Living with Light Touch: An Autoethnography of a Simple Communication Device in Long-Term Use

William Gaver; Frances Gaver

doi:10.1145/3544548.3580807

Living with Light Touch: An Autoethnography of a Simple Communication Device in Long-Term Use

William Gaver, Frances Gaver

Design

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

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Abstract

We are a mother and son who have been using a pair of simple, selfbuild
communication devices to maintain a feeling of connection
while separated by over 5,000 miles. The devices, called Light Touch,
only allow us to send one another slowly-fading, coloured lights,
yet we have been surprised by how much our ongoing interaction
with them means to us. This paper contributes an autoethnographical
account of our experiences over the last two years, including
our initial experiences with the devices, and focusing on various
aspects of our day-to-day use. Based on our observations, we discuss
the features that have proven important in mediating our
feelings of connection. We point out, however, that their success is
contingent on our context of use and the nature of our bond, and
suggest that simple systems like Light Touch may support emotional
communication, but only if they are well-matched to settings
and relationships.

Original language	English
Number of pages	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580807
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 2 Mar 2023
Event	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Hamburg, Germany Duration: 23 Apr 2023 → 28 Apr 2023 https://chi2023.acm.org/

Conference

Conference	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Abbreviated title	CHI 2023
Country/Territory	Germany
City	Hamburg
Period	23/04/23 → 28/04/23
Internet address	https://chi2023.acm.org/

Research Group keywords

Interaction Research Studio

Access to Document

10.1145/3544548.3580807

LT_FINAL_rev1Accepted author manuscript, 6.25 MB

Cite this

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title = "Living with Light Touch: An Autoethnography of a Simple Communication Device in Long-Term Use",

abstract = "We are a mother and son who have been using a pair of simple, selfbuildcommunication devices to maintain a feeling of connectionwhile separated by over 5,000 miles. The devices, called Light Touch,only allow us to send one another slowly-fading, coloured lights,yet we have been surprised by how much our ongoing interactionwith them means to us. This paper contributes an autoethnographicalaccount of our experiences over the last two years, includingour initial experiences with the devices, and focusing on variousaspects of our day-to-day use. Based on our observations, we discussthe features that have proven important in mediating ourfeelings of connection. We point out, however, that their success iscontingent on our context of use and the nature of our bond, andsuggest that simple systems like Light Touch may support emotionalcommunication, but only if they are well-matched to settingsand relationships.",

keywords = "Research through design, Autoethnography, Autobiographical design, Emotional communication, Self-build, Open source, IoT",

author = "William Gaver and Frances Gaver",

note = "Funding information: This research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant number EP/V026399/1.; ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023 ; Conference date: 23-04-2023 Through 28-04-2023",

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doi = "10.1145/3544548.3580807",

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T2 - ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

AU - Gaver, William

AU - Gaver, Frances

N1 - Funding information: This research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant number EP/V026399/1.

PY - 2023/3/2

Y1 - 2023/3/2

N2 - We are a mother and son who have been using a pair of simple, selfbuildcommunication devices to maintain a feeling of connectionwhile separated by over 5,000 miles. The devices, called Light Touch,only allow us to send one another slowly-fading, coloured lights,yet we have been surprised by how much our ongoing interactionwith them means to us. This paper contributes an autoethnographicalaccount of our experiences over the last two years, includingour initial experiences with the devices, and focusing on variousaspects of our day-to-day use. Based on our observations, we discussthe features that have proven important in mediating ourfeelings of connection. We point out, however, that their success iscontingent on our context of use and the nature of our bond, andsuggest that simple systems like Light Touch may support emotionalcommunication, but only if they are well-matched to settingsand relationships.

AB - We are a mother and son who have been using a pair of simple, selfbuildcommunication devices to maintain a feeling of connectionwhile separated by over 5,000 miles. The devices, called Light Touch,only allow us to send one another slowly-fading, coloured lights,yet we have been surprised by how much our ongoing interactionwith them means to us. This paper contributes an autoethnographicalaccount of our experiences over the last two years, includingour initial experiences with the devices, and focusing on variousaspects of our day-to-day use. Based on our observations, we discussthe features that have proven important in mediating ourfeelings of connection. We point out, however, that their success iscontingent on our context of use and the nature of our bond, andsuggest that simple systems like Light Touch may support emotionalcommunication, but only if they are well-matched to settingsand relationships.

KW - Research through design

KW - Autoethnography

KW - Autobiographical design

KW - Emotional communication

KW - Self-build

KW - Open source

KW - IoT

U2 - 10.1145/3544548.3580807

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