1. B EAR WITH M E Tangible Interactive Computing CMSC 838F Final Project Zahra Ashktorab (Masters Student Human Computer Interaction) Allan Fong (PhD Student Computer Science) December 15, 2012

2. Social Networks (Facebook, Twitter..) Telephone Video Call Text messing Email Instant Messaging Online Forums Online Blogs 2 H OW D O P EOPLE U SE T ECHNOLOGY T O C OMMUNICATE ?

3. F ACE - TO - FACE AND P HYSICAL I NTERACTION 3

4. Face-to-face interaction and gestural talk are essential to constructing and maintaining the values and norms of the collective society “Replacing Human Relationships with a Virtual Life”, The Yale Herald 4

5. Long-distance relationships require technology use Not enough time to meet Busy schedules 5 W HY D ON ’ T W E A LWAYS I NTERACT T HIS W AY ?

6. 6 Enhance interpersonal communication with a tangible medium of exchanging emotions Create portable tangible form of communication and real-time sharing of activities Extend the teddy bear methaphor Stuffed animals are often given as a symbol of an emotional or personal connection M OTIVATION AND G OALS

7. R ELATED W ORKS 7 LumiTouch: An Emotional Communication Device Chang et. al, CHI ’01, http://people.cs.vt.edu/~wangr06/touch%20review%20origani zation/ChaRKWetal01.pdf HugBot MIT 2006, http://web.media.mit.edu/~jeevan/furryhugger/ Like-A-Hug MIT 2011, http://www.melissakitchow.com/Like-A-Hug YourGloves, HotHands and HotMitts: Devices to Hold Hands at a Distance Gooch and Watts, UIST ’12, http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2380138 sleepyWhispers: Sharing Goodnights Within Distant Relationships Gooch and Watts, UIST ’12, http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2380322 Pressages: Augmenting Phone Calls With Non- Verbal Messages Hoggan et al. UIST ’12, http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2380185

8. O UR M EDIUM 8

9. 9 B EARS AND T WITTER

10. 10 Tweet confirmation Pat confirmation T HE B EAR S YSTEM

11. H UG AND P AT I NTERACTIONS 11 Bears connect to Wifi after they get turned on Person A hugs Blue Bear Blue Bear tweets hug and tweet confirmation light blinks Gold Bear reads Blue Bear’s hug tweet and heart glows Person B can Hug or Pat a response Person B hugs Gold Bear Gold Bear heart turns off tweet hug and tweet confirmation light blinks Blue Bear reads Gold Bear’s hug tweet and heart glows Gold Bear heart turns off and tweet pat and tweet confirmation light blinks Person B pats Gold Bear Blue Bear reads Gold Bear’s pat tweet and pat light glows *All interactions can be reciprocated between bears. HUG PAT

12. 12 Person A moves Blue Bear Blue Bear tweets motion and tweet confirmation light blinks Gold Bear reads Blue Bear’s motion tweet and feet glows Blue Bear is still Blue Bear tweets rest and tweet confirmation light blinks Gold Bear reads Blue Bear’s rest tweet and feet stop glowing *All interactions can be reciprocated between bears. M OVEMENT I NTERACTIONS

13. B EAR VISUALIZATION 13

14. C HALLENGES 14

15. S OFTWARE CHALLENGES Maintaining Wifi connection Limited memory space Removed Queue library (used to store movement times) Time lapse between the time the hug is sent and the time that the hug received Twitter API rate limit Setting appropriate thresholds for all interactions (movement and hugs) Strings of text not all being sent or being jumbled ex: “you you you have been h” instead of “you have been hugged 15

16. H ARDWARE CHALLENGES Hug sensor Omni-directional and overheating Walk/running detection Queue library Packaging Conductive thread vs wires Issues with shorts, overheating, and flexibility Actual walking Actual running 16 FAIL Resistance too low Not enough sensitivity OKAY

17. V IDEO 17

18. F UTURE WORKS Detection of strength/duration of hug Walking and running detection Gamification Making the bears smaller 18

19. T HANK Y OU ! 19

20. B ACKUP 20

21. How can we leverage existing technologies to simulate physical interactions? 21

22. I NSPIRATION AND M OTIVATION Stuffed animals are often given as a symbol of emotion or a personal connection. These bears are static, often times you wonder if there is only someway I can communicate with the bear to show I am thinking of them Enhance interpersonal communication Communicating emotions in tangible form Enhance communication between loved ones and to develop a personal emotional language Create a portable tangible form of interpersonal communication Build on the bear methaphor Real-time sharing of activity