EnhancedTouchX (Hachisu, Bourreau, & Suzuki, 2019)

EnhancedTouchX is a couple of bracelet devices that can detect interpersonal touch and identify the types of touch in four categories, no touch, handshake, four fingers, and one finger tip, and with the attribution of active or passive touch. The device is implicated in different ways. EnhancedTouchLog is a documentation application recording the user's hand touching events. EnhancedTouchGo is a game with augmented reality displayed on smartphone. One player touches the hand of another player to trigger event in the game. EnhancedTouchPlay is a setting in which the bracelets vibrate differently according to two wearers' hand touching types. EnhancedTouchCare is an application of the device for patients and their care-givers. The device can then record the social interactivity between the patients and the care-givers.

EnhancedTouchGo

EnhancedTouchPlay

Reference: Hachisu, T., Bourreau, B., & Suzuki, K. (2019) EnhancedTouchX: Smart bracelets for augmenting interpersonal touch interactions. Proceedings of CHI 2019.

OurChannel (Chien et al., 2017)

OurChannel consists of two boxes attached to the wall of each partner’s flat. Each box has a light switch on its front. This switch is connected to the ceiling light of the room just like any other wall-mounted switch. On the back side, concealed by the box, is another switch, connected to the ceiling light in the remote place. One can slip the hand into the box to operate the concealed switch without being able to see it. The idea is to make it feel as if reaching through a hole in the wall and fumbling for the switch on the other side. All four light switches have dedicated on- and off-positions. If a switch is operated, the corresponding switch of the remote device acts synchronously – operated by a servo. In other words, if one partner switches the light on in her room, the switch concealed in the box of the other partner changes its position as well. Or if the remote partner operates the concealed switch, not only the partner’s ceiling light is turned on, but also the switch mounted on the front flips to the on-position. OurChannel required some sort of “abstracted presence” system for us to decide, whether turning on the light for the partner fits his or her situation. To this end, OurChannel’s has slits between its front side and the frame. If the light in the remote place is on, small lights in the box are lit up to create the impression of light “sipping through” from the remote place. This creates the illusion of seeing whether there is light in the partner’s room or not. While this is rather ambiguous, ambient information, it supports getting an idea of whether switching on or off the light in the remote place may be appropriate or not.

Reference: W.-C. Chien & M. Hassenzahl. 2017. Technology-Mediated Relationship
Maintenance in Romantic Long-Distance Relationships: An Autoethnographical Research through
Design. Human–Computer Interaction.

Touchomatic Arcade Game (Marshall & Tennent, 2017)

Touchomatic is a arcade game station played by two players and controlled through electric capacity generated by the players' bodies. Players have to touch each other to generate capacitive data for the game and, in the game, they are flying an airship to collect coins located close above the ground. The more players are having physical contact with each other, the more gas is given to the airship.

Reference: Marshall, J. & Tennent, P. (2017) Touchomatic: Interpersonal touch gaming in the wild. DIS 2017.

http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~pszjm2/games/Touch_o_matic_at_National_Videogame_Arcade.html

RemoteFeeder (Chien et al. 2017)

RemoteFeeder was designed for the author's relational practice with his girl friend in long-distance relationship. The device consists of two parts: an automatic food dispenser to serve food to May and a “feeding bowl”, which is an awareness system and a remote control. The dispenser is installed in Claire’s flat and, of course, needs to be loaded with food by her. The feeding bowl is kept by me. A sensor registers when May hungrily claws the food dispenser and transmits this to the feeding bowl. The bowl then vibrates and makes noises, as if May is scratching the bowl in my place. Taking the bowl up and holding it in a sloping position sends a signal to dispense food into May’s bowl.


Reference: W.-C. Chien & M. Hassenzahl. 2017. Technology-Mediated Relationship
Maintenance in Romantic Long-Distance Relationships: An Autoethnographical Research through
Design. Human–Computer Interaction.

Puzzle Space (Pan et al., 2017)

Puzzle Space is designed for couples in long-distance relationships to have playful interaction and also to have the possibilities of solving problems together. Each one of the couple has 10 pieces of the 20-piece jigsaw puzzle. These physical puzzle pieces are placed on a box in which a camera captures the puzzle pieces' positions. A display on each side shows all 20 pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that represent exact positions of all puzzle pieces on the two boxes. Couples have to move their own pieces and work together to finish the puzzle game.


Reference: R. Pan, C. Neustaedter, A.N. Antle & B. Matkin. 2017. Puzzle Space: A distributed tangible puzzle for long distance couples. In CSCW '17 Companion Companion of the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing.

Flex-N-Feel (Singhal et al. 2017)

Flex-N-Feel is a couple of gloves. Each partner wears one. When one bends the fingers, it signals the remote glove to vibrate.

