Dr. Somaya Ben Allouch – DigitalLife.nl

Professor Digital Life (HvA) & Professor ‘Human-System Interaction for Health & Wellbeing’ (UvA)

Dr. Somaya Ben Allouch has been Professor of Digital Life at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) since October 2018. The research group focuses on human-centered research into the design, use, and implementation of digital technologies in health and wellbeing. She is also involved in the SIA-SPRONG project Mensen in Beweging (“People in Motion”), which focuses on healthy lifestyles and sustainable behavior change through creative technology. Since January 2021, Somaya has held the position of Special Professor of Human-System Interaction for Health and Wellbeing at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), a chair established by the Beta Plus Foundation. Her expertise lies in human-centered interaction, acceptance, and evaluation of technologies such as social robotics and wearables. She previously earned her PhD at the University of Twente and worked as a visiting researcher at Stanford University. In addition, Somaya is active in international research projects and serves on the editorial boards of scientific journals.

e-mail: s.ben.allouch@hva.nl

Projects

Publications

Anne Marleen Olthof, Jouke Verlinden, Somaya Ben Allouch

Attuned Design Practice: a design vocabulary for embodied knowing Proceedings Article

In: Chang, C. Y., Chen, C. H., Hsu, Y. (Ed.): IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan, pp. 1-11, 2026.

Abstract | Links

@inproceedings{nokey,

title = {Attuned Design Practice: a design vocabulary for embodied knowing},

author = {Anne Marleen Olthof and Jouke Verlinden and Somaya Ben Allouch},

editor = {C.Y. Chang and C.H. Chen and Y. Hsu},

url = {http://retroproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Publication-Attuned-Design-Practice_-a-design-vocabulary-for-embodied-knowing-1.pdf},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.947},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-03-17},

urldate = {2026-03-17},

booktitle = {IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan},

pages = {1-11},

abstract = {This poster introduces Attuned Design Practice (ADP), a concept that examines how design practice can be used to interpret and articulate alternative understandings of studying human-computer relationships, by prior it ising ‘embodied knowing’ as an alternative design vocabulary. We shortly introduce the current state of scientific research in general, explain the notion of ‘attunement’, and show an existing framework that has inspired us to start an eighteen-months field study of body-based inquiry in the domains of Design, Art and Technology. In our field study, we have explored developmental paths of scientific and artistic inquiry towards constructing embodied knowledge, and have employed per formative techniques to examine affective, temporal, and somatic qualities in human-computer relationships. As a follow-up to our field study, we propose an Open Rehearsal framework that integrates (1) the preparation of design tools and instruments, (2) the enactment of per formative techniques at the intersection of artistic-scientific inquiry, and (3) the development of notation methods that attract, respond, and release compositional or per formative activity. Through a dynamic interplay of human intentionality, algorithmic responsiveness, and material agency, we investigate how embodied knowledge can be produced and mediated through Attuned Design Practice. We conclude by outlining our future research to produce alternative ways of understanding the body in human-computer relationships.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

Sluiten

Nataliia Kaminskaia, Rob Saunders, Kim Baraka, Somaya Ben Allouch

The Nudging Machine: Exploring Expressive Touch-Based Movement for Abstract Robots Proceedings Article

In: pp. 381-386, ACM, 2026.