[Paper Review] Augmented Body: Changing Interactive Body Play

Matthew Martin, James Charlton+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Apr 21, 2016

Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts21 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper explores how augmentative technology alters players' perception of their bodies to enable novel forms of interactive body play. By using digital mediation to transform bodily perception, the study demonstrates that users can engage in original, playful movement experiences through real-time sensory feedback and embodied interaction design.

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the player's body as a system capable of unfamiliar interactive movement achieved through digital mediation in a playful environment. Body interactions in both digital and non-digital environments can be considered as a perceptually manipulative exploration of self. This implies a player may alter how they perceive their body and its operations in order to create a new playful and original experience. This paper therefore questions how player interaction can change as their perception of their body changes using augmentative technology.

Motivation & Objective

• To investigate how changes in bodily perception through digital augmentation can lead to new forms of interactive body play.
• To examine the role of perceptual manipulation in redefining how players experience and control their bodies in playful digital environments.
• To explore the design of interactive systems that leverage body awareness and sensory feedback to create original movement experiences.
• To understand the psychological and behavioral shifts that occur when players' perception of their body is altered via technology.
• To contribute to the field of human-computer interaction by demonstrating the potential of body-augmenting technologies in playful contexts.

Proposed method

• The study employs interactive digital systems that mediate users' perception of their bodies through real-time sensory feedback.
• Participants engage in playful movement tasks where their physical actions are transformed via digital augmentation.
• The system uses motion tracking and responsive feedback to alter the perceived relationship between body movement and environmental response.
• The design emphasizes perceptual manipulation, allowing users to experience their bodies in unfamiliar yet playful ways.
• The interaction model is grounded in embodied cognition, where bodily perception directly influences and is influenced by digital feedback loops.
• The approach integrates principles from human-computer interaction and performance studies to create novel, immersive play experiences.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How does altering a player's perception of their body through digital mediation affect their engagement in interactive play?
• RQ2 In what ways can perceptual manipulation of the body lead to original and playful movement experiences?
• RQ3 What role does real-time feedback play in reshaping a player's sense of bodily agency during interactive play?
• RQ4 How do changes in body perception influence the quality and creativity of movement in digital play environments?
• RQ5 What design strategies enable the transformation of ordinary bodily movements into novel interactive experiences?

Key findings

• Digital augmentation successfully enables players to perceive and interact with their bodies in unfamiliar, playful ways.
• Participants reported a shift in bodily awareness, describing movements as more expressive and exploratory when perception was altered.
• The integration of real-time feedback significantly enhanced the sense of agency and immersion in the interactive experience.
• The study demonstrates that perceptual manipulation through technology can lead to creative, non-traditional forms of body-based play.
• Users exhibited increased engagement and experimentation with movement when their bodily perception was digitally mediated.
• The findings support the potential of body-augmenting technologies to expand the boundaries of interactive play in both digital and physical spaces.