Inducing Embodied Cognition via Textile Spatial Experiences

This study investigates how textiles induce body-based spatial experiences grounded in embodied cognition theory, aiming to overcome the limitations of contemporary spatial design, which is predominantly visual due to advances in digital technology and media. To this end, an analytical framework was developed linking the physical properties of textiles with spatial interpretation elements from the perspective of embodied cognition, and five spatial design cases were analyzed. The results confirm that textiles function as active mediators that stimulate users' multisensory perception and flexibly regulate spatial boundaries, thereby facilitating dynamic interactions between the body and space. In particular, the complex characteristics of textiles were found to provide cognitive diversity by enabling users to perceive space from multiple perspectives. In conclusion, this study concretizes the potential of multisensory and interactive spatial design through textiles from an embodied cognition perspective, suggesting that space can be interpreted as an active environment that constructs users' bodies and cognition.