Exploring Human-Technology Entanglements: Collaborative Design of Intimate Technologies

Abstract: The DiscReTe project (Disconnections and Relationships mediated through Intimate Technologies) explores how technology can support communication, boundary-setting, and interaction management for diverse communication needs. It represents a modern polymath approach—not embodied in one individual, but in a collaborative, interdisciplinary team. This diverse group includes a computer scientist, design researcher, wearable integration designer, engineer, choreographer, performer, and an individual whose personal experiences of social and communication challenges serve as the core inspiration for the project. Together, they blend their unique expertise to create an AI-enabled wearable that demonstrates the concept of intimate computing—an approach to the development of digital technologies which starts from their interwovenness with people in their daily lives.

The project leverages the distinct perspectives and skills of its members to design a wearable that supports individuals with diverse communication needs. The wearable is a conceptual prototype which uses air for subtle interpersonal communication. It aims to facilitate social interactions and enhance self-expression through context-aware, nuanced interactions. Central to the team’s approach is the incorporation of participatory methods and creative disciplines, such as using dance as a medium to explore and showcase technology-mediated connection and the interplay between human vulnerability and technology.

In this paper, we elaborate on the interdisciplinary, artistic-led design process that fueled the DiscReTe project. Special emphasis is placed on visuals, including photographs, to detail the design journey. These images serve not just as documentation but as a narrative tool to illustrate the convergence of technical, artistic, and human-centered practices, offering insights into the team’s collaborative process. 

This collaboration demonstrates the power of interdisciplinary teams in addressing complex societal challenges. By integrating engineering, design, and performing arts, the DiscReTe project goes beyond functional requirements to create technologies that foster connection, empathy, and inclusion. Grounded in a personal narrative, it highlights how intimate computing can reshape communication and relationships, offering innovative solutions to diverse human needs.

Keywords: Transdisciplinary Design, Intimate Computing, Wearable Technology, Artistic-Led Design, Technology Mediation

1. Introduction

Communication is fundamental to human interaction. However, social standards and norms in communication pose many challenges for people with diverse communication needs. This may concern, for example, people who are unable to display ‘regular’ social signals or express their needs and boundaries in social interactions due to a disability. Designing solutions that address such diverse communication needs beyond social standards and norms requires a careful approach to develop ideas that facilitate self-expression and boundary-setting, but also foster meaningful, context-sensitive interconnections. This complexity makes the topic challenging but also interesting for transdisciplinary research in which several fields come together to tackle the problem from different perspectives. 

The DiscReTe project (Disconnections and Relationships mediated through Intimate Technologies) embraces this challenge by involving knowledge and methods from costume design, physical computing, choreography, contemporary dance, design research, computer science, and philosophy of technology. Instead of a sequential approach, where one discipline builds on the work of another, we focus on simultaneous collaboration. This project is an example of a model in which team members work together as equals from the outset to integrate their expertise into a shared vision.

Our collective process is rooted in the belief that the modern polymath is no longer a singular individual unifying diverse knowledge domains, but a transdisciplinary team working collaboratively. By leveraging insights from each discipline, our team created a wearable demonstrator and accompanying dance performance that artistically explore alternative ways of communicating while shaping an understanding of adaptive and responsible human-technology partnerships. 

This article elaborates on the DiscReTe project’s design research journey, highlighting how a transdisciplinary approach determined the creative process and outcomes. We begin by introducing our conceptual framework and methodological approach, followed by an overview of our design journey featuring the team’s pluralistic perspectives. We then introduce the research outcomes consisting of a wearable prototype and an accompanying dance performance. Finally, we conclude with reflections on the potential of transdisciplinary collaborations to address complex societal challenges and foster innovative technological solutions.

2. Conceptual framework and goals

The DiscReTe project is rooted in the emerging research field of Intimate Computing, by focusing on AI-enabled wearable technologies explore technology mediate relationships through embodied-performative methods.

2.1 Intimate Computing

Intimate Computing is an emerging research field (Van Riemsdijk, 2018) which studies how to shape the interwovenness between people and Intimate Technologies in their daily lives such that they foster a caring and inspiring digital society. Intimate Technologies (Van Est et al., 2014) may be defined as those digital technologies that collect and respond to people based on highly personal data—for example social media, personal health and fitness apps, mobile location sharing applications, smart home systems, social robots, and wearable technologies. 

