Augmenting daily spaces and objects for opportunistic social interaction

Abstract

The objective of my research is to investigate how daily objects can be augmented with embedded technologies to support public opportunistic sociality (i.e. social curiosity, awareness, f2f interaction). I investigate how inhabitants of public spaces discover and use the augmented objects and the effects on daily sociality. I explore how different modes of engagement impact on interactions and how these vary in different locations. I address my research questions by deploying technological prototypes in month-lasting studies in the wild. I rely on both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyse how heterogeneous and differently recurrent users discover make sense and appropriate technologies over time in relation to situated sociality.