaptability, this research aims to (a) generate novel interactive experiences to communicate the changing nature of the Anthropocene Era. Furthermore, (b) to generate design methods considering the global citizen’s perspective. 
 

Background 
Amidst the Anthropocene Era and the COVID pandemic, the resolution of traditionally ill-defined problems in design requires the recognition of non-dominant paradigms and cultural perspectives. Moreover, living in a world of shared uncertainties due to a series of political, environmental and social changes demands cultivating adaptability to face unexpected future scenarios.  

From a methodological perspective, this research engages in first-person Soma Design research, which places the locus on the body and experience. This somatic epistemology is becoming increasingly influential in developing digital and interactive technologies in the last decade.   

About the Digital Futures Postdoc Fellow
Claudia Núñez-Pacheco is an interaction design researcher and artist. She holds a PhD and a master’s degree from the Sydney School of Design at the University of Sydney in interaction design and electronic arts. Her research investigates how bodily ways of knowing can be used as crafting materials to design aesthetic experiences. In her research journey, Claudia has engaged in a multidisciplinary exploration that merges material thinking, wearable technology, human-computer interaction (HCI) and design methods with tools from experiential psychology. Claudia has been awarded twice by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research Scholarship (Chile), in addition to disseminating her research through various international HCI and design academic fora.

Main supervisor
Kia Höök, Professor, Division of Media Technology and Interaction design, KTH

Co-supervisor
Thiemo Voigt, Professor, RISE Computer Science

Contacts

Photo of Claudia Núñez-Pacheco

Claudia Núñez Pacheco

Former Digital Futures Postdoctoral Fellow, Postdoc project: Foreignness as a conceptual framework for interaction design

claudia2@kth.se
Picture of Kristina Höök

Kristina Höök

Professor, Division of Media Technology and Interaction design at KTH, Digital Futures fellow, Former Main supervisor: Foreignness as a conceptual framework for interaction design, Digital Futures Faculty

khook@kth.se
Picture of Thiemo Voigt

Thiemo Voigt

Professor Connected Intelligence Unit at RISE, PI: Fighting Dengue Fever with Aerial Drones, Co-PI: HumanScatter - Demonstrating Rich and Batteryless Human-Powered Interaction using Backscatter, Former Co-supervisor: Foreignness as a conceptual framework for interaction design, Digital Futures Faculty

+46 10 228 43 48
thiemo.voigt@ri.se