N. Streitz and C. Stephanidis (Eds.): DAPI/HCII 2013, LNCS 8028, pp. 205–214, 2013. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Experience the World with Archetypal Symbols: A New Form of Aesthetics Huang-Ming Chang 1,2 , Leonid Ivonin 1,2 , Marta Diaz 1 , Andreu Catala 1 , Wei Chen 2 , and Matthias Rauterberg 2 1 CETpD Research Center, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain {marta.diaz,andreu.catala}@upc.edu 2 Dept. Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands {h.m.chang,l.ivonin,w.chen,g.w.m.rauterberg}@tue.nl Abstract. According to the theories of symbolic interactionism, phenomenolo- gy of perception and archetypes, we argue that symbols play the key role in translating the information from the physical world to the human experience, and archetypes are the universal knowledge of cognition that generates the background of human experience (the life-world). Therefore, we propose a con- ceptual framework that depicts how people experience the world with symbols, and how archetypes relate the deepest level of human experience. This frame- work indicates a new direction of research on memory and emotion, and also suggests that archetypal symbolism can be a new resource of aesthetic experience design. Keywords: Human Experience, Symbols, Phenomenology, Archetypes. 1 Introduction Interaction involves a series of expression and interpretation between us as human beings and the world around us. Speaking of aesthetics in interaction, what intrigues us more is the very moment when meaning emerges while human beings are expe- riencing the world. Through experiencing the world, human beings then know how to appreciate the beauty of interaction. Symbolic Interactionism [1] is a sociological theory that aims at analyzing the patterns of communication, interpretation and ad- justment between people. This theory provides a framework for understanding how people interact with each other through the meanings of symbols. A fundamental premise is that people do not directly react to the ontological-existing reality, but respond to their understanding of this reality. Contrary to the traditional view of hu- man in the machine paradigm, humans act toward things on the basis of the meanings that they ascribe to these things [2]. People interact with each other by interpreting each other's actions instead of merely reacting to each other's actions. Their response is not made directly to the actions of one another, but instead is based on the meaning that they attach to such actions. That is, each action, object, or event has its own sym- bolic meaning to be revealed. It is symbols that bridge the gap between the physical