Laia Turmo Vidal

Hello! I am Laia, and I investigate body-centered interactive technologies for health and wellbeing.

I focus on innovative interactive systems that sense and actuate on the body, such as wearable devices and bio-reactive technologies. My premise is that these technologies can be designed to profoundly transform our somatic experiences, shaping our movements, self-perception, emotions and identity, as well as how we relate to each other. Thus, my work explores how we can responsibly design, deploy and evaluate such somatic transformation technologies in ways that are conducive to individual and collective care, health and wellbeing.

Methodologically, my work combines Research through Design, material explorations, participatory design, and body-centered design methodologies. Theoretically, I draw from feminism and post-humanism discourses, as well as neuroscience insights. I have worked extensively on designing and deploying technological interventions in various health and wellbeing domains (including sports and fitness, rehabilitation, physical inactivity, exergames, and professional dance).

In my past PhD work, I designed intercorporeal biofeedback technologies to facilitate embodied teaching and learning in contexts of physical activity. During my first postdoc, I joined i_mBODY Lab as part of an ERC-CoG grant, where I exploited neuroscientific insights on body perception to design sensorimotor transformations fostered by haptic and sound stimuli, exploring their effects on people who are physically inactive and on professional dancers. In addition, I have also investigated through collaborations the potential of XR bio-reactive systems for exergaming and the potential of machine learning to support personalization of body-centered experiences for people with diverse bodies and abilities.

Currently, I am a Digital Futures Postdoctoral Research Fellow at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where I explore shape-changing technologies to support processes of bodily transitions.

My research interests include novel materials, body sensors and actuators, personalization through design and ML, design theory and knowledge, and the development of design methodologies that center the body and movement in design. Besides research, I enjoy drawing and photoembroidery, physical activity and spending time walking and foraging the forests and lakes of Sweden. You can get in contact with me through: