| Communication between people is multifaceted and complex. Communication mediated by machines is still too practical and shallow. Communication shapes relationships, identity, belongingness and knowledge. I am interested in exposing and identifying these layers of complexity in communication, and research how they can be implemented in devices that will help people communicate with each other without loosing the multifaceted, meaningful power of human interaction. Internet technologies introduced new concepts such as presence systems, interest-based communities and public blogs. I am interested to ‘port’ these concepts into the real world, augmenting personal objects with advanced communication capabilities. The result will be new types of ‘connected objects’ that are not only practical but also help me to keep in touch. A
home should be more proactive in fostering better communication
between its residents. A home should connect its residents with
their collective memories. Interaction among living things is heavily
influenced by past occurrences. A person among her family members
or in a familiar environment is almost a different person than among
strangers. I want to build household objects that absorb their owner’s
personality and preferences. This will lead to objects & rooms
that remember past interactions. These ‘memory objects’
could become our agents, representing us in a physical/virtual world
of negotiating objects. Ambient
Intelligence group: research page. |
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| Portrait of Cati II may 2006 spotlight october 2005 Influence april 2005 Moving Portraits2 oct 2004 Evocative Portrait march 2004 moving portraits1 oct 2003 |
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PLAYPAL(With
Leonardo Bonanni, Jeff Lieberman, and Cati Vaucelle) |
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Tangible Interfaces for Remote Communication and Play PlayPals are a set of wireless figurines with their electronic accessories that provide children with a playful way to communicate between remote locations. PlayPals is designed for children aged 5-8 to share multimedia experiences and virtual co-presence. We learned from our pilot study that embedding digital communication into existing play pattern enhances both remote play and communication. |
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TapTap,
the affectionate scarf(With
Leonardo Bonanni, Jeff Lieberman, and Cati Vaucelle) |
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TapTap: A Haptic Wearable for Asynchronous Distributed Touch Therapy TapTap is a wearable haptic system that allows nurturing human touch to be recorded, broadcast and played back for emotional therapy. Haptic input/output modules in a convenient modular scarf provide affectionate touch that can be personalized. We make money not art blog entry Taptap will be part of the second Seamless fashion show, to be held on February 1, at the Boston Museum of Science. |
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CASY:
Contextual Asynchronous System |
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In
recent decades families have become more geographically distributed,
making it challenging for family members to maintain a feeling of
intimacy. Distributed families face many challenges trying to maintain
a sense of intimacy: Different time zones, limited conversation
topics, and limited knowledge of the other’s availability
and mindset, to name a few. Distributed family members tend to share
information, practical issues (when and where to meet next time),
as well as special occasions (e.g. birthday events or job promotion)
and less emotional information. The result is a more fragmented
relationship, which gradually leads to less intimacy. Modern communication
technologies (phone, cell phone, email, instant messaging) improve
communication, but in most cases, do not achieve the same level
of intimacy and connectedness as in face-to-face communication.
Short paper published in IDC2005 |
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MYBALL(With
Oren Zuckerman, Marko Popovic, Susanne Seitinger, Elisabeth Sylvan) We are working on a ball that moves in ways intriguing to children playing outdoors. In the current design, the ball is powered by a light rechargeable car that rides on its inner surface. The behavior of MyBall plays an important role in its functionality: sometimes rolling towards a group of children and sometimes away from a crowd. Coupling charges from battery or renewably sources with a car inside allows the ball to anchor at an appropriate time and place making for an amazing play experience. click for more information and concept videos |
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