Reference: S. Singhal, C. Neustaedter, A.N. Antle, & B. Matkin. Flex-N-Feel: Emotive gloves for physical touch over distance. In CSCW '17 Companion Companion of the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing
https://vimeo.com/168195362

Performance Apron & Talking Bottle (Chai et al., 2017)

Performance Apron and Talking Bottle are two designed for a joint cooking experience over distance. The Talking Bottle is connected to internet and works as a information display. The Performance Apron is its remote control. The artifacts allows families in different locations to have communication (exchanging messages) during the cooking process. The Talking Bottle has different layers of light that indicate whether a voice message is recording, recorded or received. To send, to play a message or to inform the remote partner about the local situation, users operate the buttons on the apron.


Reference: M.Z. Chai, A. Soro, P. Roe & M. Brereton. 2017. In CHI EA 2017 Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Sensation (Canat et al 2016)

Sensation is a game device that can detect several different touch patterns between players. According to the game task, players have to complete collaborative physical tasks and experience physical closeness together with each other.

Reference: Mert Canat, Mustafa Ozan Tezcan, Eran Tiza, Bugra Can Sefercik, Idil Bostan, Oguz Turan Buruk, Tilbe Goksun, Oguzhan Ozcan. 2016. Sensation: Measuring the Effects of a Human-to-Human Social Touch Based Controller on the Player Experience. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'16) 3944-3955.

http://socialtouchingames.tumblr.com/

Ritual Machine II - coutdown timer in anticipation of a future event (Kirk et al. 2016)

The countdown timer is an application running on smartphones with a countdown machine. Couples put their smartphone together and each smartphone shows a half of a "knob." Couples rotate the knob together to set up the countdown time for their next important joint events in the future. The countdown machine than starts the countdown and displays a sand timer that flows slowly. The machine imitates the sound of flowing sand. It starts with imperceptible volume and becomes louder when the end point is coming.

Reference: Kirk et al. 2016. Ritual Machines I & II: Making Technology at Home. CHI' 2016.

Ritual Machine I - Drinking together whilst apart (Kirk et al. 2016)

This drink device allows couples o have a drink together whist apart. The system contains two parts: the drink dispenser and a bottle opener connecting to couples' smartphones. When one opens her/his bottle with the opener, the drink dispenser in the remote place pours drink, wine for example, into the glass.

Reference: Kirk et al. 2016. Ritual Machines I & II: Making Technology at Home. CHI' 2016.

Furfur (Chien et al. 2016)

Furfur is a robotic pet shared by couples in long-distance relationships. It employs two conceptual elements: illusion of travel and repertoire. Each partner has a box containing a Furfur. It can be summoned by knocking on the lid of the closed box. However, it only appears if the other Furfur is idle in its box. This creates the illusion of Furfur being a single entity, able to travel from one partner to the other, spending time with each of them, but never simultaneously. Furfur's design further hinges on changing its behavioral repertoire through interaction. In the last version, it picks up sounds from the environment and reproduces it when interacting with the partners. Furfur's repertoire is therefore influenced by both partners and creates a joint activity of sharing a pet.

Reference: Wei-Chi Chien, Marc Hassenzahl, Julika Welge. 2016. Sharing a Robotic Pet as a Maintenance Strategy for Romantic Couples in Long-Distance Relationships. An Autobiographical Design Exploration. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. (CHI EA '16) 1375-1382.

The Synchronous Picture Frame (Lenz et al 2016)



The Synchronous Picture Frame is a pair of picture displays that allows users to share pictures with each other. Pictures displayed synchronously on the device of each user and this enhances a joint discussion about the pictures.


Reference: Eva Lenz, Marc Hassenzahl, Wasili Adamow, Patrick Beedgen, Kirstin Kohler, Thies Schneider. 2016. Four Stories About Feeling Close Over A Distance. In Proceedings of the TEI '16: Tenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction. 494-499.
https://vimeo.com/148869457

Family Portrait (Lenz et al 2016)

Family Portrait is designed for family members living in different residences. The system contains a display and a photo camera device that are installed in each member's residence. The members' photos are arranged on the display (the portrait) like a collection of their "selfies". One can change her/his own photos with the camera device any time she/he wants. The new photos will be uploaded and synchronized in every member's Family Portrait.


Reference: Reference: Eva Lenz, Marc Hassenzahl, Wasili Adamow, Patrick Beedgen, Kirstin Kohler, Thies Schneider. 2016. Four Stories About Feeling Close Over A Distance. In Proceedings of the TEI '16: Tenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction. 494-499.

Dating Box (Chien et al. 2015)

Dating Box is designed for couples in long-distance Relationships to collect activity ideas when they next time meet each other. In its prototype version, each one of the couple has a box. When they are separated, they can write down ideas on small cards and collect them in the box. When they meet each other again, they can open the box and the idea cards can inspire their treasurable joint time.

