Catch the Bus: Probing Other-Than-Human Perspectives in Design Research

Abstract

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Prompted by Catch the Bus, an experimental street game design project with and for autonomous buses, this study explores strategies to substantiate the speculation about other-than-human perspectives. It builds on philosophical arguments about the role of species similarity in grasping nonhuman experience and applies these arguments to thing perspectives. Gameplay and props from Catch the Bus instantiate a kind of similarity between human players and autonomous buses that emerges through the adoption of certain choreographies and sensing capabilities. The study contributes theoretical arguments to the debate of other-than-human perspectives in more-than-human design.

Keywords

• street game design
• thing perspective
• species similarity
• autonomous buses
• embodiment
• more-than-human design