Embodied Communication Research Articles

The role of the body in SGD-mediated interactions

Most research about augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) has focused on improving use of and access to speech generating devices (SGDs). However, many adults with significant physical and developmental disabilities express a preference for unaided, embodied forms of communication. This study used conversation analysis (CA) techniques to analyze the forms and functions of embodied communication that occurred during interactions between a young man who used unaided, embodied communication and an SGD to communicate with a familiar communication partner. Close analysis revealed that embodied resources were required for both unaided and aided forms of communication. Furthermore, both participants used their bodies to establish interactional spaces with different focal points during interaction, which placed different demands on the aided speaker. Unfortunately, when the SGD was the focal point, problematic demands were placed on the aided speaker, which in turn resulted in increased embodied effort on his part. The forms and functions of the body, differences in the participants’ interactions when communication did and did not involve the SGD, and implications for research and practice are all reported and discussed.

Living in the Nexus of Disability and Caregiving: An African American Parental Caregiver's Critical Observations as a Folklorist

Abstract In this essay, I advance and elaborate upon three points and their relevance to folklore studies based on my experiences and fieldwork as a parent of a child with disabilities. First, I note the absence of narratives of many families of children with disabilities and foreground a concept of possible shared identity and embodied communication between parents and non- or partially verbal children. Second, I highlight autoethnographic and ethnographic stories that are created at the nexus of disability and caregiving that offer insight into narratives of caregivers of children with disabilities. Caregivers’ stories are mostly missing in folklore studies. These narratives can stand by themselves or be intertwined with the narratives of the children whom caregivers care for. Finally, I suggest ways that a theoretical frame of intersectionality can illuminate and provide nuance for better understanding the systemic complexities of the narratives of children's and their caregivers’ experiences of disability.

Embodied Communication, Sensed Atmospheres, Joint Situations: Human–Horse Encounters from a Neophenomenological Perspective

This article shows that the German philosopher Hermann Schmitz’s new phenomenology can make a valuable contribution to human–animal studies. The three concepts suitable for this purpose are, first, Schmitz’s concept of embodied communication, which can be applied to trans-species encounters; second, his understanding of atmospheres, which are always co-communicated in trans-species encounters; and, third, his conception of situation, which can help with analyzing the relationship of society to animals. My contribution applies these three basic elements of new phenomenology—embodied communication, atmosphere, and situation—to the analysis of the encounters between humans and horses. This paper demonstrates that embodied communication in particular is not only a worthwhile object of research but can also serve as a mode of producing scientific insight.

The Body as Medium - Embodied Communication and Body Issues in Cloud Fitness

The "body turn" of "cloud fitness" has brought a new theoretical logic to communication. In this paper, we make a preliminary attempt at embodied communication in the context of the new Crown pneumonia epidemic, exploring the issues of body movement and moving bodies on "Shake" and "b-station". Here, the author argues that understanding embodied communication is inseparable from reflecting on technology, and that it is a form of communication in which people, media and technology interact. The article explores the changes of the philosophical category of bodily action in the virtual space of the Internet by tracing the origins of embodied communication; then understands the communication of the body as a medium through the "cloud space" and "cloud body"; and in the whole process of communication, the physical attributes of the body give the online and offline behaviors of the body a new meaning and a new meaning and a new meaning. In the whole process of communication, the physical attributes of the body bring tension to the online and offline actors; in the future, with the advent of the scene-oriented era, the body will have multiple symbolic attributes.

The salience of students’ body language during in-person and online lectures at a Canadian university

Abstract Professors teaching different disciplines at a university in Canada received an email invitation to fill-out an online questionnaire where they could reflect on and express their opinions about the pedagogical and communicative roles of the body during their lectures. The questionnaire was divided into two parts: one asking professors to comment on their own body language; the other inquiring about professors’ perception of their students’ body language usage. This article is specifically focused on the second part of the survey, where professors reacted to questions concerning awareness of students’ body language during classes held in-person and online. In investigating the perceived salient functions attributed to students’ body language, this study values multimodal competence, embodied communication, and it informs the concept of immediacy in the relationship between students and professors at the university level.

