Human-Centred Digital Twin Design For Elderly Care: Addressing Comorbidity And Wellbeing,
2026
Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, China;Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Human-Centred Digital Twin Design For Elderly Care: Addressing Comorbidity And Wellbeing, Nan Sheng, Emmanuel Tskeleves, Paul Cureton, Qi Chen
DRS Biennial Conference Series
China's rapidly ageing urban population faces complex mental health challenges, particularly with comorbid conditions. Current elderly care is nonpersonalised and unresponsive to support holistic wellbeing. To address the challenges of inclusive, responsive, and adaptable senior care, this study suggests a human-centred digital twin framework that incorporates service ecosystem design. This study employs a human-centred digital twin design methodology based on service ecosystem theory, focusing on how digital twins can mediate between users’ lived experiences and service innovation. The findings from the literature review and design practice indicate that digital twin technology has potential foster older adults’ life experience, social inclusion, …
Redefining Design Practice As A Sensory And Decentred Experience,
2026
Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia
Redefining Design Practice As A Sensory And Decentred Experience, Azeem Hamid, Umar Hameed, Kristi Kuusk, Nithikul Nimkulrat
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper examines how sensory focused practice can decentre the role of the design educator-researcher within design education, reframing learning as a relational and embodied form of practice-led design research. Drawing on a sensory workshop with foundation-year design students in Lahore, Pakistan, it explores how listening, movement, and tactile engagement foster reflective awareness and co-creation. Informed by theories of embodied cognition and relational pedagogy, the study considers how agency in learning environments extends beyond the educator to include materials, atmospheres, and collective experiences. Sensory practice is presented not as an adjunct to design but as integral to it, cultivating attentiveness, …
Queer(Ing) Epistemology By Design: Tmi-Web—A Relational Knowledge System For Intersectional Data Science And Affective Queries,
2026
DePaul University, Chicago, IL, United States
Queer(Ing) Epistemology By Design: Tmi-Web—A Relational Knowledge System For Intersectional Data Science And Affective Queries, Jess Parris Westbrook, Coraline Ada Ehmke
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Queer(ing) is a practice of questioning, unsettling, and liberating that resists normative ways of knowing. This paper advances a Queer(ing) epistemology for intersectional data science and offers TMI (Too Much Information)-WEB as a working case. This open source, theory-driven qualitative data analysis ecosystem treats identity, lived experience, and power as relational, contextual, and co-constructed. Built on a human-centered graph data model, it reimagines databases as dynamic knowledge systems rather than neutral containers. Authentic, identity-driven personas emerge from participants’ own narratives, while affective queries invite researchers to explore (and experience) patterns of harm, coping, joy, and self-acceptance across intersectional lives and …
Investigating The Embodied Aesthetics Of Kinetic Structures At Biennales And World Expos,
2026
Middle East Technical University, Türkiye;
Karabuk University, Türkiye
Investigating The Embodied Aesthetics Of Kinetic Structures At Biennales And World Expos, Hatice Hilal Topuz, Güzin Şen
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In biennales and world expos, where creative ideas, cultural values, and technological developments in art and architecture are exhibited, kinetic systems are increasingly used in installations and pavilions. This paper frames kinetic structures in relation to embodied aesthetics and investigates how such kinetic structures go beyond mere display to offer visitors a holistic aesthetic experience. It introduces a selection of kinetic structures presented in diverse biennales and expos by utilizing publications, commentaries, and curatorial statements; deconstructs and analyzes their designs regarding types of movement, body-space-time relations, participation modes, embodied metaphors, and conceptual narratives. Thus, the paper shows how kinetic structures …
Images Of Humans In Public Sector Design,
2026
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Images Of Humans In Public Sector Design, Mieke Van Der Bijl-Brouwer, Jennie Winhall
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Human-centred design is an essential element of the application of design in public and social sectors. What has remained largely unexpressed in the field is the way in which design is influenced by how we see humans, and how that is informed by our worldviews and dominant paradigms. In this conceptual paper, we investigate five common views on humans – user, worker, fallible individual, consumer, and whole and social being - based on four dimensions. The dimensions include 1) depth, 2) personal focus, 3) social focus, and 4) level of agency. Based on a case study of youth unemployment, we …
The Ecology Of Effort: Aesthetics Of Resistance In The Age Of Frictionless Design,
2026
Istituto Marangoni, Italy
The Ecology Of Effort: Aesthetics Of Resistance In The Age Of Frictionless Design, Stefano Caggiano
