Together Anywhere, Together Anytime

Tom just sent me a link to this Pan European project: Together Anywhere, Together Anytime. The Interactive Insitute in Sweden is one of 13 different organizations. The website says:

How can technology help to nurture family-to-family relationships? This is the question asked by the collaborative project “Together Anywhere, Together Anytime” (TA2).

For many people, families form the key social unit. Many of our enduring experiences, holidays, celebrations and moments of fun and laughter are framed as family events. This is something that current technology does not address well: modern media and communications serve individuals best, with phones, computers and electronic games devices tending to be individually owned and providing individual experiences.

TA2 seeks to redress this imbalance, by exploring how technology can support group to group communication.

Sounds very interesting and related, doesn't it?

Early screen shot

I haven't written in a while, which actually is sort of a good thing. I have been working hard on my project. The image above is a screen shot from the child's end of Globetoddler. The orange avatar is controlled by the child's physical toy, whereas the green avatar has been added remotely from the parent's cell phone application.

Quilt of Belonging

Image: Quilt of Belonging official website

A while ago Dale Hubert recommended me to take a look at a multi-cultural collective creativity project called Quilt of Belonging:

I thought of you as I listened to a radio interview with Esther Bryan. She's a Canadian artist who created the Quilt of Belonging. Since Canada is such a multi-cultural country with citizens from every country in the world, she created this quilt. It's amazing! It has sections from everywhere in the world. Her website allows visitors to view individual pieces and provides a summary of what materials were used and why the design was chosen, as well as information about that country. And the final result is gorgeous!

You can read more about the project here.

Traveling monkey advertising

Now, this is something. Have a look at one of the latest AT&T Wireless commercial.

My former colleague Rachel's comment on it was:

...it's like Monkey Business meets Globe Toddler!

Or maybe Monkey Business meets Flat Stanley?

Shared custody

Image: My Tamagotchi

I have now come to a point where many of the details in my project have been nailed down. However, one of the most crucial elements is still unsolved, namely, the need for a joint activity that helps the parent and the child connect over a distance, and, ideally, serves as an incentive for the child.

As you probably already know, the basic concept is that the child and the parent use the same system for different reasons, but still feel a (strong) connection. Until recently, I had no idea how to realize the concept. All I knew was that I'll have a cell phone on the parent's end, a stuffed animal on the child's end, and some kind of software that ties those two interfaces together. Nothing really specific.

Then, completely out of the blue, my former colleague Matt sent me an email the other day:

Just read your blog post.

Very similar concepts to my idea (and that's all it it so far) about
long distance pet ownership...

The idea is that two or more people (e.g. parent and kid) take joint
responsibility for looking after a virtual pet. Maybe the pet is
life-sized in the home and also accessible by mobile means. But "joint
responsibility" and mutual awareness is the key - e.g. it needs to be
walked once a day and it doesn't matter who walks it, just as long as the
owners coordinate and make sure it happens.

I love the concept. In fact, the idea is so nice and simple that I can't stop wondering why I never thought of it myself. Single-user virtual "custody" has existed for a while now, for example Tamagotchi, Webkinz, and AdoptMe, but joint virtual custody is new (at least to me). The concept fits really nicely into my project, since it has the potential of serving as a (1) separation preparation activity, (2) engaging discussion topic, (3) learning tool (time, planning, shared responsibility), (4) incentive for continuous use, and (5) fun toy at the same time.

Approved

I received yet another email:

12/27/07

Paulina ~ MASCOM has reviewed your proposal -- congratulations your
proposal is considered approved.

Yey!

Breaking point: a need for persuasion?

Image: Kellscraft

One of the most surprising outcomes of the project so far is this (excerpt from a paper that I am writing):

Once separated from their traveling parent, the children seem to handle being apart well. The parents describe their children as being “busy” and in their “own little world”. Only occasionally the children specifically ask for their parents. The traveling parent, on the other hand, seems to handle the separation less well - having a guilty conscience is common.

This project started out as an attempt to design a system for young children of traveling business men and women. My intention was to make it easier for these children to stay in touch with their traveling parent, who I assumed they were missing. However, as the project has evolved, I have come to realize that my assumptions were unfounded and wrong. Really, the main concern in this context is not the children but the parent. Basically, what my task ended up being is to make a system that helps parents stay in touch with their occupied preschoolers by designing an interface that entices the child to interact with them. I am aware of the ethical complications that this new approach brings to the table; I am basically proposing to design an interactive lure by applying persuasive elements. In addition, the approach does not at all agree with one of my key starting points (excerpt from my thesis proposal):

First, when we think of parent-child awareness we tend to see it from the parents’ point of view. Parents want to monitor their children and make sure that they are safe, but what about the children? Do they feel a similar need to be aware of and feel connected to their parents?

However, one could also choose to look at the approach from a more positive (naive?) point of view; my main goal is still to construct an interface that is enjoyable and usable for preschoolers. Thus, the focus lies on the children. If this interface, in addition, can help traveling parents feel closer to their children, then that is a big plus.

In order to understand the negative and positive implications of persuasive technology (captology), I am currently looking into the work conducted by the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab.