Going into Depth: Learning from a Survey of Interactive Designs for Aquatic Recreation

Aquatic recreation encompasses a variety of water-based activities from which participants gain physical, mental, and social benefts. Although interactive technologies for supporting aquatic recreation activities have increased in recent years, the HCI community does not yet have a structured understanding of approaches to interaction design for aquatic recreation. To contribute towards such an understanding, we present the results of a systematic review of 48 papers on the design of interactive technology for aquatic recreation, drawn from the ACM, IEEE, and SPORTDiscus libraries. This review presents an aquatic recreation user experience framework that details problems and opportunities concerning water and HCI. Our framework brings us closer to understanding how technology can interact with users and the aquatic environment to enhance the existing recreational experiences that connect us to aquatic environments. We found that designers can elicit delight, enablement, challenge, and synergy in aquatic recreation experiences.