Introduction

Our mind is not independent of our body and our bodies are an integral part of our minds. The influence our bodies have over our minds is considerable, (decision-making during sexual arousal, premenstrual syndrome, seasonal affective disorder) as well as our body’s unconscious reactions to our state of mind. (body language, galvenetic skin response and muscle tension during stress, reflexive fight or flight reaction to startling situations) I contend that most current interface design focuses only on the rational higher brain functions, and ignores or discounts the body as a system element of the interface. Logical thought processes although at the highest tier of a decision-making hierarchy, are still only a small percentage of our overall daily decisions. Many of our decision-making processes and most robust skills happen below our cognitive thought level. When making breakfast, walking, operating a vehicle; bicycle/car, there are hundreds of smaller decisions that we make from reflex action with astonishing precision and accuracy. I postulate that there is much hidden potential to considering the entire body when designing an interface.

To explore this idea, we will first get a overview of interface design theory, which has been developed mostly devoted to digital and electrical system design. We will review it in an attempt to generalize it and make it as applicable and useful to our question at hand.

I will review various interface design technologies to digital devices; highlighting designs that exemplify a corporeal approach to interface design, as well as a few that are outstandingly anti-corporeal. We will also be looking at the motivations behind a few of these designs.

This theory of interface may lead to some interesting things in the future. We will indulge ourselves in postulating a few possibilities as well as identifying current trends that might lead design disciplines down this route.

Theory is nothing if it is not applied. The interface design guidelines laid out earlier in the paper will be applied to a prototype control system for a hybrid human and electric powered trike vehicle. A log of the prototyping process will be included

Theory and experience will be applied to a second, more advanced project; the control interface design of a fighting robot. This robot, with it's interface, will eventually be entered in a fighting robot contest, battlebots.