Designing a Wearable Glove for Nonverbal Presence
Designing a Wearable Glove for Nonverbal Presence
Designing a Wearable Glove for Nonverbal Presence
Category
Interaction Design, Physical Computing
Tools
Arduino IDE · VS Code · MQTT Explorer · User Research · Experience Design
Timeline
3 months (September 2024 – December 2024)
Team
Atisha Kudesia (Technical Prototyping, User Research, Experience Design) • Seeun Park (Industrial Design & Physical Fabrication)
Problem
Problem
Long-distance relationships lack a passive to feel each other's presence, and existing products require deliberate taps and offer no real biometric connection.
Long-distance relationships lack a passive to feel each other's presence, and existing products require deliberate taps and offer no real biometric connection.
Solution
Solution
A wearable sensor glove that reads your heartbeat and a bedside lamp that echoes it as a breathing glow over Wi-Fi without screens, notifications, manual input.
A wearable sensor glove that reads your heartbeat and a bedside lamp that echoes it as a breathing glow over Wi-Fi without screens, notifications, manual input.
Impact
Impact
Reduction in self-reported separation anxiety across 10 participant pairs, with fewer late-night check-in texts and improved sleep quality over a 2-week diary study.
Reduction in self-reported separation anxiety across 10 participant pairs, with fewer late-night check-in texts and improved sleep quality over a 2-week diary study.
"Every night, millions of people reach for their phones just to confirm someone they love is still there."
"Every night, millions of people reach for their phones just to confirm someone they love is still there."
Problem
Problem
Problem
Adults wrestle with separation anxiety too: endless doom-scroll checks, midnight "just text me when you're home" pings.
Existing products in this space, Bond Touch bracelets, Filimin friendship lamps, Hey bracelets, rely on manual "I'm thinking of you" taps, which require conscious action and lose emotional fidelity.
Adults wrestle with separation anxiety too: endless doom-scroll checks, midnight "just text me when you're home" pings.
Existing products in this space, Bond Touch bracelets, Filimin friendship lamps, Hey bracelets, rely on manual "I'm thinking of you" taps, which require conscious action and lose emotional fidelity.
Design challenge
Craft a low-friction, always-available reassurance channel that conveys genuine presence, not just a notification, without adding new screens or cognitive load.
Goal
Reduce decision fatigue by organizing complex information in a more digestible and interactive format.
Simplify the booking journey by streamlining filters, reducing clutter, and highlighting what matters most to each user.
Research & Validation
Research & Validation
Research & Validation
Six semi-structured interviews with 4 psychotherapists and 2 clinical psychologists surfaced three key insights:
Six semi-structured interviews with 4 psychotherapists and 2 clinical psychologists surfaced three key insights:
Tangible heartbeat feedback calms separation anxiety.
Therapists confirmed that rhythmic, body-linked stimuli (like a heartbeat) activate co-regulation responses, the same mechanism that makes a parent's chest soothe an infant.
Tangible heartbeat feedback calms separation anxiety.
Therapists confirmed that rhythmic, body-linked stimuli (like a heartbeat) activate co-regulation responses, the same mechanism that makes a parent's chest soothe an infant.
Over-reliance risks tech dependency and panic on failure.
If the lamp goes offline, a user in an anxious state could spiral. The system needed graceful degradation and clear "offline" states that don't trigger alarm.
Over-reliance risks tech dependency and panic on failure.
If the lamp goes offline, a user in an anxious state could spiral. The system needed graceful degradation and clear "offline" states that don't trigger alarm.
Deployment should include protocols for healthy breaks.
Continuous monitoring can become compulsive. Therapists recommended built-in "rest" periods or user-controlled pauses.
Deployment should include protocols for healthy breaks.
Continuous monitoring can become compulsive. Therapists recommended built-in "rest" periods or user-controlled pauses.
"A heartbeat is the first sound we ever associate with safety. If you can bring that into someone's environment, you're not just reducing anxiety, you're reactivating a primal sense of co-regulation." — Psychotherapist
"A heartbeat is the first sound we ever associate with safety. If you can bring that into someone's environment, you're not just reducing anxiety, you're reactivating a primal sense of co-regulation." — Psychotherapist
Design Principles
Design Principles
Quiet over clever
Quiet over clever
Restraint in hue, brightness, and motion. The lamp should feel like a sunset, not a dashboard.
Restraint in hue, brightness, and motion. The lamp should feel like a sunset, not a dashboard.
Presence, not surveillance
Presence, not surveillance
The signal communicates "I'm here", never "I'm watching you." No data logging, no heart-rate history, no alerts.
The signal communicates "I'm here", never "I'm watching you." No data logging, no heart-rate history, no alerts.
Graceful degradation
Graceful degradation
When the connection drops, the lamp gently fades rather than abruptly going dark. No failure state should feel alarming.
When the connection drops, the lamp gently fades rather than abruptly going dark. No failure state should feel alarming.
Opt-in vulnerability
Opt-in vulnerability
Both the wearer and the viewer choose to participate. Either person can pause at any time without notification to the other.
Both the wearer and the viewer choose to participate. Either person can pause at any time without notification to the other.
Design Iterations
Design Iterations
From Breadboard to Wearable
From Breadboard to Wearable
Initial Concept
Initial concept: Exposed wires, breadboard-mounted sensor. Functional but clinical.
Initial concept: Exposed wires, breadboard-mounted sensor. Functional but clinical.
