Ghostwriting with your Body's ECHO

ACCD Media Design Practive
CUC Film

As a speculative designer and researcher, I explore the intersection of interactive media, embodied cognition, and linguistic structures. By applying spatial rules and dynamic recomposition, my practice challenges linear, logic-driven thinking and instead invites intuitive engagement with the environment, ancient Chinese poetry, and abstract visual forms.

I am drawn to creating works that evoke a sense of atmosphere and poetic imagination through the use of symbols, lines, and other abstract elements.

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Ghostwriting with Your Body’s ECHOooo

Have you ever felt trapped in overthinking, trying to make the "perfect" decision, only to feel more anxious?
In a world that prioritizes logic, analysis, and control, it’s easy for us to ignore the wisdom of our bodies.

This project explores an alternative approach—using embodied movement to engage intuitive cognition, fostering self-trust through bodily expression.By reading the body's spontaneous responses, we can release the anxiety of overanalyzing and develop confidence in navigating uncertainty.

I was inspired by how ancient Chinese characters were originally created: hieroglyphic—not through logical construction but through direct visual representation of the world. Over time, written language became more structured and linear, much like how our thinking has become rule-based and analytical.

To explore this, I designed two interactive prototypes,
each investigating a different aspect of bodily intuition

Prototype 1
focuses on bodily expression, encouraging users to embrace the feeling of letting go of control, allowing their bodies to move naturally and seeing what their movements might reveal.

Prototype 2
Base on prototype 1, refines this concept, shifting from free bodily expression to intuitive decision-making, where users make quick, instinctive choices based on their body's natural responses.

“Can we return to a more intuitive,
bodily-driven way of expressing and understanding ourselves?”

Prototype 1: A body Journey with Chinese Characters

Here deconstructed Chinese characters into radicals and strokes and distributed them in a virtual space. Using Kinect tracking, when users move their bodies, they activate these character components, which then combine into randomly Chinese Charactor and word. The idea was to create a new, non-linear way of recording bodily expression, and let users to read the context from their own body.

System Operation Logic：
A matrix made of Chinese characters' strokes and radicals is applied in space

Capture body movements via Kinect and output activated character components

During testing, there is a key issue poped up:
users' bodies merely triggered a predefined system,
making the output feel random and disconnected from true expression.
Their bodily intuition was not engaged—only their presence was.

Then,

“How can bodily intuition be not just expressed,
but also understood and reflected upon?”

Prototype 2: Embodied Intuitive Choice

This version shifts from expression to decision-making. Participants make rapid binary choices (e.g., between colors, shapes, and textures) through body movements. With only two seconds per decision, rational analysis is bypassed, forcing reliance on intuition.

Unlike clicking or tapping, bodily movement in decision-making engages embodied cognition, where thinking extends beyond the brain to body-environment interaction. Unlike symbolic processing, it activates deeper sensorimotor loops, making intuition more instinctive.

Through repeated selections, subconscious patterns emerge—like preferring curves over sharp edges or warm tones over cool ones—revealing hidden aesthetic or emotional tendencies.

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