Extending the semiotics of embodied interaction to blended spaces

In this paper we develop a new way of understanding interactions in blended reality spaces. We do this by revisiting a range of approaches and drawing together several threads that shed light on the nature of embodiment: The phenomenological approach, the Pragmatic approach, the Cognitive Science approach and the Semiotic Approach. We extend ideas about embodied semiotics and then apply these ideas to the analysis of interaction in mixed reality, ‘blended spaces’. These are spaces where the physical world and the digital world are deliberately blended to provide new forms of interaction. The semiotic analysis reveals the way in which blended spaces are constructed across the real and the digital, highlighting the ontology, topology, volatility and agency present within them. Moreover, our approach reveals more about the way in which bodily and higher cognitive function, are brought into play in a holistic interactive experience.