Ylva Fernaeus

• KTH Royal Institute of Technology

The topic of time and how it can be unpacked, deconstructed, and designed with is fundamental to HCI, but it is also extensively engaged within artistic practice. By analysing a selection of ten media artworks, all in different ways concerned with time and temporality, we explore how artists approach these matters as culturally and politically load...

This article explores the shift in design education from traditional, hands-on practices to digitally-based approaches, particularly accelerated by the sudden and temporary remote teaching mandates that affected design schools during the global pandemic restrictions of the early 2020’s. It uses a case involving an interaction design class during su...

En el diseño de experiencias de usuario para electrodomésticos, la conexión, la supervi­sión y el control a través de aplicaciones para teléfonos inteligentes están cada vez más presentes. A pesar de las amplias po­sibilidades de interacción que ofrecen los teléfonos inteligentes, actualmente el modo estándar de interacción con estas aplica­ciones...

This work investigates experiences and practical aspects of co-located and co-watched 360-videos in head mounted displays by groups of older people at nursing homes. In a study involving 19 residents at two different nursing homes, co-watching screenings were arranged with 360-videos produced in the local area by filmmakers. Data was collected thro...

Tensions in designing for care are often positioned as conflicts to be resolved. We draw upon queer theories to investigate caring for loved ones as not "in-line" with normative expectations of care as positive and fulfilling. Through the critique of two autobiographical design projects designed for informal, everyday care of our families, we descr...

Domestic IoT appliances like smart speakers, smart locks and robot vacuum cleaners are usually connected, monitored and controlled via smartphone apps. Despite the rich number of sensors and actuators available in smartphones, these apps primarily provide graphical user interfaces with these appliances. To explore a more somatically engaging experi...

Micro-controllers like Arduino are increasingly used in classroom settings to teach skills, attitudes and knowledge around technology. Education around these tools is often set in group contexts and collaboration is typically considered an important part of the learning process. However, much of the software tools currently available are still desi...

In today’s era of digitalization of education, Computer Supported Collaborative Learning is becoming increasingly important in higher education. This type of learning has been frequently associated in the recent research literature with student regulation, feedback from peers and a student assessment schema which can incorporate both formative and...

One growing area of research in the field of interaction design concerns new applications of filmed VR, or what is sometimes referred to as 360 video. We have studied this new semi-interactive medium in two applied use settings: in clinical psychotherapy sessions for agoraphobia and in elderly care. The systems used in both projects were effective...

This paper investigates humor as a resource and strategy for design with discourse as an intended outcome. While humor can incite empathy and understanding, it can also lead to alienation and disengagement. Through the detailing of the pre-narrative and narrative processes of a design fiction, we describe why and how elements of humor, in particula...

Interaction design research has broadened its focus from settings in which people would sit more or less still in front of static computers doing their work tasks, to instead thriving off new interactive materials, mobile use, and ubiquitously available data of all sorts, creating interactions everywhere. These changes have put into question such a...

As interactive objects get embedded into different cultural contexts and take on more varied material forms, the relationship between interaction design and crafting practices in the physical domain is becoming increasingly interwoven. In this paper, we present an explorative project that involved intense collaborations between the areas of interac...

Hardware decays, software obsolesces, infrastructures sediment, devices patinate. While recent scholarship has examined longevity and sustainability, we have little empirical understanding of how things age, decay, and obsolesce and how we might approach impermanence as a resource for practice and reflection. This one-day NordiCHI'16 workshop will...

The material foundations of computer systems and interactive technology is a topic that gained an increased interest within the HCI community during the last years. In this paper we discuss this topic through the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi, a philosophy that embraces three basic realities of the material world: ‘nothing lasts’, ‘nothing is finis...

We present a case in which an existing tangible system and its core design values has been used to create a new variation with available standard technology exactly one decade later. We reflect on how the new technological setup fundamentally changed the interaction in terms of electronic media and behavior, as well as regarding perception, physica...

In this paper we present a series of design explorations on the theme of wearable and mobile technology through the lens of jewellery design. This is done by looking at properties of traditional fine jewellery in terms of material considerations and crafting processes, as well as considerations related to patterns of wear and interaction. By using...

With this paper we propose bricolage as an interaction design practice. We make the case that bricolage promotes design qualities that are specifically tuned to tangible and material computing practices in that it is highly sensible towards the unstable physical world and proposes a non-hierarchical negotiation of forms. We further show how bricola...

Ajna is a musical cabinet made from a rich composition of acoustic materials and designed to perform digitally composed music. In this paper, we aim to unpack the design as well as key aspects of the design process that lead up to this unique artwork. We base our analysis on interviews with its two creators as well as on observations of Ajna perfor...

Leather is a material used for the making of artifacts ever since early human history, and which can be used also in contemporary design for various types of interactive and electronic products. In this paper, we present a series of small scale explorations of leather, first as skin close interfaces for physical engagement, and secondly in terms of...

