2013/03/01 by David Kirsh · 1 citation
Computer Science · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Action Observation and Synchronization #Embodied and Extended Cognition #Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
paper · doi:10.1145/2442106.2442109
openalex publication_date 2013/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
The theory of embodied cognition can provide HCI practitioners and theorists with new ideas about interaction and new principles for better designs. I support this claim with four ideas about cognition: (1) interacting with tools changes the way we think and perceive -- tools, when manipulated, are soon absorbed into the body schema, and this absorption leads to fundamental changes in the way we perceive and conceive of our environments; (2) we think with our bodies not just with our brains; (3) we know more by doing than by seeing -- there are times when physically performing an activity is better than watching someone else perform the activity, even though our motor resonance system fires strongly during other person observation; (4) there are times when we literally think with things. These four ideas have major implications for interaction design, especially the design of tangible, physical, context aware, and telepresence systems.