Impact of Connected Objects on Social Encounters

Abstract

This study focuses on how connected objects could influence social encounters in a mingling event. Therefore a user study was conducted with Pop Glass; an interactive glass that uses coloured lights to reveal and shape social relations. 29 students participated in a staged mingling event where they were asked to use this object. Two analyses were done; one interaction analysis with an ethnomethodological perspective and one
quantitative analysis that was based on annotations of the groups in space and gathered proximity data. The former revealed that even if the lights were off, the glass was used as a topic of talk, ‘toasting device’ and boundary object, making relevant a social past. With the lights on Pop Glass proved to be a talkable, a ‘super networker’ and it triggered a collective sense making process about the experiment itself. The quantitative analysis showed that glass’ lights motivated people to switch groups and act in bigger groups. This verified that in search for meaning people tend to mingle more, which on itself is an interesting starting point for design implications.