Applying Laban Movement Analysis to Interaction Design
How can movement analysis and documentation systems contribute to the creation of new and better interfaces?
In other words, how might Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) be used to enhance and better understand the user interactions in the following two videos?
The first is a trailer for the new Nintendo Wii Fit:
The next video is a demonstration of the Catchyoo application from LM3labs, which lets developers use "Sprites" to create animations for large-screen displays that, as this example shows, can be manipulated by users with their feet and hands:
A premise behind the creation of The Kinetic Interface blog is that there is or ought to be a strong nexus between dance and movement, and developments in the field referred to as human-computer interaction (HCI).
Laban Movement Analysis
The strongest connecting point, I believe, results from linking a system of studying and analyzing movement such as Laban Movement Analysis with the process of interaction design (creating new interfaces).
LMA is a system for observing, describing, notating, and delving deeply into movement. It looks at movement through the primary lenses of Body, Effort, Shape, and Space.
First developed by Rudolf Laban in the early 1900s and best known for its notation system, LMA is continually expanded by the people who use it. These people include anthropologists, choreographers, yoga teachers, martial artists, actors, physical therapists, psychologists, dancers and political consultants.
Applying Laban to Interaction Design
It wasn't until yesterday, that I came across actual research that used Laban Movement Analysis as a framework for studying and documenting products in the human-computer interaction field.
It was great to find the paper, "Understanding Movement for Interaction Design: Frameworks and Approaches," which is available as a PDF file. The authors are L Loke, AT Larssen, T Robertson and J Edwards, and the paper appeared in Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, vol. 11, no. 8, 2007, 691-702.
I'm going to quote a number of passages from this research paper that analysis the human movement used to control the Sony Eyetoy computer game because these passages shed light on the specific application of LMA to interaction design:
First the abstract:
The results of a study of two computer games, that use human movement as direct input, were analyzed using four existing frameworks and approaches, drawn from different disciplines that relate to interaction and movement. This enabled the exploration of the relationships between bodily actions and the corresponding responses from technology. Interaction analysis, two design frameworks and Laban movement analysis were chosen for their ability to provide different perspectives on human movement in interaction design. Each framework and approach provided a different, yet still useful, perspective to inform the design of movement-based interaction. Each allowed us to examine the interaction between the player and the game technology in quite distinctive ways. Each contributed insights that the others did not.
Quotes related to LMA:
[LMA] continues to be used in fields traditionally associated with the physical body, such as dance choreography, physical therapy and drama. It has also been applied in anthropology and industrial design. It can be used for analysis and choreography of all forms of human movement.
The aim of this analysis was to investigate how Labanotation might be used for describing movement-based interaction with technology. We used Labanotation and its system of movement analysis to analyze and transcribe the movements of individual players interacting with the two Eyetoy games.
...Labanotation gave us a language and vocabulary for describing or talking about human movement, with the moving body as the central focus. It provided us with a systematic approach for observing and describing the moving body in space and time. Some of the value of using such a system of movement analysis and notation lies in the doing, in the work of transcribing, as it forced us to perform rigorous observation of bodily movements and to understand how these movements related to the context of interaction.
Labanotation and its system of movement analysis was the sole approach that focused specifically on the moving body. In this study we attempted to investigate how Laban movement analysis and notation could be used in the design of movement-based interaction with technology. The movement transcriptions in Labanotation of player activity contained visual, graphical representation of the interaction with the movements of the human body as the central focus. Extending the movement transcriptions to include aspects of the interface, provided a way of representing movement that retains its reference to actual, lived movement as performed through interaction with the Eyetoy interface.
Looking for Input and Other Examples
I'm very interesting in feedback and thoughts on how Laban Movement Analysis can be used in the interaction design field.
I'll soon post a message to The Interaction Design Association discussion list, an online community with over 5,000 members. I did a search for movement, laban and gesture. The only results that were returned was when I did a search for gesture.