These technologies are characterised by being closely intertwined with our everyday lives, our bodies, and behavior. In this way, Intimate Technologies have the potential to promote important personal values such as enjoyment, health and social connection. However, through collection of personal data and AI-enabled personalized responses they also give rise to new personal vulnerabilities (Coeckelbergh, 2013) that can affect physical, psychological and social aspects of our identity (Van Riemsdijk, 2018). Intimate Computing research aims to develop design methods and computational models for creating Intimate Technologies that align with personal values and take into account personal vulnerabilities in supporting people in their daily lives.

The DiscReTe project artistically explores the concept space of wearable technology as a way to augment the interaction abilities of people with diverse communication needs, aiming at mediating and fostering social connection in their daily lives. The conceptual idea explored is that the technology’s actions would be shaped through a partnership between socially-aware AI (Kola et al., 2022) embedded in the technology, and the human wearer.

2.2 Mediated relationships

The concept of mediated relationships captures how technologies actively shape human connections and interactions (Verbeek, 2015). Historically, technologies were seen as passive tools, embodied in our environment (Dourish, 2002) and with humans as the active part that controls them (Schmidt, 2000) and can be emotionally attached to them (Karapanos et al., 2009). 

However, latest understandings of technologies acknowledge their agency, which means technologies mediate how humans engage with the world and can influence perceptions, behaviors, and social interactions (Giacchardi & Redström, 2020). Such post-phenomenological views recognise that technologies co-construct realities and mediate human-world relations (Frauenberger, 2019) by shaping decision-making, behavior, moral frameworks (Verbeek, 2005), and the human-sense-making process (Kudina, 2021).

In this research, we focus on the human–technology partnering process and explore how this collaboration affects communication with other humans (human–human relation). We have a particular focus on individuals with diverse communication needs, such as the inability to express through verbal or sign language. By understanding how wearable technologies mediate these interactions, we aim to identify ways in which adaptive technologies can bridge social communication gaps and foster nuanced and balanced connections between humans. The DiscReTe project, however, is not developing practical or assistive wearable technology, but aims at artistically exploring directions.

2.3 Interactive costumes and ‘Designing through Dance’

Previous research has suggested using dance and performance metaphors to describe how technology impacts human behaviour and interaction (Coeckelbergh, 2021). This dynamic and complex understanding of human-technology entanglements. Moreover, dance has proven to shape de-colonialistic research approaches that successfully investigate relationships humans build with non-human entities (Rijssenbeek & Fraaije, 2025). In addition to understanding dance as a descriptive metaphor and research method, create a dance performance that serves as stimulus for the public discourse about the core ideas of Intimate Computing. 

Our idea is to explore Intimate Technologies through an interactive costume, i.e. a stage costume that integrates wearable technology (Honauer, 2017). The potential of interactive costumes lies in the expressive and narrative possibilities that extend and innovate traditional costume design (Pantouvaki, 2014). The integrated technology can thereby act as a facilitator or inspiration for alternative ways to express or move (Karpashevich et al., 2017), without relying on standards or habits. However, we did not start from a concrete wearable concept idea in the DiscReTe project. Instead, our goal was to develop and realise the wearable concept throughout the collaboration with an interdisciplinary team and continuous engagement with dance practice. 

3. Methodological approach

The DiscReTe project adopts a transdisciplinary and co-design approach, leveraging expertise from diverse disciplines to explore human–technology partnerships in innovative ways. Inspired by rather radically participatory approaches (Udoewa & Gress, 2023) that suggest to decolonise the whole design process, we aim at systematically exploring together what mediated relationships are and co-ideate as an interdisciplinary team the wearable ideas, to learn together how Intimate Computing could sustainably and meaningfully facilitate human-technology partnerships. The methodology emphasises collaboration on eye-level, where different disciplinary perspectives are integrated throughout the ideation, design, and development process.

