Ambiance: Designing for Emotional Connection in Remote Relationships

Abstract

In today’s rapidly evolving world, family dynamics, home environments, and communication methods areundergoing profound transformations. The rise of remote families and the trend towards personalized, smaller, and less crowded home spaces reflect a shift towards individuality and autonomy. This research employs a mixed-method approach to capture a range of data on emotional responses and family relationships. An in-context diary study was conducted to validate participants’ responses to the idea of an ambient soundgenerating bottle. The findings suggest that using a variety of personalized sounds, along with visual indications, can evoke various emotions and foster a sense of togetherness. Reflecting these findings, the Ambiance Bottle was developed through model-making techniques such as 3D printing, woodworking, glassblowing, and Arduino coding. This artifact aims to bridge the emotional gap in remote family relationships by creating a slow-paced, emotionally driven interaction within personalized home spaces. The final interaction with the bottle features personalized ambient sounds (live sharing, ambient recording, and memory playback) and visual cues (lighting) that enhance the emotional experience.