Reference: Wei-Chi Chien, Marc Hassenzahl, Eva Lenz. 2015. Fürsorge, Gemeinsamkeiten, Pläne - Technik für Fernbeziehungen gestalten. (trans. Caring, Togetherness, Planning - Designing Technology for Long-Distance Relationships.) Mensch und Computer 2015 - Proceedings. 83-92.

InTouch (Massung et al 2015)

InTouch system containing a handheld device, a peddle, and a docking station is a reading system designed for long-distance parent-children storytelling. In its current version of prototype, when the peddle is placed on the docking station, the docking station projects the story of the child's choice on to the wall and transmits the parent's (reader's) voice in real time. Users can also hold the peddle in hand. The peddle will transmit users' haptic clues to the remote device so that, for example, they share their emotional arousal by squeezing the peddle in a tense scene.




Reference: Elaine Massung, Sarah Dickins, James Torbett, James Holmes, Kirsten Cater, Victoria Bates. 2015. InTouch Tactile Tales: Haptic Feedback and Long-Distance Storytelling. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 1289-1294.

Le Fil (Toutain & Le Huérou, 2015)

Le Fil allows communication partners to create a virtual "chatting room." Users can have multiple activities in the room, such as text messaging, drawing and sharing photos and videos. The conversations as well as the shared material stay always available in this chatting room and any user in this room has the access to edit these material. The room is perminant and users can enter and leave this room or use the material any time they want. The room can also be "decorated" by its users so that the room become "theirs."


Reference: F. Toutain & E. Le Huérou, 2015. A case-study in all-web rich interpersonal communication services. In Proceedings of AWeS '15 the 1st Workshop on All-Web Real-Time Systems.

OperaBooth (Gelineck 2014)

"The project explores mediated intimacy between remote strangers through music. Two boxes are placed at two remote locations. In each box there is a hole for the head of the user. When "inside" the box the remote users look directly in the eyes of each other. A face tracking algorithm by Kyle McDonald detects the users mouth opening and triggers opera singing. This way the remote strangers can explore intimacy through an opera duet."


Reference: Steven Gelineck. 2014. OperaBooth - an Installation for Intimate Remote Communication through Music. In Proceedings of the 9th Audio Mostly: A Conference on Interaction With Sound (AM'14).
http://media.aau.dk/~stg/operaBooth.html

KIZUNA (Nawahdah et al 2013)

"For the people who are difficult to have a meal together with their families or close partners because of the time-zone difference or the life-rhythm difference, KIZUNA design is proposed that provides time-shifted co-dining experience. The design includes the dining-speed synchrony by means of dining status recognition and comparison between in the video and on the table. Experimental study was conducted and found that the design improved communication and increased social presence."

Reference: Nawahdah M., Inoue T. 2013 Virtually Dining Together in Time-Shifted Environment: KIZUNA Design. In CSCW '13.
http://inolab.slis.tsukuba.ac.jp/research/team/KIZUNA.php?lang=en

Ishin-Den-Shin (DisneyResearch, 2013)

 

 

 

The installation consists of a microphone that can record sounds and transmit them through touch. Once recorded, the sound is transformed in an inaudible signal. This signal is transmitted to a person’s body when holding the microphone. The signal can be transmitted by physical contact, from body to body. The recorded sound becomes audible only when touching someones ear. The sound can be heard only by the specific ear which is touched, as if the finger would be whispering the recorded sounds. Secrets, messages and whispers can then be transmitted from person to person in physical contact with each others.

Source:
Disney Research http://www.disneyresearch.com/project/ishin-den-shin/  (2013.11.12)
Creative Appications Network http://www.creativeapplications.net/sound/ishin-denshin-physicality-and-intimacy-through-sound-and-touch/ (2013.11.12)

http://www.ivanpoupyrev.com/projects/ishindenshin.php

Family Circles (by Schatorjé et al. 2013)

Family Circles, is a flexible and portable voice messagin solution that enables people to record messages and leave them at any desirable place in the home. Multiple, portable messaging tokens are able to store and play a single voice message and communicate secondary information utilising various properties of the light that is integrated in the tokens. Tokens containing a message that is already properly received, can be collected and stored together at a docking station.
The light in the tokens can vary in colour and brightness. The colour of the light can be altered at the docking station, in order to communicate meta-information about the sender. When someone encounters a messaging token, the stored message can be played by pushing down on the top of the token.

Reference: Schatorjé R., Markopoulos, P., Intra-Family Messaging with Family Circles. 2013. In Neustaedter et al. (eds.) Connecting Families. Springer-Verlag 2013
http://www.ruudschatorje.nl/portfolio_project_fc.html