3.1 Artistic-led and transdisciplinary design research

Dance and performance play a pivotal role in the project as both a design tool and a means of dissemination. ‘Design through Dance’ serves as a creative embodied approach of exploring human–technology relationships. This approach uses movement and choreography to investigate relational dynamics between humans and/through technologies. It offers a unique lens through which to understand vulnerability, connection, and the nuanced interplay between technology and human communication.

The core team (all authors) composition reflects the transdisciplinary nature of the project. It includes a computer scientist, a design researcher, a wearable integration designer, a student creative technologist, a choreographer who also acts as performer, and another performer. Each member brings unique expertise to the table, but the transdisciplinary nature of the project enables them to contribute to tasks outside their traditional roles. For example, engineers engage with artistic concepts, while performers provide insights into technical functionality. This collaboration creates a space where expertise merges, tasks are co-owned and an integrated design process emerges to collectively create a wearable and a performance. 

3.2 Reflective design through personal and ethical insights

The DiscReTe project was informed by a real-world case study, centered on an individual with diverse communication needs, being often restricted in verbal and non-verbal expressivity due to recurring muscular tension. This person experiences muscular issues, which significantly impact their daily functioning. Their lived experiences were explored through interviews (Fig. 4) and a cultural probe (Fig. 2 and 3) conducted before the ‘Design through Dance’ process. 

This pre-investigation offered key insights into the challenges of communication, boundary-setting, and vulnerability when unable to operate conventional norms of social communication due to physical impairment. While not directly involved in the design process, this individual was later regularly consulted to reflect on the progress and emerging ideas. In completion to the team’s expertise, these reflections co-shaped the design of the wearable prototype and performance.

In addition to the case study, the project also benefited from a deaf performer on the team, who uses a cochlear implant. He holds a valuable first-person perspective that often faces unique communication challenges in a world designed for hearing persons. Through his participation, his unique perspective has constantly and automatically influenced the design process while equally taking into account the other team members’ perspectives. 

4. Design journey 

To better understand the perspective and contribution of each discipline, and how the team effectively built synergies to create the wearable demonstrator as well as the dance performance, we asked the choreographer-performer, the performer, the wearable integration designer, and the creative technologist to answer some questions about how they perceived the design process and value their contribution to the research project. Their original answers can be found in a data set linked here: http://doi.org/10.4121/86297241-db14-4b9f-802c-f668b2fe7d31 

We started by making everyone’s role transparent by asking, “Can you describe your  role in the DiscReTe project and how your expertise contributed to its development?” Each team member played a distinct but collaborative role in the DiscReTe project: the choreographer-performer led movement research and choreographed a final piece; the performer, a deaf dancer, shared valuable lived experiences with wearables; the wearable integration designer combined expertise in tech, costume design, and dance; and the creative technologist built and programmed the wearable electronics, expanding on prior technical knowledge.

Overall, we collaborated over a period of around eight months (Fig.1). This time was characterised by both remotely and in-person sessions. The design researcher, wearable integration designer and creative technologist had regular meetings to stay in close collaboration and keep everyone updated. Dedicated co-design workshops were spread over four months where the choreographer and the performer joined the other team members to contribute actively to the design process and impact important design decisions. After the wearable design was alm»nmost finished, it underwent smaller refinements during and between the rehearsals in the last month before we presented the artistic and designerly outcome of the project to a public audience for the first time.

4.1 Insights from the case study

The case study of an individual who experiences psychosomatic muscular issues with significant impact on their daily functioning informed the development of the DiscReTe wearable and performance. Their symptoms cannot be attributed to a specific clinical picture. The resulting muscular tensions cause significant mobility limitations and other limitations in physical and social expression, as well as increased sensitivities to stimuli. Through a cultural probe (Fig. 2 and 3) and interviews (Fig. 4) with this individual, we better understood how physical limitations and restricted communication ability challenge daily interactions. Key findings highlighted the need for a wearable that aligns with physical abilities while enabling subtle, yet nuanced, interactions without disempowerment. Additionally, managing social expectations, maintaining relational boundaries, and dynamically adapting to different social situations. Addressing them through the concept design of a performative wearable demonstrator was the starting point of the DiscReTe project.

