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.
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 |
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Number of pages | 14 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Accepted/In press - 2 Mar 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) |
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Abbreviated title | CHI23 |
Country/Territory | Germany |
City | Hamburg |
Period | 23/04/23 → 28/04/23 |
Internet address |
Keywords
- Research through design
- Autoethnography
- Autobiographical design
- Emotional communication
- Self-build
- Open source
- IoT
Research Group keywords
- Interaction Research Studio