Stanford Seminar - Soma Design -- intertwining aesthetics, movement and emotion in design work

Introduction to Soma Design and the Designer's Motivation

• Soma Design is a particular way of doing design work that intertwines aesthetics, movement, and emotion in design work (11s).
• The designer was previously unsatisfied with designing technologies to be worn on the body or nearby the body, as it focused on measuring and mirroring back numbers to users, promoting an ideal of a perfect and healthy body (42s).
• This ideal is considered horrible, as it implies that the body needs to be trimmed and kept in perfection, and the designer was searching for ways to engage with technology that would allow for designing a better life (1m23s).
• To design for a better life, one needs to decide what a good life is, which led the designer to explore aesthetics and take a position on it (2m7s).

Aesthetics and the Interconnectedness of Mind and Body

• Aesthetics is essential for designers, and it involves thinking about what is being designed and why, considering the interconnectedness of mind and body (2m22s).
• The concept of mind and body dates back to Greek mythology and philosophers, who divided them, associating mind with rational thinking and body with emotions, and often giving higher status to the former (2m47s).
• However, these dichotomies do not exist in reality, and mind and body are highly interconnected, influencing each other and the way people interact with the world (3m27s).
• The idea of separating mind from body is considered false, and the categorization of people as male or female is also seen as limited and not reflective of the spectrum of differences in bodily constitutions (3m55s).
• The designer believes that people should be able to associate with whatever they want, without being limited by norms and expectations (4m27s).

The Orne Islands Trip and the Influence of Tools

• A trip to the Orne Islands was taken to explore a colleague's heritage, where a 5,000-year-old tomb was discovered, containing ancient tools and skeletons (4m38s).
• One of the tools found was a stone with a chipped mark, allowing for a perfect thumb grip, demonstrating how design can make sense to people across time (5m26s).
• The skeletons found in the tomb showed that the people were strong, with well-developed muscles, indicating a strong relationship between the tools used and the body (6m5s).
• The tools people use shape not only their minds but also their bodies, nervous systems, emotions, and social interactions, making it essential for designers to create systems that make sense to users (7m37s).
• Design should consider the whole body and its interactions, rather than just the mind, as the tools used can shape culture, social interactions, and the way people think (7m52s).

Non-Dualistic Design and the Primacy of Movement

• The goal is to engage in non-dualistic design, recognizing that the body, mind, and culture are inseparable, and that movement is foundational and corporeal, rather than just symbolic and language-driven (8m25s).
• The importance of considering the physical and emotional aspects of design is highlighted, as it can impact how people interact with each other and their environment (8m37s).
• Meaning making is not dependent on verbalization and language, as people can interact and make sense of the world without language, and intelligence starts in movement, with language being a secondary aspect that develops later in human morphology (8m55s).
• The idea that movement is primary and language is secondary is based on the work of biologist and philosopher, Sheets-Johnston, who argues that intelligence is enacted in action and through movement of the whole self (9m37s).

The Dynamic Interplay of Body and Culture

• Human bodies are shaped by culture, and our genetics and biology are influenced by the culture we are in, which in turn affects the norms and ideas projected onto individuals based on their particular body (10m7s).
• The dynamic between the body and culture is constantly changing, and people can work with and change these norms and ideas, as seen in the example of learning to horseback ride, which changes the rider's muscular system, nervous system reactions, and the horse itself (10m48s).

Aesthetics as a Skill and Shusterman's Concept of "S"

• Aesthetics is not just about beauty, but rather a skill that can be acquired, and it involves attending to the world through all senses deliberately to reap more pleasure and interest from the world (11m39s).
• According to philosopher Richard Shusterman, Aesthetics involves attending to the world through all senses, and it is a way of experiencing the world that can be developed and cultivated (11m43s).
• Shusterman's concept of "S" refers to the interconnected living, purposive, sentient, perceptive body or bodily subjectivity, which emphasizes the unity of body and mind, and the importance of considering the social setting in which we act in the world (12m2s).
• The concept of embodiment is not preferred, as it implies the possibility of being disembodied, which is not possible, and instead, the term "S" is used to refer to the bodily subjectivity (12m29s).

Skill Aesthetics and Everyday Experiences

• Aesthetics is a way of experiencing the world that can be developed and cultivated, and it involves paying attention to the world through all senses, as seen in the example of eating lunch, where one can either eat quickly and mechanically or slowly and mindfully (12m35s).
• Aesthetics can be experienced by paying attention to everyday activities, such as eating, and trying new ways of doing them, like chewing food on the other side of the mouth, to reap more aesthetic pleasure from the experience (13m14s).
• This approach, called "Skill Aesthetics," involves awakening from mindless, joyless behaviors and attending to the world in a new way to have novel and richer experiences (13m50s).

