Sense fiction: a sensory-driven design framework for ideating wearable haptic artefacts

Recent technological developments have allowed the appearance of pervasive smart technologies that are able to interact with the human body through the senses. In this context, examining their interaction with the human body becomes increasingly critical, particularly given the manifold stimuli that can adversely affect human well-being. While the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) has extensively explored the sense of sight and hearing, it has insufficiently addressed the sense of touch, often limiting it to technical considerations revolving around the mechanics and functions of the devices. Other approaches, such as soma design have emerged proposing alternative methodologies that eschew a solely goaldriven, feature-centric, and productivity-oriented focus. However, a gap remains for methods prioritising the tactile experience, which use bodily sensations as the drive for the design.

This research introduces the sense fiction (SF) framework, which draws from the phenomenological tradition and is targeted toward interaction designers, artists, and fashion/wearable tech developers. This framework promotes a structured exploration of haptic interactions, encouraging designers to commence with the bodily experience as a starting point while prototyping and reflecting on the tactile implications of ‘yet-to-exist’ wearable technologies. This approach contrasts with the traditional problem-solving and goal-driven methodologies prevalent in HCI.

This research adopts a research-through-design methodology, balancing the use of theoretical and practical methods. To support the theoretical framework, the study developed soft textile-based materials with shape-changing properties and electronic augmentations. These materials are part of a toolkit that allows the rapid prototyping of diverse bodily sensations. The efficacy of the SF framework was empirically validated through a workshop with interaction design students.

The SF framework advances a holistic perspective on embodied technology design, enhancing tactile awareness and nuanced material perceptions. Its original contributions lie in (1) a sensory-driven framework that leverages bodily sensations to inform the ideation and function of future wearable haptic artefacts, (2) a toolkit for haptic exploration that can be extended and customised through electronic textile practices, and (3) three artefacts to support the ideation of wearable haptic artefacts