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper examines how design can restore cognitive and sensory depth within a culture shaped by frictionless digitality. The dominance of frictionless design—defined by speed, ease, and seamlessness—has optimized usability but diminished the experiential conditions that make meaning possible. Meaning emerges through resistance: the effort, uncertainty, and interpretive engagement that activate attention and reward. Drawing on embodied cognition and semiotic theory, the paper argues that cognitive effort and sensory resistance are essential to perception and value. Physical and spatial artefacts, through material texture, spatial articulation, and perceptual complexity, can reintroduce friction into everyday experience, inviting interpretive participation rather than passive …
Contextual Intelligence For Ai In Design: A Liberal Education Lens,
2026
FLAME University, India
Contextual Intelligence For Ai In Design: A Liberal Education Lens, Amit Kundal, Shamit Shrivastav, Tina Mangwani
DRS Biennial Conference Series
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes embedded in design education and practice, global experts highlight a key challenge: preparing design students to engage with AI responsibly and contextually. This paper explores how liberal education’s interdisciplinary approach builds contextual understanding for designers to leverage AI tools effectively. Informed by the philosophy of an Indian design school that is rooted in liberal education, along with insights from global design experts, the study introduces a conceptual model: CI-AID (Contextual Intelligence for AI in Design). CI-AID extends on the traditional double diamond, where interdisciplinary knowledge enables a comprehensive discovery of the context that the design …
Designing Preparatory Haptics: Relational Timing And Bodily Anticipation In Industrial Driving Contexts,
2026
School of Design, Hunan University;
School of Design and Art, Hunan University of Technology and Business
Designing Preparatory Haptics: Relational Timing And Bodily Anticipation In Industrial Driving Contexts, Zhe Dai, Yonghong Liu, Pingping Fang, Xiangtian Bai, Yifei Xue, Fan Wu, Qian Ou
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In safety-critical industrial contexts, visual alerts often fail under high cognitive load. This paper introduces Preparatory Haptics, framing haptic timing as a relational medium that reshapes bodily anticipation. We developed a wearable haptic prototype synchronized with auditory cues to investigate how temporal coordination and vibration modes influence attention and readiness. A driving-simulation study showed that advance-timing haptic cues foster proactive anticipation, whereas sustained vibrations are perceived as bodily resonance rather than interference, particularly under complex task conditions. These findings ground the Preparatory Haptics Framework, which treats temporal materiality as a generative element of embodied interaction and offers theoretical and practical …
Not Post-Digital But More-Than-Human: Rethinking Digital Design For Regional Natural History Museums,
2026
University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Not Post-Digital But More-Than-Human: Rethinking Digital Design For Regional Natural History Museums, Katt Grover, Argenis Ramirez Gomez, Claire Bailey Ross
DRS Biennial Conference Series
What if the future of digital design in museums isn’t found in cutting-edge institutions, but in the often-overlooked ecologies of regional natural history collections? This paper repositions small regional museums not as lagging behind in digital transformation, but as fertile grounds for exploring more-than-human digital design. Drawing on an ongoing collaborative project between the Portsmouth Natural History Museum and the University of Portsmouth, we reflect on the interactive experiences using low-cost holograms and motion-capture avatars as mediators between human and non-human actors within museum ecologies. Giving collections voices and personalities engaged audiences, yet in attempting to become more-than-human, the collections …
Research Through Game Design,
2026
School of Computing and Communications, Lancaster University, UK;
fractals co-op, UK
Research Through Game Design, Oliver Bates, Ben Kirman, Marcia Tavares Smith, David Philip Green
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Games are common artefacts and systems for design research, appearing as engagement tools with publics or specific audiences, expressions of ideas, and as tools for speculation. Games have proven value as instruments or outputs supporting this work, but the process of designing games is rarely centered as a moment of production of new knowledge and understanding. Taking inspiration from Research through Design more broadly, we position Research through Game Design as an approach that delineates space to challenge systems, break from norms, provoke, critique, explore, experiment, critically design, and reflect on the frictions and boundaries of ideas, artefacts, and systems. …
Cultureaction! An Interaction And Experience Design Project To Explore San Marino’S Historic Center As A Living Archive.,
2026
Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Italy
Cultureaction! An Interaction And Experience Design Project To Explore San Marino’S Historic Center As A Living Archive., Silvia Gasparotto
