Feather is designed for situations in which one person is travelling while another stays at home.
Two devices are used. The traveller carries a small object that signals that his or her attention is focused on the other. This is envisioned as a kind of picture frame, but one contrived so that it invites activities that can be used to send a signal to the other object. In one version, this involves turning over the object, which otherwise sits picture-side down. In another, the object encourages lifting to view the image. This gives a precious, almost reverential feel to the interaction, and holding the object closes a circuit between the two halves of the unit, sending a signal to the other object.
The second object is larger, meant, like a piece of furniture, to be a relatively stable feature of the home. It contains a electric fan in its base, and a single feather that rests on an unobtrusive grill above it. When triggered by the absent partner holding the picture frame, the fan starts, wafting the feather into the air.
Source: Strong, R. and Gaver, W. 1996. Feather, scent & shaker: Supporting simple intimacy in videos. In Extended Proceedings of CSCW. ACM Press, 29–30.
