Tangible and embodied interactions are areas of research within HCI and interaction design. They refer to a way in which interacting with computer systems is closer to the way we interact with the real world. Instead of using devices such as a computer or a phone, we interact using seemingly non-technological objects, by moving our bodies or by using gestures. Since the early 2000s, tangible and embodied interactions have been applied and researched also in cultural heritage and museums, in an attempt to overcome issues induced by screen-based devices that may disengage visitors from the objects, their materiality and the physicality of the visit. This article surveys tangible and embodied interactions in museums, over a period of two decades since 2000. More than 120 projects have been researched and analysed thematically to provide a categorization based on cultural communication, interaction features and museological aspects. This categorization offers a conceptualization of tangible and embodied interactions in museums and cultural heritage; it suggests a terminology to describe the design characteristics of tangible and embodied interaction interventions, therefore facilitating the orientation of future research efforts in the field.

This paper presents a systemic literature review of Sustainable Interaction Design. We use the PRISMA model to guide the review. In the analysis of the identified papers, we identify an emergent and significant shift in the discourse on Sustainable Interaction Design from its original introduction in 2007. The shift in discourse concerns extensions both in the methodology as well as the impact, which is oddly underexplored. Regarding the methodology, we found that the objectives of sustainability are pursued by the concrete features of designed artifacts or through the use impact of design and that the design contains a process of learning for all participating parties, captured in the notion of sustainability in designing. By complementing this with the pursued impact of social, environmental, and economic sustainability, we point to where the current research tends to cluster, which areas are underexplored, and, thus, where new research agendas are needed. Here, the limited interest in studying how Interaction Design fosters sustainability while including an economic perspective stands out. In the concluding parts of this paper, we propose future research trajectories of SID and speculate and discuss opportunities and challenges for future research.

The rise of the silver economy has drawn a growing interest in understanding the needs and behaviours of older adults, both by academics as well as the business and public sectors. Services promoting wellbeing can have several benefits both on individual and national levels, and social connectedness, as one aspect of wellbeing, has been found to positively impact healthy ageing and quality of life among older adults. The aim of this study was to conduct a first exam of the potentials of a remote cultural event to facilitate social connectedness and well-being in a community of older adults through culture and the arts. This study utilised a qualitative exploratory approach in the form of a co-designed case study set in a Finnish care home. An opera streaming event was planned and organised in co-operation with multiple stakeholders including the residents. The results highlight the role of social interaction as part of a remote cultural experience, prior, during, and post-experience. Partaking in the event resulted in enhanced social connectedness, more positive views on technology and remote experiences, and overall satisfaction for joining. The social aspect, rituals, and etiquette are also present also in watching opera remotely, and emphasising these aspects in designing such services could leverage the potential that digital cultural experiences hold.

Moving from a design perspective, the paper explores the potential of tangible interaction in giving shape to intangible contents in museums and temporary exhibitions. Going beyond tangibility intended in the strict sense of touching assets (Dudley 2010), we use here a wider interpretation of tangibility that considers touch in the sense of embodied experience. In this way we consider as tangible all those experiences that foster a strong involvement of the body. Tangible interaction is interpreted as a practice able to multiply the levels of the narrative, to make the visit experience memorable and to give physicality to intangible values. This approach sees the use of tangible interaction as a way to transfer practices and rituals linked to the contents and representative of the intangible values embedded in the assets. Therefore we can identify “gesture-through” and “object-through” interactions able to enhance the visitor experience and the understanding of cultural heritage. The rituals of gestures is linked to the concept of museum proxemics (author 2013) that involves both sensuousness and movements in space. If proxemics is the discipline which deals with investigating the relationship between individuals and space, and the significance of gestures and distances among people, then museum proxemics relates to the forms of behaviour which govern the relationship between individuals and museum space, between the visitor and the items on display and among visitors. In the paper we outline existing practices by analysing some case studies representative of the potential of tangible interaction in the cultural heritage field and classified according to the categories in the following: - Smart replicas: visitors interact with a technology-enhanced replica of the artworks to feel sensorial aspects and activate further levels of narrative; - Symbolic objects: visitors interact with objects, icons or elements imbued with symbolic meaning as a vehicle to reach the intangible value of the cultural asset; - Touchable screens: visitors interact with a surface mediating their relationship with contents and allowing for a personalised path within them; - Perfoming gestures: visitors perform meaningful gestures in order to trigger specific effects able to stage the narrative of intangible contents. In conclusion we highlight three actions in the cultural experience driven by tangible interaction and matter of design: (i) interacting with a sensitive object able to trigger intangible values; (ii) revealing contents difficult to transmit; (iii) multiplying the levels of knowledge and narrative.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/IFDP.2016.3322

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Digital technologies have been widely adopted in the Cultural Heritage sector over the past few decades. Many museums, galleries, historic sites, and other cultural institutions now host multimedia exhibitions or temporary installations in which technology plays a significant role in shaping the visitor experience. Among these, Extended Reality (XR) technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), have been extensively applied and studied. Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR), a branch of AR, has also become increasingly present in cultural contexts; however, the academic literature still lacks a comprehensive and systematic review of studies addressing its use. Furthermore, various methods of inquiry and evaluation have been employed to assess SAR applications in cultural institutions, both from the perspective of visitors and from that of cultural practitioners and stakeholders. This scoping review, conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, collected a total of 47 papers that introduce the academic perspectives on SAR in the cultural domain. It reports its definitions, applications, documented benefits, and the different evaluation approaches identified in the literature. Through a snowball sampling methodology, the collection has been expanded to include 33 additional studies. After the screening process, the authors reviewed 34 papers, presenting the gaps identified in the literature and outlining suggested directions for future research.