Really, Really Small: The Palpability of the Invisible

Our physical technology continues to grow smaller and smaller; so small that the computer itself is no longer seen as an object but a set of invisible distributed processes. Technology is becoming an inseparable aspect of experience, palpable yet invisible. At the same time, an extra-ordinary wealth of literature is emerging within human-computer interaction that is exploring experience, embodiment, subjectivity, and felt-life. This interest is often accompanied by research questions that are continuing to re-balance our understanding of the relationship between subjective and objective knowing, making, and doing. These emerging trends can be seen as a response to the phenomena of the really, really small: and marks a cognitive and creative shift from the visible to the invisible. This paper contextualizes the emerging recognition within HCI that there is value in designing for technology as experience, and offers a framework from the field of Somatics that can contribute to the discourse, particularly with regard to the body in everyday life. Somatics is exemplified through first-person methodologies and embodied approaches to learning and interacting. I present a set of design cases that demonstrate its application within HCI.