Reunifying Aesthetics with the Body

• This perspective values the current life and body, rather than focusing on an afterlife or ideal world, and is inspired by Aristotle's philosophy (14m30s).
• The idea is to reunify the notion of aesthetics with the body, recognizing that aesthetics is not just about visual objects, but about the experiences and sensations that occur between the individual and the world (15m10s).
• Aesthetics can be experienced through the whole body, not just visually, and can involve a range of experiences, from pleasurable to intense or challenging (15m35s).

Soma Aesthetics and the Promise of Transformation

• The theory of aesthetics in the pragmatist tradition, which combines "soma" (body) with "aesthetics," aims to provide a framework for designers to create new interactions and experiences that promote richer experiences (16m15s).
• The promise of this approach is that by working with attention and awareness, individuals can transform and change, having more experiences and living better lives (16m56s).
• The challenge is to translate this theory into design practice, using digital technologies, autonomous systems, and other tools to create new interactions and experiences that promote aesthetic pleasure and personal growth (17m18s).

Training Sensibilities and Designing with Shadows

• Increasing sensibilities is crucial for better design, and this can be achieved by attending to all senses and exploring elements like shadows, which can evoke various emotions and reactions (17m36s).
• A paper was written on training sensibilities, specifically focusing on shadows and how to be more sensitive to them, as they are omnipresent and can be poetic, interesting, or scary (17m46s).
• Designing with shadows, bodies, or other elements requires a deep understanding of human experiences and emotions, and systems can be built to help users change in ways they desire, which may not align with the designer's intentions (18m5s).

The IKEA Breathing Light Project

• A project was undertaken with IKEA, a Swedish company, to create interactive furniture that promotes a good life at home, focusing on health and well-being (18m29s).
• One of the systems developed was the "breathing light," which uses simple technology to measure the distance between a person's chest and a lamp, dimming the light in sync with the person's breathing pattern (19m4s).
• The breathing light was designed to follow the user's natural breathing pattern, rather than trying to alter it, and was used in conjunction with a heated mat to explore the user's experience of warmth and body awareness (19m8s).
• The system was tested in four households for an extended period, and the results showed strong reactions from users, including emotional connections and positive impacts on sleep, anxiety, and public speaking confidence (20m41s).
• The study's findings were remarkable, with users exhibiting strong attachment to the system, and some even reporting life-changing effects, such as improved sleep and reduced anxiety (21m0s).

Studying the Transformational Effects of Design

• A study was conducted to understand the transformational effects of design on people's lives, where rich data was collected through auto-narratives of people's whole lives, including their jobs, partners, and other aspects, to interpret the impact of design (21m43s).
• The study's findings can be read in an award-winning paper by Kai, which explores the complexities of life and the role of design in it (22m16s).

Design Research and Knowledge Through Design

• The concept of design research, as described by Yan Rrum, involves starting from certain world views and conducting design experiments to understand the scope and limitations of a particular design approach (22m34s).
• The goal of design research is to build one system after another, with the ultimate goal of gaining knowledge through design, rather than just studying the systems (23m28s).

Examples of Transformative Design Projects

• An example of this approach is the creation of a shape-changing guitar that senses when the player is not breathing and gently encourages them to breathe again, demonstrating the potential of design to transform performance (23m59s).
• Another example is the development of drums that can be danced with, inspired by Tai Chi, which engages with drone technology to create a new aesthetic appreciation of moving together with autonomous systems (24m23s).
• Interactive materials have also been created that can be worn and woven into fabric, such as a form of a cret that can contract or expand using pneumatics, inspired by MC Gibbon's muscles (25m1s).
• These materials were used to create a wearable device that allows an opera singer to communicate to the audience what it feels like to sing, by translating her singing into a physical sensation in real-time (25m53s).
• The experience of wearing a shape-shifting corset that mimics the movements of a singer's body can be described as feeling something from the outside in, rather than the inside out, which is how a singer typically feels when singing (26m1s).

The Shape-Shifting Corset and the Experience of Singing

• This experience can evoke strong emotions and sensations, such as feeling like something is dying on the body or feeling the beat of a drummer on the ribs (26m45s).
• Vocal music instructors often use physical touch to help students connect with their diaphragm and produce the desired sound, which can help create a familiar feeling on the outside, but there can be a disjunction between what one is supposed to feel and what one actually feels (27m14s).
• The goal is to expand the aesthetic experience of music performance, rather than just focusing on instrumental techniques, and to create a novel experience that takes the listener beyond what is already interesting in the music (27m46s).
• This experience can be likened to an alien feeling, where one can better understand what it's like to have certain muscles engaged, and can be a unique aesthetic experience (28m13s).
• The technology used to create this experience can feel like technology with human components, becoming like a centaur or Frankenstein's monster, which can be a super interesting and neutral experience (28m41s).
• The experience of wearing the corset while listening to a modern opera piece created a completely different way of understanding the work, and evoked strong emotions, including tears (29m20s).
• The piece, which features a singer arguing and conversing with two recorded voices of herself, is about a man who wants to have a last conversation with two friends who have passed away, and the corset allowed the listener to feel the emotions and sensations of the piece in a new way (29m30s).

