Category: Uncategorized

Entrainment n. the synchronizing of one moving thing or being to another. To entrain is to arrange the unfolding cyclical moments of heavy/light in one performer so as to coincide with the cyclical moments of heavy/ light in another performer. Not only a coinciding of crusic hits, Soma Literate entrainment recognizes a syncing of the… Continue reading Entrainment

Empathy n. the ability to share in the ‘feeling-with’ the Other. Somatic empathy to/through the world amounts to a specific kind of knowing, a literacy unto itself. This felt/participatory pathein quality of empathy involves shifting things (happenings, phenomena, events, opportunities) on the outside, separate from me, into a felt experience; felt as part of myself.… Continue reading Empathy

Depth of Processing n. “A phenomenon of memory in which information that is analyzed deeply is better recalled than information that is analyzed superficially.” (Lidwell et al., 2010, p.72) Soma Literacy notes that deep analysis in the temporal realm first requires movement/participation in time. Reflection after the moment is not part of the Soma Literacy… Continue reading Depth of Processing

Contour Bias n. the prejudice toward natural gestures. The common understandings of contour biases regularly miss the interactive opportunities. In three dimensional designs we are biased to prefer natural shapes, as in the design of a rounded soap dispenser or curvy car. In the temporal canvas we are drawn to natural gestures. Whether it be… Continue reading Contour Bias

Coherence/interactional gestalt n. the integration of temporal elements into a completed whole. Soma Literacy recognizes that a mere ordering of temporal variables cannot constitute a coherent experience or what Lim et al. (2007) describe as an interaction gestalt. Coherent experience requires an embodiment of vectorial motion, not the simple hitting of ordered touchpoints, but a… Continue reading Coherence/interactional gestalt

Cadence n. the coming together of experiential variables that result in the sensation of resolution. The Soma Literate reading of cadence describes a specific set of beats searching for and achieving closure. A cadence is formed as a succession of beats completes the trajectory they were yearning-toward. This completion may be profound, like the last… Continue reading Cadence

Beat n. one swing of the pendulum. The beat of an interaction is the cyclical pulse that marks the successive moments of the happening. Beats are predictable, measured, and relative. They can speed-up, slow-down, present as pulses like a heartbeat or the buzz of a bee wing or the cycles of the sun. Beats are… Continue reading Beat

Attentional Hierarchy n. the selective consciousness resulting from a narrowing and ranking of experiential variables. A Soma Literate attention notes that hierarchy in any temporal design is proven in the arrangement of attentional variables in the performative moment. Where the concept deserving attention is often assumed to be fixed, as though one just sees or… Continue reading Attentional Hierarchy

Anthropomorphic Form n. possessing human shape or characteristics. The anthropomorphic form bias states that humanlike static forms are more appealing to actors than foreign shapes. The temporal equivalent is found in gesture. Motion with an affinity to the human body (Todes, 2001), or rather, “natural” will be more appealing compared to an implied gesture (think… Continue reading Anthropomorphic Form