Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
|
Daily Overview |
| Session | |
|
PAPERS: Thinking the Body through Technologies and Material Methods Location: McEwan Hall Auditorium Zoom Link Session Chair: Gozde Goncu Berk, University of California, Davis Session Chair: Theo Hughes-Riley, Nottingham Trent University | |
    | |
Designing for the Working Body: Challenges in the Development of Occupational Exoskeletons Chair of Industrial Design Engineering | Dresden University of Technology Exoskeletons exemplify intimate body-technology entanglements, where user experience is inherently corporeal. Despite their increasing presence in industrial and emerging consumer markets, current development methods often neglect the embodied dimensions of these devices. This paper explores what it means to design for the working body in the context of occupational exoskeletons. Drawing from our design practice and qualitative interviews in automotive and logistics, we identify tensions across three areas: (1) user and context research, inclusive and (2) body-sensitive development processes, and (3) the semiotics and social meaning of exoskeletons. We highlight challenges such as normalized risk and harm, limited attention to anthropometric diversity, constraints on safe prototyping, and risks of stigma and dehumanization. Simultaneously, we identify opportunities to position exoskeletons as cues for body awareness, health-related self-efficacy, and reflective work practices. Finally, we propose actionable recommendations to advance exoskeleton design, emphasizing embodied, situated experience. View Paper: https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1797
| |
