Witnessed Presence in Networked Wearables

Abstract

Wearable electronics is a nascent sector of technology that is already generating a lot of excitement and speculation as a clear candidate for (yet another) disruptive innovation. Data from the (social) Internet in combination with various deployments of ubiquitous computing such as the Internet of Things (IoT) together a promise of unprecedented intersection of the online and offline worlds, a new dimension rich with ambient information. Wearables present therefore an incredible opportunity to re-invent how we connect to ourselves and the world around us. And perhaps this is a timely intervention for modern civilisation. The technological aspect of modern socio-technical systems enables great flows of information, vastly extending human agency as well. Essential social processes are enabled and carried out over communication technologies; fundamental social structures are changing. However, the opportunities to witness one another, already tenuous in physical presence, do not smoothly transition into the new generation of technology-mediated interactions, be it person-to-person or person-to-system. It is only through the act of witnessing one another that people establish presence and develop trust, in ever-expanding merging biological, social and algorithmic realities. As a technological medium acting at the very boundary of the individual in both the physical and digital world, it would be interesting to design wearables that enhance witnessing in modern network(ed) societies. This work approaches the effort simultaneously from Policy Analysis, sociology and Science and Technology Studies (STS) perspectives. Key references include Marshall McLuhan (Medium Theory), Barry Wellman (Networked Individualism) and Caroline Nevejan (Witnessed Presence). This is coupled with a case-study of an upcoming wearable called BOND by Kwamecorp, a new media agency. BOND utilises the touch modality that wearables uniquely can harness, to send tickles between a pair of synced devices. The product is targeted at intimate couples. As such, both the wearable form-factor as well as the novel communication channel make BOND ideal for investigating witnessed presence in wearables. It was found that wearables in their mobility and portability can be imagined as technological organs on the modern human being. A useful design mantra for wearables was condensed as contextual embodied augmentation. Context-sensitivity demands specialised affordances; embodiment refers to intuitive extensions and calls to action that keep users immersed in the real world, as opposed to the reality-in-a-screen; and finally augmentation is recommended as a design principle such that wearables provide ways the enrich reality with information. Touch-modality is seen as a promising new avenue unique to wearables; digital stimuli can be ‘affective’ on users. Wearables in their selective and portable enhancement divorce traditionally conflated social function and physical place, condensing expertise into portable devices. In bridging the digital-physical world, wearables become the offline equivalent of digital ‘avatars’, which gain value by storing valuable personal information and furthermore using them to provide pointed affordances for (inter)actions in both online and offline worlds. An ethnographic study of Kwamecorp and a design history of BOND contributes an insider look at new technology development in a contemporary startup setting. Interviews conducted with nine designers from Kwamecorp are analysed to elucidate the design intentions of BOND. BOND’s Touch module is confirmed to facilitate witnessed presence by enhancing co-presence among interacting parties. This is enabled by a ‘quantum of presence’ interaction. This discretised form of connectivity is in line with a general trend of affordances to counterbalance the greater frequency of connection and communication in modern living. These kinds of communications, in their reduced format, are both easily deployable in wearables and, while the reduction in complexity can be ambiguous, it is a feature that invites more creative participation from both parties. Ultimately, the thesis is useful to anyone interested in developing both industrial and consumer applications with wearable electronics, those interested in how sociological insights can help actively in the design of new technologies for socio-technical systems, or as a primer for witnessed presence