Profile

David Chatting

I am a designer and technologist who works in software and hardware to explore the impact of emerging technologies in everyday lives. I am an Innovation Fellow at Northumbria University's School of Design and I have my own design practice.

I have a PhD from the Department of Design at Goldsmiths, University of London (2023), a Master's degree in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art (2012) and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Birmingham (2000).

I have published papers and filed patents in the fields of design research, HCI, psychology, tangible interfaces, computer vision and computer graphics. My portfolio has many examples of my projects.

My clients have included ITO World, Aldeburgh Music, Studio XO, Hirsch and Mann, Native Design, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Di Mainstone, Zoe Garner Glass and Design Informatics. New propositions should be addressed to:

I cofounded the Curiosity Collective (2005-2015) and I convened dorkbot anglia (2010-2015).

On LinkedIn, github and instagram.

Publications

Remarkable Wireless Home Networking (2025). David Chatting. Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference. pp. 869-883. DOI: 10.1145/3715336.3735806

The Resound Sphere: Co-Exploring Alternatives for Community Remote Practice of Faith (2025). Sara Wolf, David Chatting, Ben Morris, Caroline Claisse and Abigail C. Durrant. Proceedings of the 23rd EUSSET Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. DOI: 10.48340/ecscw2025_pd01
Pace Layers and Research Products (2025). David Chatting, Caroline Claisse, Sara Wolf, Ben Morris and Abigail C. Durrant. CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '25). DOI: 10.57711/fh0j-2m12
Research Products and Time: When, For How Long, And Then What? (2025). Arne Berger, Stephan Hildebrandt, Albrecht Kurze, William Odom, Tom Jenkins, James Pierce, David Chatting, Doenja Oogjes, Sara Nabil, Andy Boucher and William Gaver. Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '25). DOI: 10.1145/3706599.3706709
Resound: A Moment of Reflection in a Techno-Spiritual RtD (2025). Caroline Claisse, David Chatting, Sara Wolf, Ben Morris and Abigail C. Durrant. Proceedings of the Nineteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '25). DOI: 10.1145/3689050.3704422
Making Alternatives through Design for Mediated Spiritual Practice (2024). Caroline Claisse, David Chatting, Sara Wolf, Ben Morris and Abigail C. Durrant. Proceedings of the Halfway to the Future Symposium. DOI: 10.1145/3686169.3686190
Designing with Friction: Inverting Notions of Seamless Technology (2024). Jacob Sheahan, David Chatting, Robert Collins, Jessica Bley, Alexander Eriksson, Nick Taylor and Marco C. Rozendaal. Adjunct Proceedings of the 2024 Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. DOI: 10.1145/3677045.3685504
The Router of All Evil: Designerly Hacking a Network of One’s Own (2024). David Chatting. Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction. DOI: 10.1145/3623509.3633357
Data Probes: Reflecting on Connected Devices with Technology-Mediated Probes (2024). Nick Taylor, David Chatting and Jon Rogers. Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction. DOI: 10.1145/3623509.3633380
Seeking Resonances for Remote Communal Chanting Practices (2023). David Chatting, Ben Morris, Caroline Claisse and Abigail C. Durrant. Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS) 2023. DOI: 10.57711/467e-rr16
A Network of One’s Own: Struggles to Domesticate the Internet (2023). David Chatting. DOI: 10.25602/GOLD.00033997
Automated Indifference (2023). David Chatting. Interactions. Vol. 30 (Issue 2) pp. 22-26. DOI: 10.1145/3580299
Pace Layer Prototyping: How Prototypes Learn (2023). David Chatting. Interactions. Vol. 30 (Issue 2) pp. 14-15. DOI: 10.1145/3583127
Emergence as a Feature of Practice-based Design Research (2022). William Gaver, Peter Gall Krogh, Andy Boucher and David Chatting. Proceedings of the 2022 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference. pp. 517-526. DOI: 10.1145/3532106.3533524
Yo–Yo Machines: Self-Build Devices that Support Social Connections During the Pandemic (2022). William Gaver, Andy Boucher, Dean Brown, David Chatting, Naho Matsuda, Liliana Ovalle, Andy Sheen and Michail Vanis. Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. DOI: 10.1145/3491102.3517547
