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Tangles: unpacking extended collision experiences with soma trajectories

Tangles: unpacking extended collision experiences with soma trajectories
Tangles: unpacking extended collision experiences with soma trajectories
We reappraise the idea of colliding with robots, moving from a position that tries to avoid or mitigate collisions to one that considers them an important facet of human interaction. We report on a soma design workshop that explored how our bodies could collide with telepresence robots, mobility aids, and a quadruped robot. Based on our findings, we employed soma trajectories to analyse collisions as extended experiences that negotiate key transitions of consent, preparation, launch, contact, ripple, sting, untangle, debris and reflect. We then employed these ideas to analyse two collision experiences, an accidental collision between a person and a drone, and the deliberate design of a robot to play with cats, revealing how real-world collisions involve the complex and ongoing entanglement of soma trajectories. We discuss how viewing collisions as entangled trajectories, or tangles, can be used analytically, as a design approach, and as a lens to broach ethical complexity.
Computer Science - Robotics, Computer Science - Human-Computer Interaction
1073-0516
Benford, Steve
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Garrett, Rachael
b3b24494-0aa0-4c9c-b8ef-8d4c4c903915
Li, Christine
289ac658-dd0f-4fa3-bc87-1b73702c5d77
Tennent, Paul
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Núñez-Pacheco, Claudia
c93d7af5-5a49-48a2-a2cd-dc93aa1aba87
Kucukyilmaz, Ayse
72e66f4d-b330-4418-a166-f88a711ab84d
Tsaknaki, Vasiliki
ba6ea408-140d-468a-81d5-86001209e3d8
Höök, Kristina
056ba2f9-ad86-47ad-8e50-2efb5ff1fd2d
Caleb-Solly, Praminda
7be68a32-e7cc-4269-aa74-d921d423a3b8
Marshall, Joe
19b73fa4-a10d-47c1-8147-6b75a4a3f0ca
Schneiders, Eike
9da80af0-1e27-4454-90e2-eb1abf7108bd
Popova, Kristina
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Afana, Jude
56a8fc4b-93b3-492c-ac15-14a6c3d95771
Benford, Steve
61c727be-1561-424d-a8ef-c6933d024630
Garrett, Rachael
b3b24494-0aa0-4c9c-b8ef-8d4c4c903915
Li, Christine
289ac658-dd0f-4fa3-bc87-1b73702c5d77
Tennent, Paul
3e70e379-84f8-4f00-8e5c-63e6b499bc94
Núñez-Pacheco, Claudia
c93d7af5-5a49-48a2-a2cd-dc93aa1aba87
Kucukyilmaz, Ayse
72e66f4d-b330-4418-a166-f88a711ab84d
Tsaknaki, Vasiliki
ba6ea408-140d-468a-81d5-86001209e3d8
Höök, Kristina
056ba2f9-ad86-47ad-8e50-2efb5ff1fd2d
Caleb-Solly, Praminda
7be68a32-e7cc-4269-aa74-d921d423a3b8
Marshall, Joe
19b73fa4-a10d-47c1-8147-6b75a4a3f0ca
Schneiders, Eike
9da80af0-1e27-4454-90e2-eb1abf7108bd
Popova, Kristina
e3328d3a-def1-4198-9929-ca0944707182
Afana, Jude
56a8fc4b-93b3-492c-ac15-14a6c3d95771

Benford, Steve, Garrett, Rachael, Li, Christine, Tennent, Paul, Núñez-Pacheco, Claudia, Kucukyilmaz, Ayse, Tsaknaki, Vasiliki, Höök, Kristina, Caleb-Solly, Praminda, Marshall, Joe, Schneiders, Eike, Popova, Kristina and Afana, Jude (2025) Tangles: unpacking extended collision experiences with soma trajectories. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. (doi:10.1145/3723875).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We reappraise the idea of colliding with robots, moving from a position that tries to avoid or mitigate collisions to one that considers them an important facet of human interaction. We report on a soma design workshop that explored how our bodies could collide with telepresence robots, mobility aids, and a quadruped robot. Based on our findings, we employed soma trajectories to analyse collisions as extended experiences that negotiate key transitions of consent, preparation, launch, contact, ripple, sting, untangle, debris and reflect. We then employed these ideas to analyse two collision experiences, an accidental collision between a person and a drone, and the deliberate design of a robot to play with cats, revealing how real-world collisions involve the complex and ongoing entanglement of soma trajectories. We discuss how viewing collisions as entangled trajectories, or tangles, can be used analytically, as a design approach, and as a lens to broach ethical complexity.

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Accepted/In Press date: 19 February 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 20 March 2025
Published date: 18 August 2025
Keywords: Computer Science - Robotics, Computer Science - Human-Computer Interaction

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 501082
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/501082
ISSN: 1073-0516
PURE UUID: ddcf0ecc-cd9c-4969-b983-46714bf5b797
ORCID for Eike Schneiders: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8372-1684

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Date deposited: 23 May 2025 16:30
Last modified: 30 Aug 2025 02:20

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Contributors

Author: Steve Benford
Author: Rachael Garrett
Author: Christine Li
Author: Paul Tennent
Author: Claudia Núñez-Pacheco
Author: Ayse Kucukyilmaz
Author: Vasiliki Tsaknaki
Author: Kristina Höök
Author: Praminda Caleb-Solly
Author: Joe Marshall
Author: Eike Schneiders ORCID iD
Author: Kristina Popova
Author: Jude Afana

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