Mindraw
A Whole Body, Kinaesthetic Digital Drawing Tool for Art Therapy
This study is to explore the likelihood of a kinaesthetic user interface and algorithmically generated drawing tool to serve as an effective tool in art therapy. The author has assumed increasing the range of physical movement to full body can allow patients to reveal information about their mental and psychological state, which is to help achieve therapeutic goals. Based on this premise and the improvement upon current digital devices, a motion-sensing drawing tool has been created based on research findings to validate the impact of drawing and whole body movement on art therapy. With corroboration from research findings and artefacts, validated data were collected from art therapy practitioners and further analysed. The results indicate this tool can aid therapists’ achieving therapeutic goals by facilitating clients to express creatively. The clients who can benefit from this tool include people prone to impaired verbal communication and people with physical disabilities or emotional problems. Keywords: Art therapy; Movement; Human Computer Interaction; Expression; Observation; Gestural Systems