Participation on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interactions 2026 Conference

The research team presented the paper “Hearing the Invisible: Affective Bodily Awareness through EMG Sonification and Situated Sound with Joakinator“ at the ACII 2026 conference (Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction), held in Puebla, Mexico. The conference provided an ideal platform to engage with the international research community on advances at the intersection of artistic creation, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and sensory transformation experiences. By sonifying electromyographic (EMG) signals into situated soundscapes via the Joakinator prototype, the study explores how the auditory translation of muscle activity can alter self-perception and foster affective bodily awareness. This contribution strengthens the lab’s ongoing research into somatic and multisensory technologies that reshape the connection between the body, emotion, and adaptive systems.

New Journal Publication: The size and composition of our circle of friends and family influence how we perceive our own bodyParticipation in ACM Designing Interactive Systems 2026

Published in iScience, the study involve over 100 participants and used the “Footsteps Illusion”, an experiment in which the sounds of a person’s footsteps are modified in real time to simulate those of a lighter or heavier body. These auditory changes shift people’s perception of their own weight and trigger behavioral, emotional, and physiological variations, demonstrating how malleable body image is to sensory input. Participants were asked to walk while listening to three types of footstep sounds: one unmodified, one with footsteps that sounded as if they were produced by a lighter body, and one with footsteps that sounded as if they were produced by a heavier body. In addition, participants answered questionnaires about their body image, possible symptoms of eating disorders, and the breadth of their social support networks. The results of this experiment showed that people with larger and more diverse social networks were generally less influenced by the sound illusion and tended to be more satisfied with their body image and have fewer symptoms of eating disorders. Conversely, the modified effects of the steps were more intense in people with smaller social networks, leading to the conclusion that body perception and its malleability not only depend on immediate sensory stimuli but are also influenced by the social structure in which the person is integrated.  “The implications of our study are that your circle of friends influences how you perceive your own body. If you have a wider circle of friends, you perceive your body in a more positive way,” says Anxo Sánchez, a researcher in the Department of Mathematics at UC3M. “People would think that self-perception depends on oneself, but in reality it depends on the number of people who support you and surround you,” explains another of the study’s authors, Amar D’Adamo, a researcher in the Department of Computer Science at UC3M. These findings show that having broad and diverse social support reinforces the stability of body self-perception and protects against the influence of external signals that could distort it. This discovery, in turn, opens the door to new social interventions that serve to promote a more positive body image and mitigate the effects of weight-related stigma. In addition, the team proposes the use of mobile applications to help people who may suffer from disorders associated with a negative self-perception of their own body: “At the i_mBODY Lab, we develop sensory technologies that allow us to change the perception of the body. We are also very focused on applications because we want to understand how we can use these technologies to support people,” explains Ana Tajadura, head of the i_mBODY Lab, researcher at the Department of Computer Science at UC3M and ERC grantee. This research has been supported by the European Research Council (ERC grant agreement No. 101002711; BODYinTRANSIT project), as well as the BBVA Foundation through its Fundamentos program and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the BASIC (PID2022-141802NB-I00) and SENSEBEAT-DS (PID2023-150259OB-C21) projects. In turn, the project has been funded by the Carlos III University of Madrid and the European Union (Horizon 2020 research and innovation program -Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant Agreement No. 801538). Bibliographic reference: D’Adamo, A. Sánchez, A. De Coster, L. Tajadura-Jiménez, A. (2025).Sound effects on body perception vary with the social support network of individuals. iScience, Volume 28, Issue 8, 2025, 113091, ISSN 2589-0042, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.113091

Participation in ACM Designing Interactive Systems 2026

What possibilities exist for designing technologies for movement feedback and tracking, beyond conventional approaches and metrics? A post by José Vega-Cebrián, doctoral researcher @ i_mBODY Lab During the last ACM Designing Interactive Systems 2026 conference, I contributed as a co-author and co-organiser of two activities exploring such possibilities for movement technologies: an interactive demo and a workshop. In my demo, Movement and Training Technologies (MoTTs): Minimalist Smartwatch-based Wearables to Support Physical Rehabilitation and Training Activities, I shared the latest prototypes I have developed as part of my PhD work under the supervision of Elena Márquez Segura and Ana Tajadura-Jiménez. The MoTTs are minimalist wearables providing multisensory movement feedback while leveraging the hardware of already-existing smartwatches. Demo attendees tried multiple activities in the form of exercises and games, leveraging the affordances of non-digital objects and supported by the interactivity provided by the prototypes. You can read more about the MoTTs and watch a demonstration video in the following link: https://doi.org/10.1145/3802974.3808027  In the workshop, Moving and Crafting Data Together: Critical and Feminist Perspectives on Technologies for Movement through Movement, Alejandra Gómez Ortega and Irene Kaklopoulou led the main activities of movement, crafting, reflection and discussion. I enjoyed facilitating some movement exercises and being part of a great group of researchers engaging with sports and physical activity with a critical stance towards data tracking technologies. The workshop had a great flow, thanks also to the input of the rest of the organisers: Alice Haynes, Laia Turmo Vidal, Beatrice Vincenzi, Samuel Huron, and Armağan Karahanoğlu.The description of the workshop is here: https://doi.org/10.1145/3802974.3808014 and the workshop website is found in the following: https://armagank.com/dis-2026-workshop/ I left the conference inspired and aiming to continue exploring the possible roles of minimalist technologies for movement and training. This work has been supported by the European Research Council under the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement number 101002711; project BODYinTRANSIT.) Outdoors photo by Cai Tianxiang

i_mBODY Lab had a strong representation at the 8th European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ESCAN) conference in beautiful Rome

Our PI, Ana Tajadura-Jiménez, participated in the newly formed Special Interest group for Research on Embodied Neuroscience (SIREN) with a talk ‘Sensing the body through sound: Auditory-driven changes in body representation and body-centred applications for health’, and talked about our extensive work with wearable technology and health in the Social Cognition symposium with a talk titled ‘Shaping body-perception, behavior, and affect through sound: Multisensory integration and health support in physical inactivity, pain, and other health conditions’. Additionally, two of our doctoral students presented their current work using sensory stimuli (sound and haptics) to alter body perception. Inés Fernandez-Vallejo presented the poster ‘Altered modulation of body perception and affect through movement sonification in individuals with depressive symptoms’ and Karunya Srinivasan presented the poster ‘Growing bigger than the gap: Investigating body-space interactions during a haptic illusion altering perceived body size’. Happy to have met old and new collaborators in Rome and to be part of this very engaged community of researchers.

Ana Tajadura-Jiménez Invited Speaker at Embodiment: 20 Years On Symposium in Venice

Ana Tajadura-Jiménez participated as an invited speaker at the international symposium Embodiment: 20 Years On, held in Venice, Italy, on 21–22 May 2026. The event brought together leading researchers in neuroscience, cognitive science, virtual reality, robotics, and human embodiment to discuss recent advances and future directions in embodiment research. Ana’s talk, “Sensing the Body through Sound: Body Transformation Experiences and Applications for Health”, presented research from the i_mBODY Lab on how auditory and multisensory feedback can alter body perception, giving rise to Body Transformation Experiences (BTEs). The presentation highlighted how these experiences can influence emotion, behavior, and well-being, and discussed their potential applications in health, rehabilitation, and other real-world contexts. The symposium featured an outstanding lineup of invited speakers, including researchers working on body ownership, virtual embodiment, prosthetics, memory, emotion, and consciousness. Ana’s participation contributed to ongoing discussions about how multisensory technologies can deepen our understanding of the embodied self and support innovative approaches to health and well-being.