Fig.1. Visualisation of the temporal process, from initiating the project to premiere of the performance, including 4 codesign sessions and the rehearsal period
Fig.1. Visualisation of the temporal process, from initiating the project to premiere of the performance, including 4 codesign sessions and the rehearsal period
Fig. 2: Body-map on a good morning
Fig. 2: Body-map on a good morning
Fig.3: Visualisation of the personal network
Fig.3: Visualisation of the personal network
Fig. 4: Excerpts from the interviews: reflecting about encounters with strangers and family
Fig. 4: Excerpts from the interviews: reflecting about encounters with strangers and family

4.2 Co-designing the wearable prototype The design researcher and the computer scientist briefed the team on the case study’s key findings. They set the goal to explore artistically how such diverse needs can be addressed by an intimate wearable, without specifying any concrete features yet. Then, over the next months, we had a lot of individual team meetings. A series of four co-design workshops with the whole team played a crucial role in shaping the DiscReTe wearable concept idea, allowing for an embodied exploration through dance. Each session provided key insights into how movement, body language and touch, material properties, and technological features influence social dynamics between two individuals, and shaped the development of the DiscReTe concept prototype. First CO-DESIGN WORKSHOP: What does (dis)connection means?

Fig. 5. Impression of the first co-design workshop (Note: This workshop was conducted with performer Javier Huerta.)
Fig. 5. Impression of the first co-design workshop (Note: This workshop was conducted with performer Javier Huerta.)

The first co-design workshop (Fig. 5–9) explored what it means to (dis)connect, revealing how connection is shaped by trust, empathy, boundaries, and shared understanding. Key takeaways included the value of attunement, cautious use of touch or mirroring (Fig. 6–7), and creating a shared interaction framework. These insights reinforced the Intimate Computing principle that technology should support without dominating—ready to assist when needed. This shared understanding led the team to explore small tech prototypes for supporting nuanced communication.

Second CO-DESIGN WORKSHOP:
How to communicate beyond social standards?

Screenshot

The second co-design workshop (Fig. 10–14) explored how people communicate beyond social norms, combining dance with early low-fi tech prototypes (Fig. 14). We found that while non-verbal expression through movement is rich (Fig. 10–13), technology can enhance communication for those with limited abilities—if it supports rather than distracts. This led to using air as a metaphor for communication: subtle, boundaryless, and sensed in multiple ways. Inspired by this, the team developed the first wearable prototype—four hacked fans around the hips, tangled materials, and performer-controlled. Unlike pneumatic actuators, this design explores airflow as an open, expressive medium.

Third CO-DESIGN WORKSHOP:
What emerges from the material?

In the third co-design workshop (Fig. 15–19), performers explored how the wearable prototype—with integrated fans and layered textiles—shaped movement and interaction (Fig. 15–19). These experiments revealed the material’s ability to evoke emotion and connection through light, flowing design. Open questions remained around clearly expressing emotion and whether to expose the underlying technology. Reflections on airflow, tactile feedback, and textile behavior highlighted how such materials support (dis)connection. Performers suggested adding automated wind patterns to enhance improvisation. These insights informed the final prototype and deepened the Intimate Computing concept, where AI subtly supports human expression.

Fourth CO-DESIGN WORKSHOP:
How can wearable technology mediate (dis)connections?

The fourth co-design workshop (Fig. 10–24) refined the final wearable prototype and explored how intimate technology can mediate (dis)connection through light, air, movement, and gesture (Fig. 20–24). A key moment was when a second performer used a handheld spotlight to highlight the prototype’s subtle airflow effects—revealing how the technology gently supported a restricted performer’s expression (Fig. 20, 24). This confirmed earlier insights: air, as an invisible yet perceptible force, powerfully symbolises Intimate Computing—enabling nuanced, non-verbal communication and deepening connections between wearer, technology, and others.

4.3 Performance creation period
During three intensive sessions and the final preparations on the day of the public premiere, the choreographer developed a performance with the other performer (Fig. 25). Their process was rooted in the experiences and insights of the previous research period. They began with the creation of a clear score to outline the different moments of the piece, specifying movement qualities, intentions, and transitions. Aiming for clarity and accessibility for the audience, the choreographer–performer opted for a simple yet structured framework to guide the performance, using poetic images.