Zoom Obscura: Counterfunctional Design for Video-Conferencing (2022). Chris Elsden, David Chatting, Michael Duggan, Andrew Carl Dwyer and Pip Thornton. Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. DOI: 10.1145/3491102.3501973
Yo-Yo Machines: Self-Build Peripheral Awareness Communication Devices (2021). Interaction Research Studio. Interactions. Vol. 28 (Issue 6) pp. 22-25. DOI: 10.1145/3490446
Design for Reappearance in Smart Technologies (2021). David Chatting, Nick Taylor and Jon Rogers. CSCW 2021 Workshop on Designing for Data Awareness. [PDF]
Designing for intersubjectivity and dialogicality in museum interactive installations about migration (2020). Areti Galani, Abigail C. Durrant, David Chatting and Rebecca Farley. Digital Creativity. Vol. 31 (Issue 4) pp. 302-319. DOI: 10.1080/14626268.2020.1848873
Inarticulate Devices: Critical Encounters with Network Technologies in Research Through Design (2020). Cally Gatehouse and David Chatting. Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference. pp. 2119-2131. DOI: 10.1145/3357236.3395426
The Stuffness of Research Through Design (2020). David Chatting. [PDF]
RtD in Situ: Discussing the Domains and Impact of Design Research (2020). Tom Jenkins, William Odom, James Pierce, Kristina Andersen, Andy Boucher, David Chatting and William Gaver. Companion Publication of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference. pp. 401-404. DOI: 10.1145/3393914.3395913
Doing Things with Research through Design: With What, with Whom, and Towards What Ends? (2019). Kristina Andersen, Andy Boucher, David Chatting, Audrey Desjardins, Laura Devendorf, William Gaver, Tom Jenkins, William Odom, James Pierce and Anna Vallgårda. Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 1-8. DOI: 10.1145/3290607.3299011
ThinkActive: Designing for Pseudonymous Activity Tracking in the Classroom (2018). Andrew Garbett, David Chatting, Gerard Wilkinson, Clement Lee and Ahmed Kharrufa. Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 1-13. DOI: 10.1145/3173574.3173581
Crafting a place for attending to the things of design at CHI (2017). William Odom, Tom Jenkins, Kristina Andersen, William Gaver, James Pierce, Anna Vallgårda, Andy Boucher, David Chatting, Janne Kollenburg and Kevin Lefeuvre. Interactions. Vol. 25 (Issue 1) pp. 52-57. DOI: 10.1145/3161605
Designing Documentary Informatics (2017). Chris Elsden, Abigail C. Durrant, David Chatting and David S. Kirk. Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. pp. 649-661. DOI: 10.1145/3064663.3064714
Making Ritual Machines: The Mobile Phone as a Networked Material for Research Products (2017). David Chatting, David S. Kirk, Abigail C. Durrant, Chris Elsden, Paulina Yurman and Jo-Anne Bichard. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 435-447. DOI: 10.1145/3025453.3025630
On Speculative Enactments (2017). Chris Elsden, David Chatting, Abigail C. Durrant, Andrew Garbett, Bettina Nissen, John Vines and David S. Kirk. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 5386-5399. DOI: 10.1145/3025453.3025503
Home Network Map: An Instrument for Design-Led Inquiry (2017). David Chatting. CHI 2017 Workshop on Making Home: Asserting Agency in the Age of IoT. pp. 1-5. DOI: 10.25405/data.ncl.26789035.v1
Making Home: Asserting Agency in the Age of IoT (2017). David Chatting, Gerard Wilkinson, Kevin Marshall, Audrey Desjardins, David P. Green, David S. Kirk and Andy Boucher. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 526-533. DOI: 10.1145/3027063.3027081
Ritual Machine IV: A Message in a Jam (2017). David Chatting, Paulina Yurman, Jo-Anne Bichard and David S. Kirk. CHI 2017 The Things of Design Research workshop. [PDF]
Transitions in Digital Personhood: Online Activity in Early Retirement (2017). Abigail C. Durrant, David S. Kirk, Diego Trujillo Pisanty, Wendy Moncur, Kathryn Orzech, Tom Schofield, Chris Elsden, David Chatting and Andrew Monk. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 6398-6411. DOI: 10.1145/3025453.3025913
Ritual Machine V: Where are You? (2017). David Chatting, Paulina Yurman, David P. Green, Jo-Anne Bichard and David S. Kirk. RTD 2017. DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.4746958.v1
Abacus Datagraphy: A Speculative Enactment (2017). Chris Elsden, Abigail C. Durrant, David Chatting, David P. Green and David S. Kirk. RTD 2017. DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.4746961.v1
