Beyond being there

Despite the rapid development of telecommunication technologies, face-to-face interactions continue to play a fundamental role in an individual’s social life. We observe a trend in today’s technological development of imitation or elimination of face-to-face interactions, often through systems that augment an individual’s online presence. However, few of these systems have surpassed the effectiveness of face-to-face interactions in all aspects. We designed and built Felix, a social wearable that facilitates and augments face-to-face interactions by presenting shared information of the users, aiming to improve direct interactions without disruption. We applied self-categorization theory in selecting effective information to display and designed a peripheral interface well suited for physical, interpersonal interactions. We ultimately conclude that Felix improves the quality and efficacy of in-person communication and contributes to building ties. Possible applications of Felix were also discussed.   

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Engaging in social interactions is a part of human nature. Since Hollan and Stornetta proposed the concept of beyond being there, there has been substantial development in communication technology. However, most products and research that emerged focused on telecommunication: video and virtual reality communication tools that create the sense of being there, social networking sites that help people seek and develop social relationships online and asynchronous multimedia messaging services. There haven’t been much research into creating communication tools that go beyond the richness of face-to-face interaction.

In this study, we uncovered challenges prevalent in face-to-face social interactions, especially while establishing new connections and building ties. We chose to leverage wearable technology to solve these challenges, since it presented opportunities in enriching communication without disrupting it. We hypothesized that wearable technology, with its unique qualities in user experiences, augment face-to-face social interactions by providing shared information based on user’s self- categorizations, which has been proven to drive psychological group formation.