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This research explores how design-driven approaches can boost engagement with cultural heritage and archives, centering on an experimental initiative in San Marino's historic center. The project envisions the city as a dynamic archive brought to life through interactive installations. A system featuring an interactive device called Iride and six site-specific installations was created to reveal the hidden historical and meaningful layers within the urban landscape. These installations use multisensory components to craft experiences that enhance visitors' cognitive and emotional connections with local cultural stories. This method illustrates how design and digital technology can connect tangible and intangible heritage, institutional archives …
Becoming A Coffee Shop Regular: Factors Shaping Regularity In Contemporary Coffee Shops,
2026
Malmö University, Sweden
Becoming A Coffee Shop Regular: Factors Shaping Regularity In Contemporary Coffee Shops, Mia B. Münster, Rebekah Matheny, Kirsten Marie Raahauge
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This study explores customers’ motivations to become regulars at contemporary specialty coffee shops and identifies the features that make these places meaningful enough for repeated visits. Drawing on observations and in situ interviews with staff and regular customers in Hong Kong, Copenhagen, and Columbus, the study examines how regular destinations emerge in contemporary café culture. The analysis identifies recurring characteristics of places that individuals consider their regular spots: (1) high-quality offerings, including quality products and professional service; (2) convenient and attractive locations; (3) the resources to accommodate different types of visits; (4) connectedness, or a sense of community and shared …
Design As Interface: From Architectural Design To Circular Systems Design,
2026
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Design As Interface: From Architectural Design To Circular Systems Design, Georgios Triantafyllidis, Lizhen Huang
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Circular economy planning for the built environment is a wicked problem: data are fragmented, tools are siloed, and the goals of material reuse are contested. Those aspects collectively contribute to generating systemic barriers towards circular economy transition. This study targets this challenge by proposing the Circular City Twin as a conceptual open system-of-systems that enables shared inquiry and collaborative action between city and building scales. Drawing on second-order cybernetics and meta-design principles, the Circular City Twin acts as an architectural interface: a modular, scalable, extensible digital infrastructure that integrates cadastral data, parametric BIM generation, and semantic models to deliver high-granularity …
Neurodesign In Urban Environments: Fmri Insights For Designing Cognitively Supportive Cities,
2026
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong S.A.R. (China)
Neurodesign In Urban Environments: Fmri Insights For Designing Cognitively Supportive Cities, Saijal Sharma, Tian Cheng, Gerhard Bruyns
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Advances in neuroscience and neuroimaging have created new pathways to interpret how urban environments shape spatial cognition, psychological well-being, mobility, behaviour, and related outcomes across different age groups. This review examines the use of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in urban settings and assesses its contribution to an age-inclusive, longevity-focused environment. It synthesises interdisciplinary research into a concise framework that integrates fMRI-based pattern recognition with stimuli mapping to generate design insights. Within this context, fMRI is positioned as a complementary methodological approach to be used alongside ethnographic, participatory, and experiential methods in generating neuro-informed design knowledge. The review highlights design-relevant …
Unwording Design: Demilitarizing The Imaginaries Of Design,
2026
Umeå Institute of Design
Unwording Design: Demilitarizing The Imaginaries Of Design, Xaviera Sánchez De La Barquera Estrada, Sergio Dávila Urrutia
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Design’s vocabulary is saturated with metaphors of control (targets, strategies, impacts), revealing a militarized ontology that frames design as domination over problems, contexts, and futures. This paper examines the politics of wording and introduces Unwording Design as a practice of ontological care: dismantling violent grammars that sustain extractive imaginaries and cultivating vocabularies grounded in affection, reciprocity, and relational ethics. Drawing on Haraway’s insight that the thoughts we use to think matter (2016), Butler’s performativity (2006), and Escobar’s ontological design (2018), we argue that transforming language transforms the worlds design brings into being. Unwording shifts from languages of war to languages …
Divergent Thinking To Design A Musical Instrument,
2026
CIAUD, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal & Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun’Álvares, 4900-347, Viana do Castelo, Portugal, Portugal
Divergent Thinking To Design A Musical Instrument, Ermanno Aparo, Liliana Soares, Rita Almendra
