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

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

139 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We are a mother and son who have been using a pair of simple, self-build 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
Title of host publication	CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Albrecht Schmidt, Kaisa Väänänen, Tesh Goyal, Per Ola Kristensson, Anicia Peters, Stefanie Mueller, Julie R. Williamson, Max L. Wilson
Place of Publication	New York, US
Publisher	ACM
Pages	1-14
Number of pages	14
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450394215
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580807
Publication status	Published - 19 Apr 2023
Event	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2023 (CHI23) - Congress Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany Duration: 23 Apr 2023 → 28 Apr 2023 https://chi2023.acm.org/

Conference

Conference	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2023 (CHI23)
Abbreviated title	CHI23
Country/Territory	Germany
City	Hamburg
Period	23/04/23 → 28/04/23
Internet address	https://chi2023.acm.org/

Keywords

Research through design
Autoethnography
Autobiographical design
Emotional communication
Self-build
Open source
IoT

Research Group keywords

Interaction Research Studio

Access to Document

10.1145/3544548.3580807

LT_FINAL_rev1Accepted author manuscript, 6.25 MB

Cite this

Gaver, W., & Gaver, F. (2023). Living with Light Touch: An Autoethnography of a Simple Communication Device in Long-Term Use. In A. Schmidt, K. Väänänen, T. Goyal, P. O. Kristensson, A. Peters, S. Mueller, J. R. Williamson, & M. L. Wilson (Eds.), CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14). Article 633 ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580807

Gaver, William ; Gaver, Frances. / Living with Light Touch : An Autoethnography of a Simple Communication Device in Long-Term Use. CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. editor / Albrecht Schmidt ; Kaisa Väänänen ; Tesh Goyal ; Per Ola Kristensson ; Anicia Peters ; Stefanie Mueller ; Julie R. Williamson ; Max L. Wilson. New York, US : ACM, 2023. pp. 1-14

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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, self-build 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.",

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 2023 (CHI23), CHI23 ; Conference date: 23-04-2023 Through 28-04-2023",

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Gaver, W & Gaver, F 2023, Living with Light Touch: An Autoethnography of a Simple Communication Device in Long-Term Use. in A Schmidt, K Väänänen, T Goyal, PO Kristensson, A Peters, S Mueller, JR Williamson & ML Wilson (eds), CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 633, ACM, New York, US, pp. 1-14, ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2023 (CHI23), Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, 23/04/23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580807

Living with Light Touch: An Autoethnography of a Simple Communication Device in Long-Term Use. / Gaver, William; Gaver, Frances.
CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Albrecht Schmidt; Kaisa Väänänen; Tesh Goyal; Per Ola Kristensson; Anicia Peters; Stefanie Mueller; Julie R. Williamson; Max L. Wilson. New York, US: ACM, 2023. p. 1-14 633.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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T2 - ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2023 (CHI23)

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 - 2023/4/19

Y1 - 2023/4/19

N2 - We are a mother and son who have been using a pair of simple, self-build 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.

AB - We are a mother and son who have been using a pair of simple, self-build 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.

KW - Research through design

KW - Autoethnography

KW - Autobiographical design

KW - Emotional communication

KW - Self-build

KW - Open source

KW - IoT

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M3 - Conference contribution

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EP - 14

BT - CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

A2 - Schmidt, Albrecht

A2 - Väänänen, Kaisa

A2 - Goyal, Tesh

A2 - Kristensson, Per Ola

A2 - Peters, Anicia

A2 - Mueller, Stefanie

A2 - Williamson, Julie R.

A2 - Wilson, Max L.

PB - ACM

CY - New York, US

Y2 - 23 April 2023 through 28 April 2023

ER -

Gaver W, Gaver F. Living with Light Touch: An Autoethnography of a Simple Communication Device in Long-Term Use. In Schmidt A, Väänänen K, Goyal T, Kristensson PO, Peters A, Mueller S, Williamson JR, Wilson ML, editors, CHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, US: ACM. 2023. p. 1-14. 633 doi: 10.1145/3544548.3580807

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

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Conference

Keywords

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