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Intimate Objects: Working at the Crossroads of Information Science

Explore the use of minimal intimate objects, such as physical and virtual devices, as communication tools for long-distance relationships. This seminar delves into the methodology and results of a study on the use of these devices in fostering intimacy between couples. 8 Relevant

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Intimate Objects: Working at the Crossroads of Information Science

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  1. Intimate Objects:Working at the Crossroads of Information Science Cornell Information Science Seminar 13 April 2005 Joseph ‘Jofish’ Kaye Culturally Embedded Computing Cornell Information Science jofish@cornell.edu

  2. Intimate Objects • Technological devices for couples to communicate • Long distance relationships: lead users of communication technologies • Popular topic for design in HCI, but… [1] Kaye,J ‘J’ and Goulding, L. Intimate Objects. Proceedings of DIS 2004,ACM Press.

  3. Intimacy in HCI History of elegantly designed but ad-hoc interfaces for communicating intimacy in HCI • Fields & Thresholds (Dunne & Raby DoP2 '94) • Feather, Scent & Shaker (Strong & Gaver CSCW'96) • The Bed (Dodge CHI'97) • UbiComp'03 Workshop on Intimacy www.intimateornot.org • Digital Family Portrait (Mynatt et. al. CHI'01) • inTouch (Brave, Ishii, Dahley CSCW'98) • inStink, Honey I’m Home (Kaye '02, interactions '04) • ……

  4. Feather, Scent & Shaker:Supporting simple intimacy.Rob Strong & Bill Gaver, CSCW 1996

  5. Honey I’m Home. In Aromatic Output for HCI.interactions 11(1) Jan+Feb (2004) 48-61

  6. Minimal Intimate Objects • Class project for Advanced HCI (INFO.640) • Collaboration with Mariah K. Levitt, Jeffrey Nevins, Jessica Golden and Vanessa Schmidt • Working with Jeff Hancock & Kirsten Boehner • CHI 2005 Poster: Communicating Intimacy One Bit at a Time, Proceedings of CHI 2005, ACM Press. • (CS! Bits Through Queues, Anantharam & Verdu (1998) IEEE Transactions on Information Theory)

  7. Minimal Intimate Objects: PIO • PIO (Physical Intimate Object): • Computer built inside an Altoids mints container with a button and a large red LED (light). • Connected to partner via Internet • When button is pushed, partner’s light glows bright red, then fades over time

  8. Minimal Intimate Objects: VIO • VIO (Virtual Intimate Object): • Software device represented as a small red circle in the taskbar of Window’s screen • When circle is clicked, partner’s circle glows bright red, then fades over time

  9. Focus: VIO • In this talk, and in the paper, we are focusing on the use of the VIO. All results and statistics are for couples using the VIO, not the PIO. • This is due to a combination of technical problems with the MinIOs (getting network connections) and participant dropout.

  10. Methodology: Participants • Participants • 10 couples in existing long-distance relationships (n=20) • 5 couples assigned to VIO (n=10) • 5 couples assigned to MinIO (n=10)

  11. Methodology: Procedure • Procedure • Initial screening for technology • Pre-test questionnaire • Daily Logbook for 7 days • Post-test questionnaire • Server logs of every use of IO

  12. Server Data • When a VIO is in use, it checks in with the server every ten seconds, which is logged. • The server logs every time a button is pressed. • From this we can answer questions like “How many times a day did the local partner in couple 5 press the button? The remote partner?”

