Cohabiting With Semi-virtual Nature via <i>Wanderer</i> : Speculative Design in Taoist PostHCI

This article presents a speculative design project and discusses its potential to facilitate a mutually beneficial cohabitation between humans, nonhuman species, and the natural environment. Currently, digital-simulated nature and nonhumans within our society (including species and objects) often fail to cultivate a responsible and sustainable future because most of them excessively cater to human entertainment. This research draws on philosophies, game studies, and design studies regarding human-computer interaction (HCI) and proposes an alternative approach: Wanderer , a mobile application developed around preliminary design principles informed by our theoretical frameworks. The app advocates for more-than-human and multi-species futures by utilizing three pillars in speculative design: a semi-virtual nature environment, un-interactive interaction, and system design. The result contributes to dissolving the boundaries between humans and nonhumans, indoor and outdoor environments, and virtual and real worlds. Through system thinking and interaction design, we propose posthuman-computer interaction (postHCI), which refuses human exceptionalism and human-centered views in conventional HCI by considering ecological systems and humans’ relationships with nonhumans via the interaction between humans and computers. The paper translates theoretical frameworks to visual design and programming regarding posthuman thinking and opens a discussion on alternative interactions between humans, nonhumans, and nature.