Professor STEVE BENFORD's Outputs (155)

Tangles: Unpacking Extended Collision Experiences with Soma Trajectories (2025)
Journal Article
Benford, S., Garrett, R., Li, C., Tennent, P., NÚÑEZ-PACHECO, C., Núñez-Pacheco, C., Kucukyilmaz, A., Tsaknaki, V., HÖÖK, K., Höök, K., Caleb-Solly, P., Marshall, J., Schneiders, E., Popova, K., & Afana, J. (in press). Tangles: Unpacking Extended Collision Experiences with Soma Trajectories. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, https://doi.org/10.1145/3723875

We reappraise the idea of colliding with robots, moving from a position that tries to avoid or mitigate collisions to one that considers them an important facet of human interaction. We report on a soma design workshop that explored how our bodies co... Read More about Tangles: Unpacking Extended Collision Experiences with Soma Trajectories.

Somatic Safety: An Embodied Approach Towards Safe Human-Robot Interaction (2025)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Benford, S., Schneiders, E., Martinez Avila, J. P., Caleb-Solley, P., Brundell, P. R., Castle-Green, S., Zhou, F., Garrett, R., Höök, K., Whatley, S., Marsh, K., & Tennent, P. (2025, March). Somatic Safety: An Embodied Approach Towards Safe Human-Robot Interaction. Presented at HRI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Melbourne, Australia

As robots enter the messy human world so the vital matter of safety takes on a fresh complexion with physical contact becoming inevitable and even desirable. We report on an artistic-exploration of how dancers, working as part of a multidisciplinary... Read More about Somatic Safety: An Embodied Approach Towards Safe Human-Robot Interaction.

Robots in Pain, Humans in Play: Soma as a Qualitative Method for Investigating Intelligent Human-Robot Configurations (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Chamberlain, A., Ngo, V., McGarry, G., Kucukyilmaz, A., Benford, S., & Higgins, A. (2025, February). Robots in Pain, Humans in Play: Soma as a Qualitative Method for Investigating Intelligent Human-Robot Configurations. Presented at Designing for Bodies: Practices, Imaginaries and Discourses, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding

In this piece we start to explore the ways in which we somatise our interaction with robots as a symbiotic system - both as human and robot, and as human-robot. We also consider the ways that we might want to take our physical nature (existence), for... Read More about Robots in Pain, Humans in Play: Soma as a Qualitative Method for Investigating Intelligent Human-Robot Configurations.

Augmenting musical instruments with digital identities (2024)
Journal Article
Benford, S., McGarry, G., Hazzard, A., Chamberlain, A., Gibson, R., & Avila, J. P. M. (2024). Augmenting musical instruments with digital identities. Journal of New Music Research, https://doi.org/10.1080/09298215.2024.2423613

We explore how augmenting musical instruments with digital identities can enhance their provenance, utility during creative practice, and personal meaning. A literature review reveals the importance of object identities in general and instrument iden... Read More about Augmenting musical instruments with digital identities.

How Artists Improvise and Provoke Robotics (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Benford, S., Garrett, R., Schneiders, E., Tennent, P., Chamberlain, A., Avila, J., Brundell, P., & Castle-Green, S. (2024, October). How Artists Improvise and Provoke Robotics. Poster presented at 16th International Conference on Social Robotics + AI (ICSR + AI) 2024, Odense, Denmark

We explore transdisciplinary collaborations between artists and roboticists across a portfolio of artworks. Brendan Walker's Bronco-matic was a breath controlled mechanical rodeo bull ride. Blast Theory's Cat Royale deployed a robot arm to play with... Read More about How Artists Improvise and Provoke Robotics.

Decoding AI in Contemporary Art: A Five-Trope Classification for Understanding and Categorisation (2024)
Journal Article
Salimbeni, G., Benford, S., Reeves, S., & Martindale, S. (2024). Decoding AI in Contemporary Art: A Five-Trope Classification for Understanding and Categorisation. Leonardo, 57(4), 415–421. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02546

The article presents a historical overview of the classification of contemporary artworks that either have utilized artificial intelligence as a tool in their creation or focus on AI as their central theme or subject matter. The authors analyze artwo... Read More about Decoding AI in Contemporary Art: A Five-Trope Classification for Understanding and Categorisation.

Designing Multispecies Worlds for Robots, Cats, and Humans (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Schneiders, E., Benford, S., Chamberlain, A., Mancini, C., Castle-Green, S., Ngo, V., Row Farr, J., Adams, M., Tandavanitj, N., & Fischer, J. (2024, May). Designing Multispecies Worlds for Robots, Cats, and Humans. Presented at CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’24), Honolulu, HI, USA

We reflect on the design of a multispecies world centred around a bespoke enclosure in which three cats and a robot arm coexist for six hours a day during a twelve-day installation as part of an artist-led project. In this paper, we present the proje... Read More about Designing Multispecies Worlds for Robots, Cats, and Humans.

