Designing a Wearable Social Network

Candidate: Yin He
Type: Master of Science (MSc), School of Interactive Arts and Technology
Date: December 15, 2009
Senior Supervisor: Thecla Schiphorst
Thesis: Download Thesis Document

Abstract

This thesis explores the design of a nonverbal communication system for a circle of friends.  An Exploratory Design process is used to gain insight into the design of a Wearable Social Network (WSN).  The WSN is rooted in concepts of social interaction in HCI augmented by traditions of Sociology to create more human-centric systems.  The resulting system, Patches, applies this framework creating a wearable system that allows users to physically 'fee' a friend's online expression and respond through natural interaction with clothing.  Studies show that the tactile experience created by the WSN extends current social networking applications to be more interesting, entertaining, and fun.  The WSN is a "warm network" that creates comforting and intimate ways of communicating with close friends and family.  Exploratory design research creates a new design space for examining virtual expression and interaction.  Although this framework focused on wearable computing, it can be applied to a broader range of social networking applications.

Keywords:  wearable computing; social networking; social computing; touch; exploratory design; Facebook