De-centring the human: Multi-species research as embodied practice

This article focuses on embodiment and the centrality of embodied methods to multi-species research. We argue that taking the body as our methodological starting point is essential to researching human–animal relations but that bodies engage with and are engaged by the research process in a multiplicity of ways. In this we follow Vinciane Despret’s analysis of the partial affinities between animal scientists’ bodies and the animals they are researching and suggest that sociology’s distinction between sociology of and sociology with the body glosses over the complexities of inter-corporeal encounters. We explore these questions through a discussion of our multi-species ethnography of dog training cultures in the UK, looking at the training of companion dogs, guide dogs and police dogs. We pay attention to the different forms of embodied engagement that these training cultures make possible for us as researchers and reflect on the place of embodied communication in both the training and research relationship. We consider the disembodied training necessitated by the transition to online classes during the Covid pandemic and the consequences of this for our ability to create partial affinities with the dogs and their humans. We argue that the methodological challenges of our times require that we develop methods that attend to our multi-species world, rather than focusing exclusively on the human, and that bring into being a social reality which is less anthropocentric.

Primitive way country come look inside

Abstract A disabled poet with Rett syndrome and a disabled performing artist with type 1 diabetes document their 12-month artistic collaboration to illuminate ground-time: the nonverbal, expressive dynamics of embodied communication. Five “communication moments” between the artists (documented in writing, video, and photo) are described. Potentials and limitations of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies, specifically Tobii Dynavox eye-tracking technology and Communicator 5, are discussed. Additionally, the authors question the clinical diagnostic category of “intellectual disability” on the grounds of disability justice, decolonial science, and philosophy. Communication-assistive technology platform developers are challenged to consider relational embodiment as the foundation of communication in design decisions regarding platform function. Technologies should facilitate improvisation and nonlinear expression—verbal and nonverbal— while maintaining freedom of nondisclosure. The right to opacity in communication is also discussed.

Multispecies Occupations Involving Equines: An Action-Oriented Inquiry to Inform Occupational Therapy Practitioners.

Research related to human-animal engagement often fails to address the complexity and nuance present in occupations and occupational therapy services that incorporate animals. The goal of this research was to develop a basic understanding of multispecies occupations (MSO) involving humans and equines, focusing on the action-oriented processes and transactions during socialization in outdoor, non-therapeutic contexts. We employed a multi-modal qualitative design with interviews and videography with n = 6 horse-human dyads, creating opportunities to understand and represent engagement beyond anthropocentric norms. Findings included a variety of dyad-specific features of occupation, including processes of embodied communication, the presence of behavioral synchrony, and perceptions of attunement arising from these processes. Examining MSO via a multi-modal inquiry offers new perspectives about the nature and experience of such occupations and supports a deeper understanding of potential mechanisms of change when animals are incorporated in occupational therapy interventions and practice.

A high-performance neuroprosthesis for speech decoding and avatar control.

Speech neuroprostheses have the potential to restore communication to people living with paralysis, but naturalistic speed and expressivity are elusive1. Here we use high-density surface recordings of the speech cortex in a clinical-trial participant with severe limb and vocal paralysis to achieve high-performance real-time decoding across three complementary speech-related output modalities: text, speech audio and facial-avatar animation. We trained and evaluated deep-learning models using neural data collected as the participant attempted to silently speak sentences. For text, we demonstrate accurate and rapid large-vocabulary decoding with a median rate of 78 words per minute and median word error rate of 25%. For speech audio, we demonstrate intelligible and rapid speech synthesis andpersonalizationto the participant's pre-injury voice. For facial-avatar animation, we demonstrate the control of virtual orofacial movements for speech and non-speech communicative gestures. The decoders reached high performance with less than two weeks of training. Our findings introduce a multimodal speech-neuroprosthetic approach that has substantial promise to restore full, embodied communication to people living with severe paralysis.

Persons with profound and multiple learning disabilities as subjects of knowledge: Exploring the possibilities of empathy

AbstractBackgroundPersons with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) risk exclusion, both in research and as members of society. Because of their embodied communication, they face the challenges in being understood. Oftentimes, others speak on their behalf making inferences on what their perspective might be.MethodsEmpathy is suggested as an approach to grasp the perspective of a person with profound and multiple learning disabilities through engaging with embodied communication. The account of empathy suggested by Stein will be unfolded through an ethnographic study including persons with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their professional supporters. Given this background, the intent is to discuss the potential empathy can have in recognising persons with these disabilities as subjects of knowledge.Findings and ConclusionsThe characteristics of persons with profound and multiple learning disabilities provide energy to empathic situations in ways that advocate for the possibility of being recognised as subjects of knowledge. This is related to the competencies of the individual, ambiguous communication and the dependency relations in which they are involved. It is of utmost importance to respect the alterity of the other.

