ABSTRACT
This chapter presents two case studies from the research project entitled 'Form Empowered by Touch, Movement, and Emotion', which draws on the nature of experiential bodily knowing and understanding that is generated through the phenomenological way people touch, move, and feel in the process of interacting with an object. By 'researching-through-design' the project aimed to contribute to the discourse on comfort in clothing by investigating the influence of tactile experience, kinaesthetic interaction, and emotion. In the experiment, it became apparent that such unconscious movements could assist people to evoke positive emotions, or could alter their negative states by bringing on positive emotions, moods or sentiments. The garment designs 'Disguise-Garment' and 'Jigsaw-Puzzle' were developed for movement-based interactions that responded to emotions. The study, using both scientific motion capture data analysis and Laban Movement Analysis, provided a range of observations and understandings of the moving body in the context of the emotional experiences of, and garments worn by, the participants.