In this studio we explore the design of interactive electronic accessories made from natural materials such as wood, copper, silver, wool and leather. A set of handcrafted sensor components along with easy to use sensor boards that connect with example smartphone software, will be utilized as a toolkit for the studio activities. Participants will,...

In this paper, we describe the design of an interactive glove, 'Teleglove' in order to investigate new ways of crafting and interacting with mobile applications through wearable technology. The system we designed was a simple control to answer a call, end a call and make it silent by just pressing two fingers of the glove, grounded in basic interac...

We present a design exercise illustrating how fashion practices and the fashion design process can be used to create new opportunities both in the mobile domain and in product design, as well as in wearable computing. We investigate the concept of outfit-centric design by extending the support for social and visual interaction with digital devices...

We report on topics raised in encounters with a series of robotics oriented artworks, which to us were interpreted as a general critique to what could be framed as robotic fakelore, or mythology. We do this based on interviews held with artists within the community of ArtBots, and discuss how their approach relates to and contributes to the discour...

The topic of Materials has recently surfaced as a major theme within the research field of interaction design. In this paper we further discuss the need for in-depth descriptions of specific design cases, by revisiting some of our own research-through-design efforts when working with new or not yet fully explored materials for mobile interaction. W...

In the recent developments of human computer interaction, one central challenge has been to find and to explore alternatives to the legacy of the desktop computer paradigm for interaction design. To investigate this issue further we have conducted an analysis on a fascinating piece of machinery often referred to as one of the predecessors of the mo...

Mobile ActDresses is a design concept where existing practices of accessorizing, customization and manipulation of a physical mobile device is coupled with the behaviour of its software. With this interactivity demonstrator we will provide a hands on experience of doing this kind of playful manipulation. We provide two examples for how to implement...

With soft hardware we refer to electronic components, coatings, and shells built from materials that make them elastic, flexible, floppy and malleable. By introducing new material properties into electronic and computational contexts we expect to open new paths for designing interactive things. Building electronics with textile and other soft mater...

We are proud to present the proceedings of TEI 2012 --- the sixth international conference on tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction design. Research in this area stretches across the full spectrum of fields involved in the design of interactive systems, from software, electronics, and mechanics, to form, aesthetics, and social impact. The pa...

This paper considers the ethical implications of applying three major ethical theories to the memory structure of an artificial companion that might have different embodiments such as a physical robot or a graphical character on a hand-held device. We start by proposing an ethical memory model and then make use of an action-centric framework to eva...

This workshop, following one with the same name held at Mobile HCI 2010, aims at further exploring different approaches and challenges in studying playfulness as a mode of interacting with mobile technology.

The first step in any design process is to set the stage for what to design and how that should be realised. In terms of user-centred design, this includes to develop a sense of who will be using the system, where it is intended to be used, and what it should be used for. In this chapter we provide an overview of this part of the development proces...

We present a series of design explorations for controlling autonomous robotic movement based on a metaphor of clothing and accessorizing. From working with various sketches, scenarios and prototypes we identify a number of particular features of this form of interaction, as well potential challenges for designers of other systems based on this desi...

This workshop aims to explore different approaches and challenges in studying playfulness as a mode of interacting with mobile technology. Researchers, designers and developers with interest in this theme are welcome to participate in a full day activity of demos, presentations and discussions. In particular, our emphasis is on how to introduce, ex...

Pleo is one of the more advanced interactive toys currently available for the home market, taking the form of a robotic dinosaur. We present an exploratory study of how it was interacted with and reflected upon in the homes of six families during 2 to 10 months. Our analysis emphasizes a discrepancy between the participants' initial desires to borr...

Robotic devices, such as the Roomba vacuum cleaner, are customised and personalised by their users, using for example signs, stickers and clothes. The actDresses project explores how these metaphors from fashion and comics can be used in novel interactions with robotic devices. This movie shows one explorative prototype, where clothes and accessori...

Robotic devices, such as the Roomba vacuum cleaner, are customised and personalised by their users, using for example signs, stickers and clothes. The actDresses project explores how these metaphors from fashion and comics can be used in novel interactions with robotic devices. This movie shows one explorative prototype, where clothes and accessori...

This paper aims to illustrate how robotic artefacts and applications may be described from a perspective of human action and experience. This is done by presenting an interaction model based on four ways that interactive artefacts may work as resources for human action. In contrast to data-centric models, this model includes socially and contextual...

As computation plays an ever larger role as an embedded part of the environment, research that seeks to understand the embodied nature of children's interactions with computation becomes increasingly important. Embodied interaction is an approach to understanding human-computer interaction that seeks to investigate and support the complex interplay...

In this report we discuss some of the challenges when applying a user-centred design approach in the field of human-robot interaction (HRI). The discussion is based on a one-day workshop at the NordiCHI'08 conference, investigating how methods, techniques and perspectives from the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) could contribute to and le...

