Embodied Knowledge in Digital Spaces: Towards Human-Centered Fabrication Formats

This research investigates the preservation of embodied knowledge and creative agency within digital fabrication processes and contexts. The historical division between conception and execution, intensified by industrialization, has been perpetuated in digital formats that prioritize geometric precision over tacit knowledge. While neo-craftspeople have adapted digital tools to their practices, current representation systems fail to capture the essence of making that characterizes craft processes. Through an experimental multi-modal computer vision pipeline implemented with pottery artisans, this study develops the .crft format, a time-based representation that preserves not just what was created, but how it emerged through hand movements, material interactions, and decision-making processes. By drawing from cross-cultural preservation models that prioritize adaptation over static conservation, this research proposes alternative digital fabrication paradigms that honor rather than erase the human dimensions of making. The findings suggest that true democratization of fabrication requires reimagining not just access to tools, but the fundamental relationship between maker, material, and technology in ways that reunite conception with execution and preserve the maker's voice throughout the creative process.