Choreographic Inscriptions : A Framework for Exploring Sociomaterial Influences on Qualities of Movement for HCI

With the rise of ubiquitous computing technologies in everyday life, the daily actions of people are becoming ever more choreographed by the interactions available through technology. By combining the notion of inscriptions from actor–network theory and the qualitative descriptors of movement from Laban movement analysis, an analytic framework is proposed for exploring how the interplay of material and social inscriptions gives rise to movement patterns and behaviors, translated into choreographic inscriptions described with Laban effort and shape. It is demonstrated through a case study of an affective gesture mobile device. The framework provides an understanding of (a) how movement qualities are shaped by social and material inscriptions, (b) how the relative strength of inscriptions on movements may change according to different settings and user appropriation over time, and (c) how transforming inscriptions by design across different mediums can generate action spaces with varying degrees of openness.