  13. But…how do we evaluate intimacy? • Intimacy poorly defined, even in the literature • We asked subjects to define it themselves and use their own definition • The 19 hearts problem • Rich problems demand rich tools

  14. Daily Logbook Entries • Daily repeating Likkert scale questions • 1) How close do you feel to your partner today? • 2) How satisfied do you feel by your relationship today? • 3) How connected do you feel to your partner today? • 4) What impact do you think your frequency of use of VIO had on your partner’s day? • 5) What is your overall attitude towards VIO today? • 6) What is your overall interest level in VIO today? • 7) How comfortable did you feel with VIO today? • No statistically significant results

  15. Logbook Entries: Relationship • Questions about relationship: • The color/song/TV show/season that currently best represents my relationship is… • If I were to do a dance about my relationship today, it would be a • Rumba Samba Tango Waltz Swing

  16. Logbook Entries: Relationship • The color that currently best represents my relationship is… • Amber/yellow --> do I proceed w/ caution or speed up to beat the red or slow down anticipating a step • Purple - we have a more matured, aged relationship rather than a new, boundless one which would best be described by red. Purple is the more aged, ripened form of red. • Yellow! Like a sun, like a summer. I often laugh with Sven especially in those days. Using Vio is really funny and interesting.

  17. Logbook Entries: The IO • Questions about the intimate object itself: • I would name my IO… my partner’s IO • If I could change one thing about my IO it would be… • If my IO made a sound it would be… • Draw a picture of your ideal IO • I generally used my IO when I was… • If I could change one thing about my IO it would be

  18. Logbook Entries: The IO • If I could change one thing about my VIO it would be… • the fact that I can only use it when I'm on my computer cuz if I'm home and want to use it I have to turn it on and if I'm out I have to keep track that I want to click it • The lag time between click and reaction • Well I can see Vio only on the bar down, so I have to see it looking down. It would be nice if Vio will be something you can move around your desktop and put it where you prefer to be. • Have the red/pink color take longer to fade.

  19. Logbook Entries: Study itself • Questions about the study itself: • I think this research is really about… • Which of these is your favorite number? • 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 • I would name the people conducting this study • Tell us a better way to do this study • Who have you told about this study? Why?

  20. Logbook Entries • I think this research is really about… • Whether VIO promotes or enhances intimacy for long-distance couples • people in relationships trying to connect throughout the day without using or needing words. • It is a new way for communication. • Creating computer dependency and spreading and marketing it to the general public

  21. Cross-referencing Results:Quantitative & Qualitative • If my relationship were a season, it would be… • 7/10 VIO subjects pick “summer” • 1/10, the most heavy user, picked “spring” • 2/10, the couple with the lowest VIO use, pick “fall” and “winter”

  22. Results • Participants used it: on average a total of 14 to 168 times a day (average 35, SD 27, max > 700) • 75% reported VIO made them feel closer to their partner during the study. • 88% stated it became a regular part of their daily routine. • Many participants found it was an unobtrusive way to communicate while at work.

  23. Rich evaluations for rich situations • Inspired by Cultural Probes (Gaver, Dunne, Pacenti. interactions 6(1) 1999) • Rich understanding of users’ experience with the device • Rich opportunities for reflection • Rich source of input for what to do next, both for research and for the software.

  24. Current work • VIO 1.1, 2.0: Class project for Bill Arms’s CS.501 Software Engineering. (team of 7) • Open sourced client code, server code on SourceForge (project intimateobj) • Full paper at Less is More conference, Microsoft UK, end April, LNCS issue. • Panel at 4S on intimacy • Two upcoming studies: effects of evaluation and role of situated software

  25. Next… • What is the “intimate object”? What is the experience of the “intimate object”? • Current HCI research focuses on design methods; • Thinking about evaluations: exploring the effect of evaluation on the design and study. • Beginning to look like a dissertation topic…

  26. ‘Shouts out to my Homies’ • Phoebe Sengers, Liz Goulding & CEmCom • Mariah K. Levitt, Jeffrey Nevins, Jessica Golden & Vanessa Schmidt • Kirsten Boehner & Jeff Hancock • Bill Arms, Richard Calvi, Aakash Jain, Vishal Desai, Shantanu Shah, Matt Feusner, Wei Guo, William Yip

  27. Thank you. Joseph ‘Jofish’ Kaye jofish@cornell.edu CHI 2005 Poster: Communicating Intimacy One Bit at a Time, Proceedings of CHI 2005, ACM Press. Available at jofish.com/writing This talk at jofish.com/talks

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