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Probing More-Than-Human Representation in Crisis Resilience Planning: An HCI Researcher Perspective

Tram Thi Minh Tran, Adrian Wong, Callum Parker, Carlos Alfredo Tirado Cortes, Marius Hoggenmueller, Soojeong Yoo, Nate Zettna, Joel Fredericks

TL;DR

Empirical insight is provided into how HCI researchers conceptualise more-than-human representation and crisis resilience planning is positions as a critical site for examining AI- and immersion-mediated representation.

Abstract

Crisis resilience planning raises urgent questions about how to include non-human species and ecological systems in participatory processes, which remain largely human-centred. This paper reports on a workshop with HCI researchers examining how more-than-human representation is approached in crisis contexts. The workshop combined scenario-based discussion with two design probes -- a voice-based conversational agent and an immersive embodied prototype -- to support sustained discussion of how emerging technologies shape engagement with non-human perspectives. Participants focused not on system usability, but on deliberating representational choices, such as voice, embodiment, and realism, and their potential role within participatory planning processes. The findings suggest that giving 'voice' to non-humans is not a neutral act of translation, but a design challenge that introduces tensions between legitimacy, authority, and authenticity. This paper provides empirical insight into how HCI researchers conceptualise more-than-human representation and positions crisis resilience planning as a critical site for examining AI- and immersion-mediated representation.

Probing More-Than-Human Representation in Crisis Resilience Planning: An HCI Researcher Perspective

TL;DR

Empirical insight is provided into how HCI researchers conceptualise more-than-human representation and crisis resilience planning is positions as a critical site for examining AI- and immersion-mediated representation.

Abstract

Crisis resilience planning raises urgent questions about how to include non-human species and ecological systems in participatory processes, which remain largely human-centred. This paper reports on a workshop with HCI researchers examining how more-than-human representation is approached in crisis contexts. The workshop combined scenario-based discussion with two design probes -- a voice-based conversational agent and an immersive embodied prototype -- to support sustained discussion of how emerging technologies shape engagement with non-human perspectives. Participants focused not on system usability, but on deliberating representational choices, such as voice, embodiment, and realism, and their potential role within participatory planning processes. The findings suggest that giving 'voice' to non-humans is not a neutral act of translation, but a design challenge that introduces tensions between legitimacy, authority, and authenticity. This paper provides empirical insight into how HCI researchers conceptualise more-than-human representation and positions crisis resilience planning as a critical site for examining AI- and immersion-mediated representation.
Paper Structure (23 sections, 2 figures, 2 tables)

This paper contains 23 sections, 2 figures, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Methods
  3. Scenario-Based Discussion
  4. Design Probes
  5. Data Collection and Analysis
  6. Results
  7. Scenario-Based Discussion
  8. Voice-Based AI Agent Discussion
  9. Voice Qualities and Representational Legitimacy
  10. Conversational Flow and the Centralisation of Interaction
  11. Education or Advocacy
  12. Plurality and the Limits of a Singular Voice
  13. Immersive Embodied Agent Discussion
  14. Embodiment and Explanatory Value
  15. Expectation of Realism
  16. ...and 8 more sections

Figures (2)

  • Figure 1: Voice-based conversational agent used as a design probe. (Left) The web-based interface of the koala conversational agent. (Right) Probe-supported group discussion, showing how the agent was explored collectively by participants during the workshop.
  • Figure 2: Immersive embodied koala agent used as a design probe. (Left) View from the Apple Vision Pro headset, showing the koala agent with visual and spatial embodiment in XR. (Right) Probe-supported group discussion, in which the headset view was projected to a shared screen while participants asked questions and reflected collectively.