Dagstuhl Seminar 25302
NatureHCI: Towards Designing Computer-Enriched Nature Experiences
( Jul 20 – Jul 25, 2025 )
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https://www.dagstuhl.de/25302
Organizers
- Masahiko Inami (University of Tokyo, JP)
- Michael Jones (Brigham Young University - Provo, US)
- Zhuying Li (Southeast University - Nanjing, CN)
- Florian 'Floyd' Mueller (Monash University - Clayton, AU)
Contact
- Marsha Kleinbauer (for scientific matters)
- Christina Schwarz (for administrative matters)
In July 2025, the seminar brought together 21 international experts from diverse fields, including Human-Computer Interaction, Environmental Science, Design, Psychology, and Cultural Studies, to explore how digital technologies can facilitate and enhance our interactions with the natural environment. The following report documents the seminar and the efforts of the participants to investigate the underlying opportunities and challenges in developing interactive systems to engage with nature.
We define “NatureHCI” as research in which the researcher’s intent is to learn something about how interactive computing technology mediates or might mediate engagement with nature. This definition intentionally allows for diverse interpretations of “nature” while focusing on the mediating role of technology in human-nature relationships. Interactive technologies offer instrumental benefits by guiding individuals to natural areas, using enhanced navigational aids and disseminating information about these environments through visualization techniques. Additionally, machine learning algorithms can identify patterns in nature-related activities, aiding in planning. On an experiential level, technologies such as virtual reality can simulate natural settings for those with limited access, wearable technologies can enhance sensory experiences, and drones can provide innovative forms of visual interactions within natural landscapes. In response, such NatureHCI systems can support novel engagements based on different cultural and human perspectives.
This body of work shows the growing research interest in NatureHCI systems. Efforts to map the field and to provide systematic ways to design HCI systems have recently emerged. However, what is still missing is a coherent framework for understanding how these technologies support positive and responsible interaction with nature. This must be investigated urgently as a response to a profound planetary shift: The fact that the anthropogenic mass exceeded all living biomass in 2020 demonstrates a fundamental transformation in the relationship between technology and nature. This historic turning point elevates the question of how to design and evaluate technology use in natural environments from academic interest to planetary necessity.
In this context, NatureHCI emerges not as another subdiscipline of HCI but as an essential response to existential challenges. Climate change accelerates ecosystem disruption while biodiversity loss approaches irreversible tipping points. Simultaneously, urbanization disconnects billions from direct nature experience, leading to what Richard Louv termed “nature deficit disorder.” Indigenous knowledge systems face erosion just when their wisdom is most needed. Yet this moment of crisis also presents unprecedented opportunity. Ubiquitous computing enables new forms of nature engagement, sensor networks can monitor ecosystem health at previously impossible scales, augmented and virtual reality technologies can bring nature experiences to those physically distant, artificial intelligence begins to decode nonhuman communication, and global connectivity enables rapid sharing of solutions across cultures and ecosystems.
This seminar builds on more-than-human design theory, post-phenomenology, and environmental psychology, demonstrating that NatureHCI requires fundamentally interdisciplinary approaches that balance technological innovation with ecological sensitivity, cultural awareness, and ethical responsibility. Therefore, this seminar invited experts from around the world and with diverse backgrounds, who could recognise the importance of integrating technological advances with environmental sciences and indigenous knowledge systems to address critical gaps in the field. Most importantly, the diversity of participants allowed for the discussion of several methodological approaches that could begin to constitute a distinctive NatureHCI approach, differing markedly from laboratory-based HCI methods.
The seminar produced several significant outcomes that will shape NatureHCI’s development as a field. First, participants developed an initial identification of a grand challenges framework that addresses the complexity of designing technology for natural environments. These challenges emerged from recognizing that HCI’s traditional approaches often fail when confronted with nature’s unpredictability, multiple timescales, and more-than-human stakeholders. Since then, the elucidation of these grand challenges has been finalized and submitted to a major conference in the field. Perhaps most surprisingly, an animated discussion on the final day led to a proposal to form a special interest group on “Augmented Animals.” This emerged from Professor Inami’s observation that “augmented humans are now too small – maybe we can say augmented animals.” Rather than augmenting animals for human benefit, this initiative explores how technology might help other species adapt to human-modified environments. Beyond academic outcomes, the seminar catalyzed a vibrant research community committed to collaborative action. Participants are committed to creating an open repository of nature-entangled design methods, making innovative approaches accessible to researchers worldwide.
Creative Commons BY 4.0
Michael Jones, Masahiko Inami, Zhuying Li, and Florian `Floyd' Mueller
Connecting with nature is an essential human need increasingly challenged by urbanization. In response, the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is exploring how to design digital technologies that facilitate and enhance our interactions with the natural environment. These technologies offer instrumental benefits by guiding individuals to natural areas, using enhanced navigational aids and disseminating information about these environments through visualization techniques. Additionally, machine learning algorithms can identify patterns in nature-related activities, aiding in planning. On an experiential level, technologies such as virtual reality can simulate natural settings for those with limited access, wearable technologies can enhance sensory experiences, and drones can provide innovative forms of visual interactions within natural landscapes. In response, such "NatureHCI" systems can support novel engagements based on different cultural and human perspectives. This "NatureHCI" Dagstuhl Seminar will explore these opportunities and address challenges such as the potential environmental impacts of technology. By aiming to bring together experts and stakeholders from academia and industry, the seminar seeks to foster a comprehensive discussion on how interactive technologies can be designed responsibly to improve our experience of nature, thereby strengthening our connection with nature, which benefits health and wellbeing.
Masahiko Inami, Michael Jones, Zhuying Li, and Florian 'Floyd' Mueller
- Ahmad Alsaleem (University of Utah - Salt Lake City, US) [dblp]
- Natalie Andrus (Virginia Polytechnic Institute - Blacksburg, US) [dblp]
- Bill Borrie (Deakin University - Melbourne, AU)
- Margot Brereton (Queensland University of Technology - Brisbane, AU) [dblp]
- Florian Daiber (DFKI - Saarbrücken, DE) [dblp]
- Don Samitha Elvitigala (Monash University - Clayton, AU) [dblp]
- Masahiko Inami (University of Tokyo, JP) [dblp]
- Carey Jewitt (University College London, GB) [dblp]
- Michael Jones (Brigham Young University - Provo, US) [dblp]
- Tuomas Kari (National Resources Institute Finland, FI) [dblp]
- Hong Luo (Monash University - Clayton, AU)
- Andrii Matviienko (KTH Royal Institute of Technology - Stockholm, SE) [dblp]
- Scott McCrickard (Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, US) [dblp]
- Maria Fernanda Montoya Vega (Monash University - Clayton, AU) [dblp]
- Florian 'Floyd' Mueller (Monash University - Clayton, AU) [dblp]
- Siiri Paananen (University of Lapland - Rovaniemi, FI) [dblp]
- Nandini Pasumarthy (Monash University - Clayton, AU) [dblp]
- Rakesh Patibanda (Monash University - Clayton, AU) [dblp]
- Ambika Shahu (IT:U Interdisciplinary Transformation University, AT) [dblp]
- Sarah Webber (The University of Melbourne, AU) [dblp]
- Jason Wiese (University of Utah - Salt Lake City, US) [dblp]
Classification
- Human-Computer Interaction
Keywords
- Nature
- Technology
- Wellbeing
- Sustainability
