Human gesture is a powerful tool. It’s one of the most direct and simple ways to communicate visually, but incredibly complex to describe and discuss.

In response to this problem, I created MOVE, an interactive installation, interface, and poster series.

Why?

I look at who we are: the future of design innovation. And yet we let one of the most invaluable tools of creation and interaction lie dormant: our own bodies.

I see technology moving forward, but all too often "interaction" has been pin-holed into moving a single finger across a three inch glass screen.

I'm looking to change this for my fellow designers by carefully crafting the way in which we discover and interact with these ideas.

Excerpt from MOVE: An Interactive Installation, Symposium Day, Presentation and User Testing

Inspired by the theories of revolutionary dancer & choreographer Rudolf von Laban (1879–1959), I created an installation intended to help educate other designers on his brilliant ways of speaking about, notating, and categorizing movement.

A better understanding of Laban’s teachings and a renewed appreciation for the value of gestural language will help drive innovation that reflects a greater awareness of the human body. 

Laban stated that all gesture can be described by 3 Motion Factors: Space, Weight, and Time. Various combinations of these three attributes make up what he called “the 8 Basic Efforts.” The 8 Basic Efforts are a brilliant way of speaking about, notating, and categorizing movement.

The interface below was designed to help make exemplary connections  between Laban’s terminology surrounding the 8 Basic Efforts and short clips of easily recognizable movement and gesture. Swinging a golf club, typing on a keyboard, or petting your cat, for example.

I created MOVE so my peers could experience the potential of their own movement, learn about the 8 Basic Efforts, and walk away feeling much more aware of the way we move.

It was my hope that having such an experience might have a lasting effect, and encourage them to pursue new forms of interaction as we all move forward with creative design innovation.