Given the limited time available to create the performance and experiment with the final wearable prototype (Fig. 26–28), the process was highly focused and goal-oriented. The dance experts developed and refined the steps, defined the movement quality of the disruption, and together with the creative technologist, spent time calibrating and synchronizing with the technology (Fig. 29–30). The wearable designer was available for fitting and needed refinements to make the garment comfortable and to wear and as easy as possible to dress (Fig. 31). The team also explored the optimal angles for the handheld light and practiced re-establishing the connection between the dancers using the wearable.

The choreographer proposed echoing the opening choreography (connection, Fig. 25) in the final scene (reconnection, Fig. 25) by aligning it with fan-generated movement. While collaborating with the creative technologist, they realized this concept needed more time and deeper interdisciplinary work. The subtlety of airflow made it difficult to clearly link body motion and air effects. Though promising for expressive interaction, air as a medium needs further exploration in future developments.

4.4 Reflections from the team members

To better understand how the team members perceived their interdisciplinary collaboration and key milestones and how their participation led to personal growth, we interviewed them. We provide a summary of some key questions in the following. For more detailed insights into their answers and getting a sense of their original tones, the interview transcripts can be found in a data set linked here: http://doi.org/10.4121/86297241-db14-4b9f-802c-f668b2fe7d31 Regarding their perception of the interdisciplinary teamwork we asked them: What has it been like working with professionals from other disciplines, and how has this collaboration shaped your approach to your role? The team described their interdisciplinary collaboration as open, enriching, and respectful, with an emphasis on building a shared language across disciplines. While some members were experienced in cross-disciplinary work, others found it a valuable new challenge that expanded their perspectives and required adapting communication styles to bridge different fields. The wearable integration designer was experienced in interdisciplinary collaboration and appreciated the project’s openness and equality. The creative technologist, less familiar with working across fields, valued the challenge of adapting communication and exploring new perspectives. The choreographer-performer found the collaboration enriching and highlighted the importance of building a shared language, while the performer, new to working with technology and design, found the experience valuable but noted the challenge of translating dance concepts into everyday language. We further asked the team about their perception of key milestones during the project: From your perspective, what were the most significant moments or breakthroughs in the design process? Key breakthroughs included the decision to use air as a soft actuator, highlighted by the choreographer-performer, creative technologist, and wearable integration designer, which connected movement and technology in a poetic way (Fig. 20). The performer emphasised the moment of dancing with the fans, realising both the limitations and inspiration the wearable offered, while the creative technologist also celebrated personal milestones in getting the fans to work with flex sensors and discovering the visual impact of external lighting. Then we were also curious how the shared experiences potentially led to personal growth and insights: What did you learn – about the topic, the team, or yourself – through your involvement in this project? The creative technologist learned to create more robust prototypes and appreciated interdisciplinary collaboration. The wearable integration designer deepened their understanding of integrative, equal collaboration and new forms of interaction with intimate technologies. The performer gained insights into academic research, interdisciplinary communication, and the lived experience of communication barriers, while the choreographer-performer valued the project’s non-hierarchical teamwork and the importance of a strong shared concept to guide collaboration. The team’s reflections show that the DiscReTe project fostered true transdisciplinary collaboration, where expertise from dance, wearable design, and technology merged through equal, mutual exchange. By learning from each other’s fields and adapting their approaches, team members moved beyond interdisciplinary work, blending tasks and knowledge in ways that no single discipline could achieve alone.

5. Design research out

The DiscReTe project resulted in two key research outcomes: the wearable demonstrator and the dance performance, both exploring human-technology partnership and mediated social connection through movement and air as an expressive medium.

5.1 The DiscReTe wearable demonstrator

The wearable consists of several layers (Fig. 34), containing a tech layer, a crinoline, gloves and crop top foil layer. The partner costume contains elements that take up design elements of the wearable (Fig. 35 and 36), such as foil at the ends of a scarf. The foils appear differently depending on the light conditions (Fig. 37 and 38).

