Enabling through design: explorations of aesthetic and embodied interaction in therapy and care

My research explores the role that design could play in reducing the stigma associated with the use of rehabilitation aids that inherently manifest impairment and the inconvenience of the disability condition. The Design Cases described hereafter show that rehabilitation tools can be both engaging and useful, reflecting the inherent beauty and satisfaction of recovery. The dissertation is structured around the presentation and discussion of four Design Cases. The introduction summarises my research agenda. The theoretical and methodological approaches clarify the conceptual framework of my research. A collection of eight peer reviewed journal or conference papers forms the core and gives full details about the Cases. Four videos are associated to the Design Cases to illustrate the context of the research and show the prototypes in use. Conclusions and reflections complete the dissertation. Each Design Case is structured as follows: Domain context: it describes the application domain, its problems and peculiarities, challenges and potentials. Dementia care, physical and cognitive rehabilitation with aqua therapy, neonatal intensive care and learning and play in disabled children are the main contexts addressed by the Design Cases. Research context: it provides information about the project in which the Design Cases were developed. All projects are the result of international collaborations, some of them were co-financed by the European Union, in one case by an Italian private institution. This section specifies the time duration of the project and my role. Inspiration: It explains where the concepts come from, how they have been defined and the main sources of inspiration for design. It describes the very early phases of the design process which was not necessarily intended to solve problems but mainly to create opportunity for use. Focus on aesthetic and embodied interaction: it clarifies the nature of the aesthetic and embodied experience explored with the designed systems. Each Design Case provides the context to define, elaborate, experiment with a specific variation of design focus: empathic tuning (Case 1), play and autonomy (Case 2), intimacy, fragility and (in)visibility (Case 3), perceptual crossing (Case 4). Prototype: Each prototype is described highlighting its formal, material and technical qualities. Testing: Each prototype has been tested in the real context of use with disabled people and care givers. Experimental design, methodology and the data analysis are reported and discussed with respect to initial hypotheses and challenges. Papers: Each Design Case is accompanied by one or more peer-reviewed journal or conference papers, providing full details of the subject matter. Videos: Each Design Case is illustrated by a video that introduces the context and shows the prototypes in use. The videos can be accessed via QR code or URL.