Ritual Machines I & II: Making Technology at Home (2016). David S. Kirk, David Chatting, Paulina Yurman and Jo-Anne Bichard. Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 2474-2486. DOI: 10.1145/2858036.2858424
Ritual Machine V: Where are You? (2016). David Chatting, David S. Kirk, Paulina Yurman and Jo-Anne Bichard. CHI 2016 Object Outcomes workshop. [PDF]
Metadating: Exploring the Romance and Future of Personal Data (2016). Chris Elsden, Bettina Nissen, Andrew Garbett, David Chatting, David S. Kirk and John Vines. Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. pp. 685-698. DOI: 10.1145/2858036.2858173
Family Rituals 2.0 (2015). Jo-Anne Bichard, Paulina Yurman, David Chatting, David S. Kirk, Juliet Jain, Adele Ladkin and Marina Marouda. [HTML]
Designing for family phatic communication: a design critique approach (2015). David Chatting, David S. Kirk, Paulina Yurman and Jo-Anne Bichard. Proceedings of the 2015 British HCI Conference. pp. 175-183. DOI: 10.1145/2783446.2783566
Quotidian Ritual and Work-Life Balance: An Ethnography of Not Being There (2014). Jo-Anne Bichard, Paulina Yurman, David S. Kirk and David Chatting. Proceedings of EPIC 2014. pp. 163-178. DOI: 10.1111/1559-8918.01019
Betagrams: Maker Culture and the Aesthetics of Prototyping (2014). Gabriella Arrigoni, Tom Schofield, Teresa Almeida, David Chatting, Ben Freeth, Annika Haas and Diego Trujillo-Pisanty. All Makers Now. [PDF]
Speculation by Improvisation (2014). David Chatting. DIS 2014 Workshop on Human-Computer Improvisation. [PDF]
Visible Imagination: projected play (2009). David Chatting and Jon S. Sutton. HCI 2009. [HTML]
Character Mediated Communications (2009). David Chatting, Craig McCahill and Andrew Gower. Children and Embodied Interaction: Seeking Common Ground - IDC 2009 Workshop. [PDF]
WISP: Wearable Illumination for Spatialised Play (2008). Jon S. Sutton and David Chatting. Night and Darkness: Interaction after Dark - CHI 2008 Workshop. [PDF]
Action and reaction for physical map interfaces (2008). David Chatting. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Tangible and Embedded Interaction. pp. 187-190. DOI: 10.1145/1347390.1347432
Presence and portrayal: video for casual home dialogues (2006). David Chatting, Josie S. Galpin and Judith S. Donath. Proceedings of the 14th ACM International Conference on Multimedia. pp. 395-401. DOI: 10.1145/1180639.1180723
Viewpoint dependence in adaptation to facial identity (2006). Christopher P. Benton, Sarah J. Jennings and David Chatting. Vision Research. Vol. 46 (Issue 20) pp. 3313-3325. DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2006.06.002
Faces as Content (2006). David Chatting and Jeremy M. Thorne. HCI and the Face - CHI 2006 Workshop. [PDF]
The Uncanny Valley: does it exist? (2005). Harry Brenton, Marco Gillies, Daniel Ballin and David Chatting. Workshop on Human-Animated Character Interaction - HCI 2005. [PDF]
The Uncanny Valley: does it exist and is it related to presence? (2005). Harry Brenton, Marco Gillies, Daniel Ballin and David Chatting. Presence-Connect.
Prometheus: Facial Modelling, Tracking and Puppetry (2003). Jeremy M. Thorne and David Chatting. Vision, Video and Graphics. [PDF]
Real-time Production and Delivery of 3D Media (2002). Marc Price, Jigna Chandaria, Oliver Grau, Graham A. Thomas, David Chatting, Jeremy M. Thorne, G. Milnthorpe, Peter Woodward, Pip Bull, Eng-Jon Ong, Adrian Hilton, Joel Mitchelson and Jonathan Starck. [PDF]
Designing User Interaction for Face Tracking Applications (2002). David Chatting and Jeremy M. Thorne. DSV-IS 2002. [PDF]
The Prometheus Project - the challenge of disembodied and dislocated performances (2002). Jeremy M. Thorne and David Chatting. BT Technology Journal. Vol. 20 (Issue 1) pp. 85-90. [PDF]

Patents

Providing an Image for Display (2008). David Chatting, Victoria L. Milner and Jeremy M. Thorne. [HTML]

Intelligent Media Content Playing Device with User Attention Detection, Corresponding Method and Carrier Medium (2007). David Chatting and Ian C. Kegel. [HTML]
Adaptive Closed Group Caricaturing (2005). David Chatting, Adam Shadbolt and Jeremy M. Thorne. [HTML]
Video Communications Method and System (2005). David Chatting, Jeremy M. Thorne and Geoff Morrison. [HTML]
Image-Size Dependent Facial Caricaturing (2004). David Chatting, Jeremy M. Thorne and Charles Nightingale. [HTML]
Feature Based Caricaturing (2004). David Chatting, Jeremy M. Thorne and Mark S. Fendley. [HTML]
Image Processing (2001). David Chatting and Geoff Morrison. [HTML]