Insights Into Legacy: Issues of Handover from a Partner-Initiated Project (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Thorn, E., Spence, J., Koleva, B., & Benford, S. D. (2024, May). Insights Into Legacy: Issues of Handover from a Partner-Initiated Project. Presented at CHI '24: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Honolulu HI USA

We report on a six-year collaboration with a small community organisation to develop and deploy a permanent physical / digital locative media experience as part on an ongoing community regeneration project. We describe how this unfolded over four pha... Read More about Insights Into Legacy: Issues of Handover from a Partner-Initiated Project.

Charting Ethical Tensions in Multispecies Technology Research through Beneficiary-Epistemology Space (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Benford, S. D., Mancini, C., Chamberlain, A., Schneiders, E., Castle-Green, S. D., Fischer, J. E., Kucukyilmaz, A., Salimbeni, G., Ngo, V. Z. H., Barnard, P., Adams, M., Tandavanitj, N., & Row Farr, J. (2024, May). Charting Ethical Tensions in Multispecies Technology Research through Beneficiary-Epistemology Space. Presented at CHI '24 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Hawaii, USA

While ethical challenges are widely discussed in HCI, far less is reported about the ethical processes that researchers routinely navigate. We reflect on a multispecies project that negotiated an especially complex ethical approval process. Cat Royal... Read More about Charting Ethical Tensions in Multispecies Technology Research through Beneficiary-Epistemology Space.

The Purr-suit of Happiness: A Tale of Three Kittens, Robots, Humans, Cats, and AI (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Schneiders, E., Benford, S., Row Farr, J., Tandavanitj, N., & Adams, M. (2024, March). The Purr-suit of Happiness: A Tale of Three Kittens, Robots, Humans, Cats, and AI. Presented at HRI '24: ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Boulder CO USA

This paper showcases Cat Royale, an exploration of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on animal happiness situated at the intersection of Art, Computer Science, and Animal Welfare. We argue for the inclusion of non-human actors when designing... Read More about The Purr-suit of Happiness: A Tale of Three Kittens, Robots, Humans, Cats, and AI.

Cat Royale (2024)
Other
Schneiders, E., Benford, S., Tandavanitj, N., Adams, M., & Farr, J. R. (2024). Cat Royale

Would you let a robot care for your pet? Blast Theory’s Cat Royale explores the impact of AI on humans and animals. For 12 days, Ghostbuster, Pumpkin, and Clover played with a robot arm that offered them games, toys, and treats every few minutes. The... Read More about Cat Royale.

Exploring Effects of a Nostalgic Storytelling Virtual Reality Experience Beyond Hedonism (2023)
Journal Article
Huang, Y., Benford, S., Spence, J., & Blake, H. (2024). Exploring Effects of a Nostalgic Storytelling Virtual Reality Experience Beyond Hedonism. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 27(3), 221-226. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2023.0183

In this study, we tested the effect of a nostalgic storytelling virtual reality (VR) experience (vs. a text-reading neutral VR experience as the comparison condition) on state-level eudaimonic well-being and explored the underlying mediating mechanis... Read More about Exploring Effects of a Nostalgic Storytelling Virtual Reality Experience Beyond Hedonism.

The Stretchy Strap: supporting encumbered interaction with guitars (2023)
Journal Article
Martinez Avila, J., Hazzard, A., Greenhalgh, C., Benford, S., & McPherson, A. (2023). The Stretchy Strap: supporting encumbered interaction with guitars. Journal of New Music Research, 52(1), 19-40. https://doi.org/10.1080/09298215.2023.2274832

Guitarists struggle to play their instruments while simultaneously using additional computing devices (i.e., encumbered interaction). We explored designs with guitarists through co-design and somaesthetic design workshops, learning that they (unsurpr... Read More about The Stretchy Strap: supporting encumbered interaction with guitars.

FUTURE MACHINE: Making Myths & Designing Technology for a Responsible Future: Making Myths and Entanglement: Community engagement at the edge of participatory design and user experience (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Jacobs, R., Spence, J., Abbott, F., Chamberlain, A., Heim, W., Yemaoua Dayo, A., Kemp, D., Benford, S., Price, D., Shackford, R., Robson, J., Locke, C., & King, J. (2023, October). FUTURE MACHINE: Making Myths & Designing Technology for a Responsible Future: Making Myths and Entanglement: Community engagement at the edge of participatory design and user experience. Presented at Mindtrek '23: 26th International Academic Mindtrek Conference, Tampere, Finland

This paper explores the unique methods and strategies employed by a team of artists, in collaboration with engineers, programmers, a climate scientist, researchers and members of the public, who have come together to create the Future Machine, with t... Read More about FUTURE MACHINE: Making Myths & Designing Technology for a Responsible Future: Making Myths and Entanglement: Community engagement at the edge of participatory design and user experience.