The wearable development focused on safe, stable, and movement-friendly integration of technology and materials. Extra care was taken to attach hard components to soft, dynamic textiles for comfort and durability in dance. Key design elements—air-sensitive materials, crinoline for spacing, and angled fan placement—shaped its interactive qualities. Together, these choices (Fig. 1) enabled a wearable that subtly communicates through airflow, color shifts, transparency, and reflectiveness. We asked the team to reflect on their perception of artistic expression and technical integration: How do you see the interplay between artistic expression and technical functionality in the wearable and its design process? The team emphasised that artistic expression and technical functionality were deeply interconnected, with all design and technology decisions made to support the overarching concept. The wearable integration designer and choreographer-performer highlighted the importance of adapting the wearable to the dancer’s needs for both safety and expression, while the creative technologist focused on enabling artistic goals through safe, supportive technology. The performer valued how the wearable enhanced emotional expression and movement, with design and technical choices carefully balancing freedom and functionality.

5.2 The DiscReTe dance performance

The performance served as a staged exploration of human–technology partnership, using the wearable as an expressive tool for non-verbal communication and connection. The integration of air as a medium allowed for subtle yet dynamic transformations in the garment’s shape, creating a visual and physical representation of relationality. The wearable inspires movement and responds to it, addressing a small part of complex human interactions where non-verbal communication is fluid and often influenced by external factors. In the following, we describe the different phases of the performance. It opens with a scene highlighting the connection between the dancers as they move closely together in unison, seamlessly navigating the space and creating a sense of fluidity and airiness as they move (Fig. 39–41).

This harmony is disrupted when one dancer falls out of sync, struggling to maintain the flow (Fig.42–44).

After a pause filled with stillness and body tension, the dancer activates the wearable fans, finding release in the movement of air around her body (Fig.45 47). This allows a moment of tuning in with the technology.

The second dancer then re-enters the scene, this time with a hand-held light (Fig.48–50). This addition highlights the subtle effects of the air on the costume, drawing the audience’s attention to this interplay and marking the beginning of a
reconnection.

Gradually, this renewed connection evolves, culminating in the duo returning to their original choreography, now facilitated by wearable technology (Fig.51–53)

The performance highlights how movement, air, and material properties could create a poetic and symbolic representation of social interaction. While it showcases our artistic interpretation of the wearable’s potential for self-expression and mediated connection, the subtleness and unpredictability of air also raises questions about control and interpretation in other contexts and application fields. The wearable may not replace communication but rather extends and amplifies it, requiring mutual effort and understanding between those who communicate through it.

5.3 Final reflections

The DiscReTe project demonstrates how wearable technology can support subtle and embodied communication. We had some interview questions to capture the team’s reflections about the project’s success that are available for more details in the same data set: http://doi.org/10.4121/86297241-db14-4b9f-802c-f668b2fe7d31. For instance, we asked the creative team about their understanding of integrating human-technology partnership in the wearable prototype: How do you think the wearable supports the mediation of relationships or self-expression for social connection, based on your expertise and observations? The team agreed that the wearable prototype offers a poetic and subtle way to support self-expression and social connection, though further development is needed for everyday use. The choreographer-performer and creative technologist noted its success in evoking connection through movement and visual impact rather than precise communication, while the performer emphasized the importance of mutual understanding between sender and receiver. The wearable integration designer saw the garment as a reflection of the complexities and nuances of human interaction. Finally, we asked the individual who served as a case study for the DiscReTe project about their opinion on the outcomes and they answered: “The researchers, through interviewing me and providing creative tasks, were really trying to understand my situation and daily life. One of the most interesting experiences were the drawing exercises about how I experience my body—this was for me an entirely novel way of expressing my condition and experiences, which even helped me connect with my body in new ways! The performance beautifully captures the experience of disconnection that challenges in movement and communication abilities can bring, and shows how wearable technology can help in reaching out and reconnecting with other people. The ‘flowiness’ and playfulness of the dancing foils through the air movement look mesmerising. Such playful movement might also help reduce a bit the tension that social interactions can bring when you cannot communicate in a ‘normal’ way. I would love to try out what I could do with such technology for real, how to make it express what I would want to say in a certain moment. For doing that in real life, the technology would need to be able to adjust to my movement and postures easily (for example sitting, lying down, standing up) and without hampering these or being too ‘stimulating’ on the body.” These reflections affirm the DiscReTe project’s success in exploring how wearable technology can poetically mediate social connection and self-expression. Both the creative team and the case study participant highlighted the wearable’s emotional resonance and potential, while also pointing to the importance of further development to adapt the technology for real-world, everyday contexts.