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper explores how divergent thinking generates creativity and innovative ideas, exploring multiple possibilities and connections. Designing a musical instrument is an opportunity for knowledge and experimentation, combining the need for high performance with aesthetic qualities and, the tradition of handmade production with cutting-edge technologies and materials. Methodologically, the study is exploratory based on qualitative research methods. It comprises academy and the local productive sector, which includes luthiers, musicians, and an audiovisual and film studio. The paper highlights other research projects that demonstrate this team's ability to create connections with design, music, culture, and social issues. The creation of a …
Co-Creating With Fungi: Mycelium Toys And Pedagogies For Regenerative Futures,
2026
University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria
Co-Creating With Fungi: Mycelium Toys And Pedagogies For Regenerative Futures, Flavia Alice Mameli, Robbi Zidna Ilman
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This practice-based research project presents BLX, a series of mycelium-based educational toys. Shaped like inflated building blocks, BLX invites children (early years to primary education) to construct playful structures whilst materialising biological and anthropogenic circularity through design. Unlike plastic toys that embody permanence, BLX can be played with, composted, or repurposed as plant pots—rendering regenerative processes tangible. Drawing on speculative design and material studies, the project positions mycelium as both educational medium and more-than-human collaborator. By embracing decay as (re-)generative, BLX challenges material cultures of permanence and offers children embodied encounters with temporality and transformation. This contribution is threefold: methodological …
The Environmental Citizen’S Playbook: A Catalogue Of Playful Participation For Environmental Action,
2026
Sooon Studio, Denmark
The Environmental Citizen’S Playbook: A Catalogue Of Playful Participation For Environmental Action, Savannah Vize, Ferran Altarriba Bertran, İdil Gaziulusoy
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Sustainability problems are complex and overwhelming, with terms like eco-anxiety now commonplace. Sustaining engagement therefore requires attention beyond systemic levers towards relational, social, and emotional dimensions. This paper explores play as a participatory tool to foster wellbeing, maintain engagement and reframe environmental action. Play is known to support healthy development, reduce stress, and connect socially as an antidote to fatiguing emotions. Research has additionally explored play’s transformative potential to disrupt existing structures and imaginaries. This study examines how play can be leveraged to support more inclusive and emotionally sustainable engagement with environmental action. Using a participatory research-through-design process (Situated Play …
Co-Creation With Carbon Data: Reframing The Designer’S Role In The Decarbonization Of The Built Environment,
2026
Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands
Co-Creation With Carbon Data: Reframing The Designer’S Role In The Decarbonization Of The Built Environment, Halina Veloso E Zarate, Manuela Triggianese, Jantien Stoter, Maarten Van Ham
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Cross-scale, multidisciplinary design projects such as station area redevelopment are inherently complex, with many stakeholders and vast amounts of data relevant to decision-making. In the Netherlands, these projects face a dual challenge: meeting housing demands while reducing the embodied carbon emissions associated with construction. Early integration of carbon data is essential, yet the abundance and heterogeneity of supporting datasets required for Life-Cycle Assessment beyond the building scale can hinder progress. This paper presents a collaborative workshop method that enables a data-supported design process for informed decision-making. Sessions with station architects, urban designers, railway operators, and carbon specialists co-create a curated …
Strategic Design For Circular Transitions: Co-Defining Servitisation Strategies With A Furniture Company,
2026
Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Strategic Design For Circular Transitions: Co-Defining Servitisation Strategies With A Furniture Company, Mattia Italia, Silvana Migliozzi, Michele Melazzini, Daniela Maurer, Xue Pei
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The furniture industry is currently facing profound environmental and systemic challenges that demand radical transformation. Servitisation, understood as the shift from selling products to delivering value through integrated product–service systems, offers a potential pathway to foster circularity and long-term competitiveness. However, this change requires the adaptation and integration of circularity strategies within the sector. Strategic Design and Transition Design can provide solid theoretical and practical foundations to support this integration. Therefore, this article explores how participatory processes supported by design can assist companies in co-defining circular strategies through servitisation. Using Participatory Action Research within a leading Italian furniture manufacturer, the …
