Holding MenstaRay: Expressing Menstrual Pain through Tactile and Knitted Soft Robotic Interactions

Paper Title

Holding MenstaRay: Expressing Menstrual Pain through Tactile and Knitted Soft Robotic Interactions

Publication Info

• Topic area: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) focusing on feminist material practices and menstrual pain representation.
• Keywords: Menstrual pain, soft robotics, feminist HCI, biomimetic design, material interaction, sensory engagement, dynamic representation, menstrual tracking, embodied experience, tactile interfaces.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Current menstrual tracking technologies reduce menstrual pain to numerical data, oversimplifying its fluid, embodied, and lived nature. These approaches fail to capture the complexity and subjectivity of menstrual pain experiences.
• Significance: Addressing menstrual pain as a nuanced, embodied experience can foster self-awareness, self-care, and more empathetic communication, challenging gendered and biomedical narratives.
• Motivation and related work: Prior HCI research critiques menstrual technologies for oversimplifying bodily experiences and reinforcing normative assumptions. Feminist HCI advocates for embodied, experiential approaches, but existing tools lack dynamic, tactile representations of menstrual pain. This paper builds on these critiques by exploring soft robotics as a medium to express the fluidity and complexity of menstrual pain.

Solution

• Proposed approach: MenstaRay, a biomimetic interactive artefact using knitted soft robotics to dynamically represent menstrual pain through tactile and sensory interactions.
• Novelty:
  1. Introduction of knitted soft robotic materials to represent fluctuating, embodied menstrual pain experiences.
  2. Development of dynamic motion patterns mimicking menstrual pain rhythms and sensations.
  3. Integration of feminist material practices to highlight the complexity and plurality of menstrual pain.
  4. Exploration of soft robotics as a medium for nuanced communication and self-reflection.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  1. Conducted exploratory workshops to gather insights on menstrual pain experiences through materialisation and sensory engagement.
  2. Designed MenstaRay, inspired by metaphors like manta rays and marine organisms, with dual-sided tactile surfaces representing pain and comfort.
  3. Developed soft robotic components using silicone cavities and knitted textiles, enabling dynamic inflation and deflation to simulate pain rhythms.
  4. Evaluated MenstaRay through interactive workshops, focusing on participants’ embodied responses and reflections.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • MenstaRay’s dynamic movements facilitated deeper bodily awareness and emotional reflection on menstrual pain.
  • Participants associated rhythmic inflation patterns with uterine sensations, emotional states, and personal pain narratives.
  • The dual-sided design encouraged self-acceptance and introspection, highlighting the ambivalence of menstrual pain.
• Advantage over baselines:
  • Unlike screen-based menstrual tracking apps, MenstaRay provides tactile, embodied, and sensory engagement, enabling richer, subjective representations of pain.
  • Dynamic soft robotics fostered intuitive communication and emotional resonance, surpassing static or quantified approaches.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Workshops involved 20 participants across diverse cultural backgrounds, using reflective drawing sheets, material exploration, and dynamic interaction with MenstaRay.
  • Evaluative workshop revealed participants’ preferences for rhythmic movements, tactile textures, and personalised pain representations.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Limited participant diversity; future studies could include broader cultural, age, and social backgrounds.
  • Short-term engagement; longitudinal studies and involvement of non-menstruators, healthcare professionals, and family members could expand insights.
  • Potential applications in representing other somatic experiences, such as pregnancy discomfort or chronic pain.

Summary

MenstaRay introduces a novel approach to representing menstrual pain through tactile and dynamic soft robotics, addressing limitations in existing menstrual technologies. By mimicking pain rhythms and sensations, MenstaRay fosters embodied self-awareness, emotional reflection, and nuanced communication of menstrual experiences. The study highlights the potential of knitted soft robotics as a feminist material practice, advocating for pluralistic, situated, and sensory-driven representations of bodily pain. Future research could extend these insights to other somatic experiences, promoting inclusive and empathetic design in HCI.