In 2015, Prof. Dr. Claudia Müller-Birn (Head of HCC Research Group at Freie Universität Berlin) and Prof. Carola Zwick (Head of Embodied Interaction Group at Weißensee School of Art and Design Berlin) started Coding IxD, an interdisciplinary teaching collaboration. Students from the department of computer science and product design are co-educated to design novel interaction concepts in the form of » neo-analog artifacts. « For each study term, student teams of computer scientists and designers engage with an emerging design context. The chosen topic for the winter semester of 2023/2024 was »Expanding:THE BODY. «

As we enter a world where technology is not just around us but also inseparable from us, even inside us, it is time to rethink how we design for and with the human body. The rise of wearables, body tattoos, and e-textiles demonstrates the increasing ubiquity of technology in capturing vital body data. However, these innovations reflect universal solutions that often overlook the individuality inherent in each human body’s response to different life situations and environments. This points to the urgent need for a paradigm shift in which technologies are designed to celebrate and support the uniqueness of each human body, bridging the digital-physical divide with tangible and embodied artifacts.

In this year’s semester project, »Expanding:THE BODY,« we delve into the experiential differences in individuals' and groups' lived embodiments and explore how these unique experiences shape lives differently. We raise questions about the data and information that human bodies can provide and how individuals can cultivate skills to become more attentive to their body data. In interdisciplinary teams, students research and discuss the possibilities of data physicalization by carefully reflecting on the diversity of human body data.

Coding IxD is part of the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity. Image Space Material« and a cooperation between the Human-Centered Computing Research Group (Freie Universität Berlin) and the Embodied Interaction Group (Weißensee School of Art and Design Berlin).

Further information

All team projects and further information can be explored here: https://codingixd.mi.fu-berlin.de/expandingthebody/