Toward Understanding the Design of Intertwined Human–Computer Integrations (2023)
Journal Article
Mueller, F. ‘., Semertzidis, N., Andres, J., Marshall, J., Benford, S., Li, X., Matjeka, L., & Mehta, Y. (2023). Toward Understanding the Design of Intertwined Human–Computer Integrations. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 30(5), 1-45. https://doi.org/10.1145/3590766

Human–computer integration is an HCI trend in which computational machines can have agency, i.e., take control. Our work focuses on a particular form of integration in which the user and the computational machine share agency over the user’s body, th... Read More about Toward Understanding the Design of Intertwined Human–Computer Integrations.

Examining the Use of Autonomous Systems for Home Health Support Using a Smart Mirror (2023)
Journal Article
Dowthwaite, L., Reyes Cruz, G., Pena, A. R., Pepper, C., Jäger, N., Barnard, P., Hughes, A.-M., das Nair, R., Crepaz-Keay, D., Cobb, S., Lang, A., & Benford, S. (2023). Examining the Use of Autonomous Systems for Home Health Support Using a Smart Mirror. Healthcare, 11(19), Article 2608. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11192608

The home is becoming a key location for healthcare delivery, including the use of technology driven by autonomous systems (AS) to monitor and support healthcare plans. Using the example of a smart mirror, this paper describes the outcomes of focus gr... Read More about Examining the Use of Autonomous Systems for Home Health Support Using a Smart Mirror.

Human-AI Musicking: A Framework for Designing AI for Music Co-creativity (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Vear, C., Benford, S., Avila, J. M., & Moroz, S. (2023, August). Human-AI Musicking: A Framework for Designing AI for Music Co-creativity. Presented at Artificial Intelligence and Music Creativity 2023, Sussex University

In this paper, we present a framework for understanding human-AI musicking. This framework prompts a series of questions for reflecting on various aspects of the creative interrelationships between musicians and AI and thus can be used as a tool for... Read More about Human-AI Musicking: A Framework for Designing AI for Music Co-creativity.

TAS for Cats: An Artist-led Exploration of Trustworthy Autonomous Systems for Companion Animals (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Schneiders, E., Chamberlain, A., Fischer, J. E., Benford, S., Castle-Green, S., Ngo, V., Kucukyilmaz, A., Barnard, P., Row Farr, J., Adams, M., Tandavanitj, N., Devlin, K., Mancini, C., & Mills, D. (2023, July). TAS for Cats: An Artist-led Exploration of Trustworthy Autonomous Systems for Companion Animals. Presented at First International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS 23), Edinburgh, UK

Cat Royale is an artist-led exploration of trustworthy autonomous systems (TAS) created by the TAS Hub's creative ambassadors Blast Theory. A small community of cats inhabits a purpose built 'cat utopia' at the centre of which a robot arm tries to en... Read More about TAS for Cats: An Artist-led Exploration of Trustworthy Autonomous Systems for Companion Animals.

Five Provocations for a More Creative TAS (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Benford, S., Hazzard, A., Vear, C., Webb, H., Chamberlain, A., Greenhalgh, C., Ramchurn, R., & Marshall, J. (2023, July). Five Provocations for a More Creative TAS. Presented at First International Symposium on Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS 23), Edinburgh, UK

Conventional wisdom has it that trustworthy autonomous systems (AS) should be explainable, dependable, controllable and safe tools for humans to use. Reflecting on a portfolio of artistic applications of TAS leads us adopt an alternative stance and t... Read More about Five Provocations for a More Creative TAS.

Examining the Use of Autonomous Systems for Home Health Support using a Smart Mirror (2023)
Preprint / Working Paper
Dowthwaite, L., Reyez Cruz, G., Pena, A. R., Pepper, C., Jäger, N., Barnard, P., Hughes, A.-M., Nair, R. D., Crepaz-Keay, D., Cobb, S., & Benford, S. Examining the Use of Autonomous Systems for Home Health Support using a Smart Mirror

The home is becoming a key location for healthcare delivery, including the use of technology driven by autonomous systems (AS) to monitor and support healthcare plans. Using the example of a smart mirror, this paper describes the outcomes of focus gr... Read More about Examining the Use of Autonomous Systems for Home Health Support using a Smart Mirror.