Understanding young children’s science learning through embodied communication within an MR environment

While there is increased interest in using movement and embodiment to support learning due to the rise in theories of embodied cognition and learning, additional work needs to be done to explore how we can make sense of students collectively developing their understanding within a mixed-reality environment. In this paper, we explore embodied communication’s individual and collective functions as a way of seeing students’ learning through embodiment. We analyze data from a mixed-reality (MR) environment: Science through Technology Enhanced Play (STEP) (Danish et al., International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning 15:49–87, 2020), using descriptive statistics and interaction analysis to explore the role of gesture and movement in student classroom activities and their pre-and post-interviews. The results reveal that students appear to develop gestures for representing challenging concepts within the classroom and then use these gestures to help clarify their understanding within the interview context. We further explore how students collectively develop these gestures in the classroom, with a focus on their communicative acts, then provide a list of individual and collective functions that are supported by student gestures and embodiment within the STEP MR environment, and discuss the functions of each act. Finally, we illustrate the value of attending to these gestures for educators and designers interested in supporting embodied learning.

The physical body as a computing interface: Theoretical conceptualization of embodied affordances and empirical validation

Despite the growing interest in immersive virtual reality (IVR) for collaboration and the rising prevalence of commercial applications, the extant body of knowledge on IVR is still in a nascent stage. A paucity of empirical studies have investigated the affordances engendered for collaboration, resulting in a lack of theoretical underpinnings for comprehending the impact of IVR on collaboration outcomes. In an effort to address these lacunae in research, this study explores how IVR affordances for collaboration influence task performance and collaboration satisfaction. Drawing on the metaverse framework for collaboration against the backdrop of the corporeal embodiment concept, this study develops a research model that investigates the interplay between IVR affordances for collaboration, collaborative behavior enactment, and collaboration outcomes. The model was tested using data collected from 168 subjects who participated in a virtual collaboration using IVR in a laboratory setting. The results of the study showed that avatar customizability was a key antecedent to embodied affordances, among which embodied communication and embodied team processing jointly influenced collaborative behavior enactment, which, in turn, influenced collaboration outcomes (task performance and collaboration satisfaction). This study contributes to the IVR literature by conceptualizing novel affordances for collaboration facilitated by IVR and empirically scrutinizing the manner in which perceived affordances precipitate their actualization, subsequently affecting collaboration outcomes. With respect to practice, the findings of this study provide useful insights for organizational managers and IVR developers who seek to harness the benefits of IVR for effective collaboration.

Research on the International Communication under Metaverse

With the sandbox game platform Roblox successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange on March 10, 2021, with the "metaverse first stock" situation Company, 2021 is also considered "Metaverse Year One". The embodied communication brought about by virtual digital identities under the technology of the metaverse has always been emphasized. The high unity of the senses once again reminds people of McLuhan's prophecies of the global village. This article will focus on describing the future of digital society what new sparks will be generated by international communication in the face of the Metaverse, and how to use the Metaverse to create an international public opinion field with a global consensus. At the same time, there will be some similarities and differences between web3.0 and the previous two generations, so that readers can better understand the metaverse technology. By reading this article, readers can have a preliminary understanding and cognition of international communication from the perspective of the metaverse.

Translanguaging in performance: an ethnographic drama approach

ABSTRACT Translanguaging involves communication through available semiotic resources, including embodied action. In this paper, we report research in which we observed communication in a volleyball team. We also show how we found conventional academic writing to have limited scope in the representation of embodied communicative practice and came to ethnographic drama as a viable alternative. In the theatre, the enaction of everyday communication is laid out before the audience, inviting reflection, and critical evaluation. We discuss theatre techniques that steer the audience away from emotional involvement and towards intellectual judgement. We propose that techniques introduced in Bertolt Brecht’s [1978. Brecht on Theatre. London: Bloomsbury Academic ] theatre of estrangement have the potential to expand the range and scope of ethnographic analysis, offering a creative means of critical reflection on translanguaging as embodied communication.