The Pelvic Chair and Pelvic Floor Muscle Awareness

• Other works, such as the pelvic chair, can help train the pelvic floor muscle and increase awareness of the body, which may resonate with the feeling of needing an instrumental aim (30m21s).
• The pelvic floor muscle is an important muscle that carries the internal intestines, and being aware of it is crucial, especially for women after childbirth, as it can become loose if not properly maintained (30m33s).
• Controlling the pelvic floor muscle can lead to better sex for men, and women need to work with it after giving birth to maintain its health (31m1s).
• The muscle can become tense due to societal pressure to look good, especially during teenage years, and learning to untense it is essential to have a full range of motion in the muscular system (31m32s).
• A chair with inflatable parts can help people relax and become aware of their pelvic floor muscle by releasing air and poking the muscle to stimulate relaxation (31m50s).
• The chair uses shape-changing, soft robotics materials and has shown positive effects in studies, particularly with women who felt comfortable with the intimate touch (32m25s).

Pelvic Floor Design and Cultural Context

• Research has shown that women's bodies around the world have different pelvic floor designs, despite the pelvis itself having only a few millimeters of difference between individuals (33m25s).
• The differences in pelvic floor design are mainly due to external factors, such as fat, rather than the size of the pelvis itself (33m46s).
• Designers are working with local contexts, such as in Sweden, to develop products that cater to specific needs, including pelvic floor muscle training for women (34m4s).
• A particular movement practice called Feldenkrais is being used in conjunction with pelvic floor muscle training to help women become more aware of their bodies (34m15s).
• Researchers are also exploring the use of stretchable sensors to help women feel what is happening in their vaginal fluids, including menstruation and yeast microbes (34m35s).

Bodily Awareness and VR Environments

• The concept of bodily awareness is explored, specifically extending awareness of one's own body and working with that over time, including using VR environments with inter-corporal design to feel a sense of connection with others in a real, corporal way (35m0s).
• A system is used that employs visuals to create a sense of haptics, effectively "faking" haptics, and this concept has been applied in various projects, including working with companies like Volvo (35m30s).

Interactive Car Seats and the Aesthetics of Driving

• A project with Volvo involved designing interactive car seats for autonomous driving cars, incorporating aesthetic design and shape-changing elements to wake the driver and provide a sense of the car's movements (36m22s).
• The experience of driving is considered an aesthetic experience, with the body becoming part of the car and the surrounding landscape, and designing for this experience is an area of exploration (36m57s).

Designing for Falling Asleep with Shape-Changing Objects

• A project with Ikea focused on designing for falling asleep, using shape-changing objects that follow a breathing pattern, and involved exercises to feel breathing and falling asleep, as well as designing with simple haptics and pneumatics (37m25s).
• The use of vibration, heat, and shape-changing elements is explored in designing for falling asleep, with heat being a particularly intimate and lovely interaction modality, but also acknowledging that not all experiences have to be pleasurable (38m44s).

The Aesthetics of Collision with Robots

• A workshop involved colliding with robots, exploring the aesthetic experiences of collision, and creating new experiences through this interaction (39m23s).
• The Soma Design program has been applied to various projects, probing the reach of the program and exploring new areas of design (40m0s).

The Soma Design Program and Chronic Pain Workshop

• A workshop was conducted to explore chronic pain and design work beyond the idea of curing, where seven participants spent a week sensitizing themselves to the experience of pain and finding ways to touch it through design (40m42s).
• The first day of the workshop involved weird engagement with breathing and contact improvisation, which helped participants articulate their pain by landing in their bodies and with one another (41m30s).
• On the second day, the group went into the forest without documenting or talking, using a method called "echos athetics" by Professor Barbara Foris, to notice other aspects of their presence in the space (42m1s).
• The group remained silent for hours, relying on the meaning that arose from the experience without taking notes or documentation (42m50s).
• On the third day, the group went back into the forest and started designing using yarn and materials found in the forest to express pain, fears, and ways of overcoming them (43m13s).
• On the fourth day, the group did body exercises and explored haptics, but were disappointed with the haptics compared to the materials used in the forest and yarn (43m41s).
• The group needs to rework how haptics works in their design process (43m59s).
• On the final day, the group did more body practices and started expressing their experiences, bringing language back into the process (44m13s).