Feedback: Users found it uncomfortable and the exposed electronics felt fragile and intimidating
Feedback: Users found it uncomfortable and the exposed electronics felt fragile and intimidating
Revision
Revision
Revision: Added a stretchy glove with soft felt lining for the wearable component. Tested across 8 different finger sizes for consistent sensor contact.
Revision: Added a stretchy glove with soft felt lining for the wearable component. Tested across 8 different finger sizes for consistent sensor contact.
The Lamp: From Novelty to Calm
The Lamp: From Novelty to Calm
Initial Concept
Initial Concept
Initial concept: A dome-shaped lamp with a lattice/waffle pattern.
Initial concept: A dome-shaped lamp with a lattice/waffle pattern.
Feedback: Users perceived it as novelty décor "cute" but not calming. The form didn't communicate its emotional purpose.
Feedback: Users perceived it as novelty décor "cute" but not calming. The form didn't communicate its emotional purpose.
Revision
Revision
Revision: We adopted a semi-circular MDF arc with a gradient diffuser that simulates a setting sun through color falloff. This form immediately shifted user perception from "gadget" to "ambient object."
Revision: We adopted a semi-circular MDF arc with a gradient diffuser that simulates a setting sun through color falloff. This form immediately shifted user perception from "gadget" to "ambient object."
Finding the Right Glow
Finding the Right Glow
Initial Concept
Initial concept: Holographic film behind the diffuser for visual drama.
Initial concept: Holographic film behind the diffuser for visual drama.
Observation: Holographic film produced hotspots and excessive brightness (1,200 lux at 30 cm), the opposite of calming.
Observation: Holographic film produced hotspots and excessive brightness (1,200 lux at 30 cm), the opposite of calming.
Revision: We replaced it with frosted acrylic layered with tracing paper.
Revision: We replaced it with frosted acrylic layered with tracing paper.
Revision
Revision
Revision: Sub-300 lux "breathing" glow that participants consistently preferred over any flashy biometric visualization.
Revision: Sub-300 lux "breathing" glow that participants consistently preferred over any flashy biometric visualization.
Exhibition Design
Exhibition Design
At the December 2024 SVA ixD exhibition, we split the gallery into two mirror zones, "Brooklyn" and "Bangalore", to dramatize the lamp's promise of collapsing distance. Visitors wore the glove in one zone and watched the lamp respond in the other.
At the December 2024 SVA ixD exhibition, we split the gallery into two mirror zones, "Brooklyn" and "Bangalore", to dramatize the lamp's promise of collapsing distance. Visitors wore the glove in one zone and watched the lamp respond in the other.
At the December 2024 SVA ixD exhibition, we split the gallery into two mirror zones, "Brooklyn" and "Bangalore", to dramatize the lamp's promise of collapsing distance. Visitors wore the glove in one zone and watched the lamp respond in the other.
This wasn't just theming. Splitting the room primed visitors to feel distance before witnessing its collapse. The spatial storytelling amplified the hardware's emotional impact in ways a demo table never could.
This wasn't just theming. Splitting the room primed visitors to feel distance before witnessing its collapse. The spatial storytelling amplified the hardware's emotional impact in ways a demo table never could.
This wasn't just theming. Splitting the room primed visitors to feel distance before witnessing its collapse. The spatial storytelling amplified the hardware's emotional impact in ways a demo table never could.
We also created a "Language of Light" guide explaining what each color state meant, so visitors could read the lamp's emotional vocabulary without instruction.
We also created a "Language of Light" guide explaining what each color state meant, so visitors could read the lamp's emotional vocabulary without instruction.
We also created a "Language of Light" guide explaining what each color state meant, so visitors could read the lamp's emotional vocabulary without instruction.
"For thirty seconds I forgot it was a lamp. It just felt like someone was in the room with me."
— Exhibition visitor
"For thirty seconds I forgot it was a lamp. It just felt like someone was in the room with me."
— Exhibition visitor
If We Had More Time
If We Had More Time
Companion app for onboarding and pause controls. Currently, pausing requires physically removing the glove. A lightweight mobile interface would support the "opt-in vulnerability" principle and give users agency without adding monitoring features.
Companion app for onboarding and pause controls. Currently, pausing requires physically removing the glove. A lightweight mobile interface would support the "opt-in vulnerability" principle and give users agency without adding monitoring features.
Multi-person support. Several parent participants asked about connecting to multiple children's lamps. This raises interesting design questions about how to differentiate multiple heartbeats in a single ambient display without creating a dashboard.
Multi-person support. Several parent participants asked about connecting to multiple children's lamps. This raises interesting design questions about how to differentiate multiple heartbeats in a single ambient display without creating a dashboard.
Longitudinal study. Two weeks showed promising results, but understanding whether the anxiety reduction sustains, or whether habituation diminishes the effect, requires a 3-6 month study.
Longitudinal study. Two weeks showed promising results, but understanding whether the anxiety reduction sustains, or whether habituation diminishes the effect, requires a 3-6 month study.
Graceful offline storytelling. The current "fade out" when connection drops is functional but could be more intentional. What if the lamp slowly shifted to a "memory" glow, the last recorded rhythm, gently fading, rather than simply dimming?
Graceful offline storytelling. The current "fade out" when connection drops is functional but could be more intentional. What if the lamp slowly shifted to a "memory" glow, the last recorded rhythm, gently fading, rather than simply dimming?