Re-defining silence in unvoiced dialogues in storying-play: The sound of affects

This article chronicles three stories selected from a post-intentional phenomenological study conducted by the first author. The authors aim to investigate affective connections in children’s silent play by addressing three research questions: (a) How do children engage in dialogue with the teacher, their peers, and the material environment without words? (b) What emotions are produced in silent play? and (c) What changes in children’s affective connections occur through silence? We drew on the notion of intentionality in post-intentional phenomenology to illuminate meanings of the phenomenon for individuals about what they felt and experienced. With a focus on intentionality, we delved into the ways children meaningfully communicated with others and connected to the environment in their unspeaking moments. We also took on a posthuman notion of intra-actions to rethink silence as an inaudible yet sensible sound communicated between children and things. The prior studies showed that children’s silence was a mode of expression. Through storying the silent play-stories, we offered two alternative meanings of silence––intra-active communication with people and things and inaudible inner wellbeing, in addition to a mode of nonverbal expression as identified in prior studies. The findings are significant in enriching and renewing our understanding of children’s silence in inclusive ECE environments. Silence is re-defined as a mode of embodied communication and affective connections. This article invites researchers and educators to genuinely “listen” to children’s stories, even in silent play.

Digital body and embodied communication in sci-fi movies

Digital body and embodied communication in sci-fi movies

Luminous neutrality in the art of walking backward

This essay develops performatively through somatic research related to conscious listening in verbal and embodied communication. The poiesis ensues from phenomenology, butoh, and Zen, explaining butoh as a protest form of dance and therapy with origins in mid-20th Century Japan and still continuing today. On walking back, the text slips inward—awakening matters of environmental precarity and a somatic ethic of planetary care.

Integrative Model of Human-Animal Interactions: A One Health-One Welfare Systemic Approach to Studying HAI.

The Integrative Model of Human-Animal Interactions (IMHAI) described herewith provides a conceptual framework for the study of interspecies interactions and aims to model the primary emotional processes involved in human-animal interactions. This model was developed from theoretical inputs from three fundamental disciplines for understanding interspecies interactions: neuroscience, psychology and ethology, with the objective of providing a transdisciplinary approach on which field professionals and researchers can build and collaborate. Seminal works in affective neuroscience offer a common basis between humans and animals and, as such, can be applied to the study of interspecies interactions from a One Health-One Welfare perspective. On the one hand, Jaak Panksepp's research revealed that primary/basic emotions originate in the deep subcortical regions of the brain and are shared by all mammals, including humans. On the other hand, several works in the field of neuroscience show that the basic physiological state is largely determined by the perception of safety. Thus, emotional expression reflects the state of an individual's permanent adaptation to ever-changing environmental demands. Based on this evidence and over 5 years of action research using grounded theory, alternating between research and practice, the IMHAI proposes a systemic approach to the study of primary-process emotional affects during interspecies social interactions, through the processes of emotional transfer, embodied communication and interactive emotional regulation. IMHAI aims to generate new hypotheses and predictions on affective behavior and interspecies communication. Application of such a model should promote risk prevention and the establishment of positive links between humans and animals thereby contributing to their respective wellbeing.

Self-determination of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

Self-determination is a human right that people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) risk not being granted. Exploration of such topics and research in general has traditionally not included people with PIMD as sources of knowledge; rather, the perspective of others has been sought. Ethnographic methods highlighting descriptions of lived experience have been argued as a way of including such individuals, producing knowledge building on the person's perspective. Exploring the human right to be self-determined through ethnographic approaches can bring novel ways of understanding the concept, both about how to listen and learn from such experiences, and about implications for understanding self-determination. All people have the potential for self-determination, by being understood through embodied communication in caring relationships. By fostering relations with people with PIMD in sensitive, ethical ways, and addressing their profound dependency, their self-determination can be realized. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: Attentive engagement with people with lived experience of profound intellectual and multiple disabilities can inform both researchers and clinicians on self-determination. Through real-life descriptions, self-determination is demonstrated to move beyond independence and choice-making.

Families as small-community quarantine pods of sociomusical engagement

This article considers the musical lives of eleven US-based families, micro-communities of sorts, as they were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated physical isolation directives. With a focus on family pods as sites and sources of community, we employed processes of virtual ethnography including interviews, observations and the distribution of cameras to help empower participants, especially the children, to become active collaborators in a research study called Project COPE. Families indicated that musical practices during this time of learning, listening, moving and creating with instruments, voices and one another served a variety of purposes. These included self-regulation, identity formation, transmission, social cohesion, emotional bonding, embodied communication, well-being and a recognition of communal music expression as a human need. We note that in some cases, this rupture has been an opportunity for refocusing, reworking and re-envisioning in ways that impact community music practice. In returning to in-person music making, practitioners should be aware of the creative ways in which families were musically active during this time apart. We urge diligent community musicians to continue responsive practices in relation to the ways in which families facilitate their own musical lives and community in the home.