Feminist, Pluralist Design and Interpreting Expressions

• The workshop aimed to design in a feminist, pluralist, non-dualistic way, engaging with the whole self and body in the room (40m25s).
• A design process involves interpreting one another's expressions without prior explanation, allowing for a deeper understanding of each other's experiences and emotions (44m31s).
• This process involves shifting between first-person, second-person, and third-person perspectives, enabling designers to be inside an experience, step outside to observe, and look at others to understand their own experiences (45m15s).
• Designers try to shift back and forth between these perspectives in their design processes, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the experience being designed (45m47s).

Shifting Perspectives and Kinesthetic Empathy

• An example of this process is a design experiment where a person tries to balance on a balance beam, and a muscle sensor generates sound based on the person's muscle tension, externalizing the experience and allowing for kinesthetic empathy (46m1s).
• This process involves dissolving or traversing dichotomies between inside and outside, individual and social, or body and technology by attending to the inner universe and using strategies for going back and forth (47m28s).

Felt Ethics and the Intertwining of Aesthetics and Ethics

• The design process also involves working with aesthetics as a bodily felt somatic experience and ethics as a bodily somatic felt experience, referred to as "felt ethics" (47m48s).
• Felt ethics involves relying on the body to guide ethical considerations, recognizing that ethics is deeply embedded in how we act towards others and cannot be separated from emotions and rational reasoning (48m11s).
• The philosopher Schust's concept of Su design stics emphasizes that ethics cannot be separated from what is deeply ingrained with us (48m33s).
• Ethics is understood as something that arises between the individual and the system, in the dynamics between them during the design process and the dynamic interaction after something is designed, where aesthetics and ethics are intertwined (49m8s).

Soma Design and the Connection Between Sensation and Values

• Soma design is a way of examining and improving the connection between sensation, feeling, emotion, subjective understanding, and values, while engaging with materials in a physical, bodily, somatic way (49m34s).
• The connection between sensation, feeling, emotion, and subjective understanding is crucial in designing meaningful experiences (49m57s).

Augmented Feedback of Breathing and the "Monster" Experience

• A device was created that provided augmented feedback of breathing, allowing users to experience their own breathing in a new way (50m23s).
• An experiment was conducted where an opera singer wore a device that allowed her to experience the music without singing, and she reported a unique experience of feeling the music in her body (50m35s).
• A previous version of the device allowed users to record and playback their own breathing, creating a "monster" experience that was both eerie and pleasurable (51m4s).
• The experience of wearing the device was described as partly human and partly not human, and it was difficult to put into words, highlighting the importance of embodiment and practice in understanding somatic experiences (51m26s).

Opera Singers and the Device as a Training Instrument

• Opera singers have a unique awareness of their own bodies, developed through years of training, and their experience of wearing the device was different from that of non-singers (52m9s).
• The device was seen as a potential training instrument for the opera singer, allowing her to explore and understand her own muscular movements in a new way (53m7s).

Embracing Unpleasant Emotions and the Good Life

• The concept of embracing and exploring unpleasant emotions and sensations, such as pain, is discussed in relation to design and human experience (53m17s).
• This idea is compared to the way art can evoke strong emotions, including displeasure, and how it can broaden human experiences (53m39s).
• The process of acceptance and living with chronic pain is highlighted, and the importance of understanding and articulating pain is emphasized (54m12s).
• The question of what constitutes a good life, including experiences of pain and pleasure, is raised, and the limitations of reducing life to instrumental goals are discussed (54m24s).
• The importance of self-empathy and embracing one's pain is stressed, and the connection between thought, emotion, and pain is explored (55m42s).
• The experience of chronic pain is noted to be different every day, and the process of understanding and living with it is emphasized (56m10s).

Technology, Everyday Pleasures, and Soma Design's Critical Element

• The use of technology to mimic physical sensations, such as menstruation, is discussed as a potential way to increase understanding and empathy towards Soma design (56m52s).
• The value of everyday pleasures, such as watching TikTok videos, is acknowledged, and the importance of not looking down on these experiences is emphasized (57m35s).

Challenging Cultural Norms and Expanding Subjective Experience

• The concept of Soma Design involves intertwining aesthetics, movement, and emotion in design work, with a strong critical element that draws from feminist theories and non-normative perspectives (57m52s).
• Soma Design aims to challenge cultural norms and taboos by engaging with non-habitual movements and behaviors, allowing individuals to expand their subjective experience and take up more space (58m14s).
• Cultural norms impose certain behaviors and movements on individuals, particularly women, who are often socialized to sit and stand in specific ways, but these norms are not inherent to the human body (58m25s).
• By disrupting habitual movements, Soma Design processes encourage individuals to try new and unfamiliar actions, such as chewing on the opposite side of their mouth, to reveal and challenge normative behaviors (59m10s).
• This approach allows individuals to question and potentially change their normative behaviors, expanding their universe and taking up more space in the process (59m29s).