Feeling Through Technology

This chapter aims to encapsulate the core elements of the keynote presentation on experience and interaction designs, primarily those using augmented reality, virtuality, or a mix of physical and digital elements. My interest is not in creating cutting-edge technology, but rather in seeing how people react, engage, think, move, and feel when they engage with designs by myself and colleagues. The contribution I make is to use performance theories and practices in design, especially design for mixed reality experiences, so that I can bring specific tools to bear on the creation and analysis of those designs. ‘Performance’ can be the kind practiced by professionals. It can also be the behaviours of people who take on the role of audience member or bystander. It can also be ‘performance’ in the ways that people ‘perform’ their everyday lives. Performance often aims to be thought-provoking, but (aside from Bertolt Brecht and those who use his politically minded Verfremdungseffekt) it virtually always aims for an emotional response through engagement with the aesthetic choices that have been made. This chapter provides a basic theoretical grounding and a specific example of how performance can lay out a richer design space for personally meaningful experiences.