Posted by
Doug Fox on June 11, 2008 9:30 AM
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For me the following quote gets at the heart of what "interactivity" is all about. In this section of the book, the author is describing how a baby makes the connection between their own bodily sensations and their ability to affect the environment:
'What is important for parents to understand is that babies make vital brain connections through their body movements and sensory experiences, and in this way they develop an enriched nervous system. Candace Pert, in her book, Molecules of Emotion, states that it is important that we think of the brain as not only for ”…merely filtering other events or stimuli occurring simultaneously at any synapse or receptor along the way – that is, learning.” The essential ingredient for your baby’s success in learning is the feeling of pleasure he experiences in his actions and interactions. Candace Pert goes on to explain how “…emotions and bodily sensations are thus intricately intertwined, in a bidirectional [two-way communication] network in which each can alter the other.”'
--Amazing Babies, Beverly Stokes, pp. 48-49
In "Beyond Words," Carol Lynn Moore writes about extension systems:
'It is now well established that humankind is still evolving, not so much through adaptation on the biological level a through cultural evolution. From one age to the next, through a series of inventions, humans have literally reshaped the environment to suit their unique needs. These evolutionary "brain children" are sometimes called *extension systems*' [examples: clothing, housing, tools, weapons, languages, symbols]
For a good opportunity to observe HCI in action, just look at the new Iphone:
In LMA terms: Weight and Time effort are used to lightly tap and drag. While the nature of pointing uses Direct Space Effort, there is a moment where all the buttons start to jiggle, dispersing the user's visual focus to take in the whole screen.
All of the Iphone's animated icons move with Impulsive phrasing, with a short acceleration followed by a longer deceleration. A discussion on how the animation moves in response to the user is a WHOLE SEPARATE DISCUSSION. See my paper: The Uses and Abuses of Cartoon Style in Animation (2007)
I believe that touch is key to the Iphone's appeal - it allows the user to receive proprioceptive feedback of their interaction, and by combining Weight with Time Effort, enjoy the rhythmic phrasing of the interaction. Creating one's own rhythmic phrasing makes it a pleasurable and satisfying experience.
For example, anyone may recognize this experience: writing using a computer keyboard can have expressive rhythms that reflect the content of your thoughts. If I am writing passionately about a subject, I can even close my eyes and allow the prose to flow through my fingertips, almost like playing a piano.
There are several barriers to fully realizing the potential of LMA to increase the intelligence of interactivity and the construction of meaningful relationships online and with technology. The first, as always, is money for development. But the second is the issue that is most problematic, which is that so much of movement analysis is not easily perceived by those who design interactive environments, most of whom are firmly grounded in the networks in the brain and fingers at the cellular level, but who have trouble seeing the small expressive and relational changes that we CMAs see and value as full of communicative information.
You asked on the listserve how long it takes to learn such a system. It is a matter of eye-training and it takes as long as it takes for one to own biases, observe clearly, work with a group to develop consensus, and become fluent in kinesthetic empathy. At least a year.
If people without a background in Laban can't see the "small expressive and relational changes," I wonder about some of the challenges of bringing Laban Movement Analysis to non-traditional fields. Clearly education will be required so that experts in the area of, say, interaction design can benefit from this type of somatic analysis.
For the most part the variation and complexity of organic movement is beyond what reasonable software/hardware programming can incorporate (even despite continuing technology advances). Thus 'successful' interaction constitutes a small subset of movement and will limit movement variation as an interactor continues to become more proficient with the machine/software. The quote from the "Understanding Movement for Interaction Design: Frameworks and Approaches," article from Hornecker is right on the money: "any technology offers structure that implicitly directs user
behaviour by making some actions easier, while constraining others." Behaviour is part of 'Effort' which is the impetus and mode for movement. What captures me is the following sentence from the quote in the article: "In tangible
interaction systems, structure is as much in the physical actions that users perform
as it is in the software itself." Our movement response in interation systems really descibes the software/hardware and as such is valuable as a tool for documenting/deteminning how it is working. -Rosemary Ilardi-Ellis(CMA)
The Kinetic Interface blog on Great Dance starts with the premise that by focusing on the body and movement we can better understand, engage with, and contribute to many of the technological and scientific changes that are reshaping our daily lives.
To share stories and ideas, offer feedback, and ask questions, please email Doug Fox.
