Wrapping Cultural Values: using Social Embodiment as Stimulus in Designs

We present a case study in which cultural values were implemented in designs. We focus on embodied interaction – in which the body serves as an intuitive meaning-making tool. By stimulating people to move in a certain way through our designs, we hypothesised that they will perceive the value connected to the design. The context was the giving and wrapping of gifts in the Japanese and the Dutch culture. Through the act of wrapping, values are connected to a gift; through the act of gift-giving those values are communicated. Two gift-wrappings were designed, each representing a value important for the wrapping and giving in one of the cultures. We investigated whether the gift-givers and -receivers (Japanese and Dutch) could identify the values represented through the designed wrappings. The outcomes confirmed that, when designer and participants had the same cultural background, both Japanese and Dutch values were perceived.