Veerkracht is a game for servant-leadership development. Although the first version of the game already provided a rather authentic environment for professional training, some players reported that it did not sufficiently provide the rich and meaningful interaction required to practice leadership skills. To revise the game we took inspiration from the literature on embodied cognition and added embodied interactions with non-player characters. An evaluation of the revised game, Veerkracht 2.0, yielded significant increases in some of the learning effects when compared to the original game. Further analysis showed that the increased learning was to a large extent due to the revised (embodied) interactions in the game. We concluded that, although some questions remain unanswered, embodied cognition seems a promising area of research for improving game designs and game design theories.
Workshop paper Taking an embodied perspective, we report on the design of two interactive products aimed at empowering people with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder in coping with challenges of everyday life. Our Research-through-Design study combined theory with hands-on co-design work and in situ user observation, in close collaboration with clients and their professional caretakers, constructing experienceable prototypes as tangible anchors for reflection. Reflection resulted in guiding principles addressing the design potential of designing for Embodied Empowerment, centering on the client’s embodied-being-in-the-world.
MULTIFILE
Onderzocht wordt in hoeverre embodied cognition activiteiten bij meetkundeonderwijs in de bovenbouw van de basisschool leerlingen aanzetten tot wiskundig denken (abstraheren) en op welke manier leerkrachten dit proces kunnen begeleiden. Looptijd 01 september 2019 - 31 augustus 2023
The PhD research by Joris Weijdom studies the impact of collective embodied design techniques in collaborative mixed-reality environments (CMRE) in art- and engineering design practice and education. He aims to stimulate invention and innovation from an early stage of the collective design process.Joris combines theory and practice from the performing arts, human-computer interaction, and engineering to develop CMRE configurations, strategies for its creative implementation, and an embodied immersive learning pedagogy for students and professionals.This lecture was given at the Transmedia Arts seminar of the Mahindra Humanities Center of Harvard University. In this lecture, Joris Weijdom discusses critical concepts, such as embodiment, presence, and immersion, that concern mixed-reality design in the performing arts. He introduces examples from his practice and interdisciplinary projects of other artists.About the researchMultiple research areas now support the idea that embodiment is an underpinning of cognition, suggesting new discovery and learning approaches through full-body engagement with the virtual environment. Furthermore, improvisation and immediate reflection on the experience itself, common creative strategies in artist training and practice, are central when inventing something new. In this research, a new embodied design method, entitled Performative prototyping, has been developed to enable interdisciplinary collective design processes in CMRE’s and offers a vocabulary of multiple perspectives to reflect on its outcomes.Studies also find that engineering education values creativity in design processes, but often disregards the potential of full-body improvisation in generating and refining ideas. Conversely, artists lack the technical know-how to utilize mixed-reality technologies in their design process. This know-how from multiple disciplines is thus combined and explored in this research, connecting concepts and discourse from human-computer interaction and media- and performance studies.This research is a collaboration of the University of Twente, Utrecht University, and HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. This research is partly financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).Mixed-reality experiences merge real and virtual environments in which physical and digital spaces, objects, and actors co-exist and interact in real-time. Collaborative Mix-Reality Environments, or CMRE's, enable creative design- and learning processes through full-body interaction with spatial manifestations of mediated ideas and concepts, as live-puppeteered or automated real-time computer-generated content. It employs large-scale projection mapping techniques, motion-capture, augmented- and virtual reality technologies, and networked real-time 3D environments in various inter-connected configurations.This keynote was given at the IETM Plenary meeting in Amsterdam for more than 500 theatre and performing arts professionals. It addresses the following questions in a roller coaster ride of thought-provoking ideas and examples from the world of technology, media, and theatre:What do current developments like Mixed Reality, Transmedia, and The Internet of Things mean for telling stories and creating theatrical experiences? How do we design performances on multiple "stages" and relate to our audiences when they become co-creators?Contactjoris.weijdom@hku.nl / LinkedIn profileThis research is part of the professorship Performative Processes
De educatieve trend ‘blended learning’ richt zich op het vermengen van digitale leermiddelen met contactonderwijs ter verbetering van het onderwijs. Met het ontwerpen van de innovatieve, digitale demonstrator “Singewing space”, in nauwe samenwerking met de creatieve industrie, wil dit project een nieuwe kijk op blended learning ontwikkelen door de interactie met de computer lichamelijker en socialer te maken. Deze digitale demonstrator beoogt gebruikers in het kunstonderwijs mee te nemen in een interactief en fysiek leerproces op het snijvlak van muziek en dans. Het doel van deze insteek is om het artistieke leerproces krachtiger te maken door enerzijds het uitwisselen van artistieke ideeën mogelijk te maken en anderzijds door een verbinding te leggen tussen de verschillende zintuiglijke modaliteiten horen, zien en voelen. Recente theorieën over leren, gebaseerd op de theorie van het zogenaamde “embodied cognition”, breken een lans voor dergelijk multimodaal leren en zullen het ontwerpproces van de demonstrator sturen. De “Singewing space” baant daarmee de weg vrij voor het ontwikkelen van innovatieve onderwijstools door de creatieve industrie.