Conclusion

The DiscReTe project exemplifies the modern polymath as a transdisciplinary team, where expertise from computer science, design research, wearable technology design, and performing arts merged in an equal, co-evolving process. Rather than disciplines working in isolation, the team’s collaboration shaped and was shaped by their diverse perspectives. This process led to a wearable prototype and dance performance that neither field could have created alone. This integrated approach was key to fostering embodied design, ensuring that inclusivity and accessibility for all team members was considered throughout. Insights from the case study and the participation of a deaf performer using a cochlear implant reinforced the importance of designing with users rather than for them. The project also introduced air as a novel actuator for non-verbal, nuanced communication, opening new ideas for wearable and embodied interaction. Moving forward, future research can build on our exploration by refining the interplay between artistic expression and technical functionality, and further investigating air-mediated interaction and human entanglements with wearable Intimate Technologies. The DiscReTe project highlights how transdisciplinary teams can drive innovation in inclusive, human-centered design by embracing uncertainty and exploring the expressive potential of technology. It shows how knowledge is co-created to address complex societal challenges that emerge with Intimate Technologies and that modern polymathy manifests in transdisciplinary teams over single individualists.

Acknowledgements

The DiscReTe project is affiliated with the NWO gravitation project Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies (ESDiT) and DesignLab/University of Twente, Netherlands. The project has been approved by the ethical committee of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Twente with number 240103. Laisvie Andrea Ochoa Gaevska and Dennis Massar belong to the ConCuerpos inclusive dance company. Our special thanks go to Jonas Hentschel for his initial technology support and Javier Huerta for his contribution to the dance explorations during the first co-design workshop. We further thank all other supporters: Interaction Lab/University of Twente and Dr. Daniel Davison, Smart XP Lab/University of Twente and Alfred de Vries, Vrijhof/University of Twente, FashionTech Farm, Marianna Alessandri, Dr. Edwin Dertien, Dr. Gwenn Englebienne, Jur van Geel, Dr. Juliet Haarman, and Dr. Han Warmelink. More information about the DiscReTe project can be found here: https://intimate-computing.net/intimate-computing-vulnerability/current-projects/discrete-project/

Dr. Michaela Honauer is a Design Research Professor at Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm (Nuremberg Tech), Germany. Her research explores how AI-driven technologies (re)shape human relationships, with a focus on equity and accessibility. She works through participatory and embodied methods, speculative and performative interventions, and draws on post-phenomenological theories.

Malou Beemer is a Dutch designer, artist, and researcher specializing in design innovation and textile interaction. Fascinated by human behavior, she redefines the relationship between people and their environments through textiles. With over 12 years of experience across interdisciplinary projects, she operates at the intersection of the creative industry and academic research.

Emil F.J.P. Gravier, from Hamburg, Germany, is a Master’s student in Interaction Technology at the University of Twente, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Technology. His interests span electrical engineering, Arduino tinkering, programming, and interaction design. He also serves as secretary of the student ice hockey team “S.Y.H.V. The Slapping Studs.”

Dennis Massar is a deaf dancer, teacher, and choreographer with international experience. Dedicated to dance inclusion, he advocates for more diverse representation on stage. His work focuses on integrating sign language and dance to create inclusive performances for and with people with hearing impairments.

Laisvie A. Ochoa Gaevska is the director of ConCuerpos, an inclusive dance company operating in both Colombia and the Netherlands. Her work bridges artistic, educational, and research projects involving dancers with and without disabilities. She holds degrees in Psychology and Multimedia Creation from Colombia, and a Master’s in Choreography and the Embodied Life Art Program in the Netherlands.

Dr. M. Birna van Riemsdijk is Associate Professor of Intimate Computing at the University of Twente. Her research focuses on developing design methods and computational models that account for personal values and vulnerabilities in the creation of intimate technologies. She has received a Vidi grant and was awarded the Dutch Prize for Research in ICT in 2014.

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