We use the Cargo Cult metaphor to discuss visions, methods and communication of robot research. Essentially cargo cult involves performing of imitative rituals that are conducted without understanding the underlying cause of a phenomenon. We discuss how this is an ongoing challenge within the field of HRI, and what researchers could do to avoid con...

This paper concerns the design of physical languages for controlling and programming robotic consumer products. For this purpose we explore basic theories of semiotics represented in the two separate fields of comics and fashion, and how these could be used as resources in the development of new physical languages. Based on these theories, the desi...

In the design of interactive systems, developers sometimes need to engage in various ways of physical performance in order to communicate ideas and to test out properties of the system to be realised. Exter- nal resources such as sketches, as well as bodily action, often play important parts in such processes, and several methods and tools that exp...

INTRODUCTION Research within mobile interaction and applications initially focused on building interfaces that adapt to the limited interaction and presentation resources of mobile devices such as the limited bandwidth and small screens [1]. More recent work has started to address richer interactive experiences by exploring ways of integrating what...

We present the results of a study on how Swedish children aged 10-12 use their mobile phones in public indoor and outdoor settings, and in particular how these are taken into use in unsupervised social play. Through a combination of ethnographic observations and focus group interviews we report on how existing mobile phone functionalities were hand...

The practice-oriented turn in social sciences has implied a series of fundamental consequences and design challenges for HCI in general, and particularly in tangible interaction research. This could be interpreted as a move away from scientific ideals based on a modernist tradition, reflected in four contemporary themes in tangible interaction rese...

In the light of theoretical as well as concrete technical development, we discuss a conceptual shift from an information-centric to an action-centric perspective on tangible interactive technology. We explicitly emphasise the qualities of shareable use, and the importance of designing tangibles that allow for meaningful manipulation and control of...

GlowBots are small tangible, communicating and interactive robots that show eye-catching visual patterns on a round LED display. This paper details the development of the GlowBots from the early user-oriented design phase, through hardware and software development and onto preliminary user studies. In the design phase we outlined a robot applicatio...

Even though collaborative aspects are central in most argumentations for tangible interaction, tangibles that are explicitly designed for such settings may not naturally fit within the standard discourse of this specific area. A theoretical focus has instead concerned either individual sensory experiences, or the technical sides of devices, often b...

Research on computer programming usually views the interactions as mostly cognitively based, with focus on concepts such as memory, perception and conceptual understanding. However, the current trend towards embodied and social perspectives on interaction provides an alternative way of looking at interactive processes, instead emphasising aspects s...

In this paper we will investigate and document some of the practices that a group of children use to form an activity of creating a screen-based interactive play world using a tangible programming system. A specific focus is on the resources that the children use to create and maintain a sense of shared understanding of what they are building. We e...

We present an approach to children's programming inspired by the semiotics of comics. The idea is to build computer programs in a direct and concrete way by using a class of signs that we call contextual signs. There are two aspects that distinguish contextual signs from other sign systems used for programming. The first is that the signs are displ...

We reflect upon the process of developing a tangible space for children's collaborative construction of screen- based systems. As in all design work, the design process involved continual refinements of initial ideas and their practical realisation. We discuss how some widely held qualities often put forward with tangible interfaces were given up i...

We present a tangible programming space designed for children’s collaborative construction of screen-based interactive systems. The design is based on three goals for interaction and activity: supporting co-located collaborative activity, screen-based execution, and what we call behaviour-based programming. Further, we analyse the interactions with...

The data analyzed is based on an activity where a group of eight ten-year-old children, with only minor previous experience of computer programming, collaboratively performed the execution of a game. The computational rules were represented as robots that the children enacted. The setting allowed two kinds of activities to be conducted, both of whi...

We explore the characteristics of children's construction of dynamic systems in a school context. This is done through analyzing children's activities when working hands on with a modelling task, and also through informal interviews and exhibitions where children described their work to peers and teachers who had not taken part in the activities. O...

In this paper, we discuss how meaning-making and knowledge in a particular area depends upon the representations used for expression and interaction. Based on a number of empirical examples, we discuss how new forms of representing computer programs turns the activity of programming from a mental to a largely embodied activity. With this follows th...

This paper explores children's understanding as a resource and inspiration for interface design and beyond. From children we can understand innate intelligences and skills, including a sense of number and the nature of play. Play is possibly one of the ...

One common problem in children's programming is that it is difficult to understand the relation between program creation and program execution, partly because computation is "hidden" in several respects while the program is being run. To address these problems we are developing role-playing activities to support children's understanding of computat...

A long-term human robot interaction (HRI), which involves data storage of personal information, naturally raises ethical issues as a primary concern. This paper is an attempt to rise to this challenge by speculating how to best build and control a "roboethical" memory for a robot companion. We believe that memory is amongst the imperative modules w...

This paper describes my specific research interests within the domain of children's programming within an animated programming environment.