lightbound

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School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Bachelor's thesis
Ask about the availability of the thesis by sending email to the Aalto University Learning Centre oppimiskeskus@aalto.fi

Authors

Date

2015

Department

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

35 + 8

Series

Abstract

The feeling of connectedness with our close friends and family is fundamental to the human pursuit of happiness. While we can’t always share everyday life in each other’s physical proximity, we have grown accustomed to rely on networked technology. Yet, the commonly used screen-based devices – such as smartphones – often fail to mediate the simple notion of togetherness. As an alternative approach, a specifically designed awareness system could add profoundly posi-tive experiences to daily remote communication. At the same time, the quickly growing open-source community offers tools for also non-experts of technology to nimbly explore new solutions from their own fields of expertise. To conclude, positive experiences of remote presence as a starting point, open-source technology as a possibility, I’m re-addressing the topic of “How might open-source technology be harnessed to foster connectedness across distance in close, personal relationships?” with an expressive and aesthetical, as well as case-specific approach. In the first part of this thesis I will define general design principles for an awareness system based on previous examples in the field of Human Computer Interaction. In the Process-section I will further specify the challenge with a particular user-case scenario, and through a series of iterative prototyping, design the Lightbound-concept. Further on, in the Results-chapter I will share in-sights from testing the technology in real-life context. For watching the concept video, please visit lightboundproject.com.

Description

Supervisor

Puintila, Simo

Thesis advisor

Puintila, Simo

Keywords

human computer interaction, open-source, technology, new media, tangible user interface, connectedness

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Citation

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-201506303372

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[kand] Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu / ARTS