5 Comments
For me the following quote gets at the heart of what "interactivity" is all about. In this section of the book, the author is describing how a baby makes the connection between their own bodily sensations and their ability to affect the environment:
'What is important for parents to understand is that babies make vital brain connections through their body movements and sensory experiences, and in this way they develop an enriched nervous system. Candace Pert, in her book, Molecules of Emotion, states that it is important that we think of the brain as not only for ”…merely filtering other events or stimuli occurring simultaneously at any synapse or receptor along the way – that is, learning.” The essential ingredient for your baby’s success in learning is the feeling of pleasure he experiences in his actions and interactions. Candace Pert goes on to explain how “…emotions and bodily sensations are thus intricately intertwined, in a bidirectional [two-way communication] network in which each can alter the other.”'
--Amazing Babies, Beverly Stokes, pp. 48-49
In "Beyond Words," Carol Lynn Moore writes about extension systems:
'It is now well established that humankind is still evolving, not so much through adaptation on the biological level a through cultural evolution. From one age to the next, through a series of inventions, humans have literally reshaped the environment to suit their unique needs. These evolutionary "brain children" are sometimes called *extension systems*' [examples: clothing, housing, tools, weapons, languages, symbols]
For a good opportunity to observe HCI in action, just look at the new Iphone:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/homescreen.html
In LMA terms: Weight and Time effort are used to lightly tap and drag. While the nature of pointing uses Direct Space Effort, there is a moment where all the buttons start to jiggle, dispersing the user's visual focus to take in the whole screen.
All of the Iphone's animated icons move with Impulsive phrasing, with a short acceleration followed by a longer deceleration. A discussion on how the animation moves in response to the user is a WHOLE SEPARATE DISCUSSION. See my paper: The Uses and Abuses of Cartoon Style in Animation (2007)
I believe that touch is key to the Iphone's appeal - it allows the user to receive proprioceptive feedback of their interaction, and by combining Weight with Time Effort, enjoy the rhythmic phrasing of the interaction. Creating one's own rhythmic phrasing makes it a pleasurable and satisfying experience.
For example, anyone may recognize this experience: writing using a computer keyboard can have expressive rhythms that reflect the content of your thoughts. If I am writing passionately about a subject, I can even close my eyes and allow the prose to flow through my fingertips, almost like playing a piano.
Leslie,
Much thanks for sharing your thoughts about HCI and Laban Movement Analysis and how iPhone functions from LMA perspective.
By the way, Laban was a topic in this week's New Yorker.
There are several barriers to fully realizing the potential of LMA to increase the intelligence of interactivity and the construction of meaningful relationships online and with technology. The first, as always, is money for development. But the second is the issue that is most problematic, which is that so much of movement analysis is not easily perceived by those who design interactive environments, most of whom are firmly grounded in the networks in the brain and fingers at the cellular level, but who have trouble seeing the small expressive and relational changes that we CMAs see and value as full of communicative information.
You asked on the listserve how long it takes to learn such a system. It is a matter of eye-training and it takes as long as it takes for one to own biases, observe clearly, work with a group to develop consensus, and become fluent in kinesthetic empathy. At least a year.
Karen,
Thanks for your comment.
If people without a background in Laban can't see the "small expressive and relational changes," I wonder about some of the challenges of bringing Laban Movement Analysis to non-traditional fields. Clearly education will be required so that experts in the area of, say, interaction design can benefit from this type of somatic analysis.
For the most part the variation and complexity of organic movement is beyond what reasonable software/hardware programming can incorporate (even despite continuing technology advances). Thus 'successful' interaction constitutes a small subset of movement and will limit movement variation as an interactor continues to become more proficient with the machine/software. The quote from the "Understanding Movement for Interaction Design: Frameworks and Approaches," article from Hornecker is right on the money: "any technology offers structure that implicitly directs user
behaviour by making some actions easier, while constraining others." Behaviour is part of 'Effort' which is the impetus and mode for movement. What captures me is the following sentence from the quote in the article: "In tangible
interaction systems, structure is as much in the physical actions that users perform
as it is in the software itself." Our movement response in interation systems really descibes the software/hardware and as such is valuable as a tool for documenting/deteminning how it is working. -Rosemary Ilardi-Ellis(CMA)
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