“Swiminalization” and (K)No(t)-Swimming: A Humorous Interactive Game for Liminalizing and Decriminalizing Swimming
IEEE Gaming, Entertainment, and Media Conference (GEM) 2026
Berlin, Germany, September 2026 · Published; full paper on IEEE Xplore
Being-a-boat in Peter Street Basin: paddleboard, kayak, bodyboard and the Mersivity Ball, each a vessel, game controller and user interface.
Toronto’s waterfront says NO SWIMMING but allows boating. NotSwimming / NoSwimming / KnotSwimming is an interactive vessel that occupies the liminal space between the two, and a humorous game played with a fleet of such vessels: toy boat, bodyboard, skimboard, surfboard, paddleboard, kayak, Mersivity Ball and plain floating, ordered along the “Swoating Taxonium” by swimming fraction.
Each vessel is also a game controller, musical instrument and user interface (its orientation, as quaternions, drives sound). Played in Peter Street Basin as part of the Basin Master Plan, the game challenges policies that favour motorboats over water access and accessibility.
Soccerballing: football in the swoating zone, where every player is being a boat.
Abstract
We present NotSwimming / NoSwimming / KnotSwimming, an interactive vessel that occupies the liminal space between boating and swimming, along with a game played using a number of such vessels. The game invites players to touch and be touched by water as they play with water in the existential sense of “being-a-boat,” using a cybernetic vessel that is also a game controller, musical instrument, and user-interface. The game challenges unfair policies that favour motorboats over water access and accessibility.
Authors
Steve Mann, Alexander Vicol, Xiaoming Chen, Jianzi Zhang, Yubin Zhang, Michel Alejandro Herrera Viyella, Mo Khan, Rhyzome Adkisson
Links
- Paper on IEEE Xplore (DOI 10.1109/GEM72276.2026.11747093)
- Related project: Watermann
- Related project: Telekolympographic Swim Control
- Related project: Submersivity