UBICOMP/ISWC ’17 ADJUNCT, SEPTEMBER 11-15, 2017, MAUI, HAWAII, USA

Wearable Aura: An Interactive
Projection on Personal Space toEnhance Communication
Dingding Zheng
Masa Inakage
Laura Lugaresi
Keio University Graduate School
Keio University Graduate School of Media Designof Media Design
Yokohama, Japan
Yokohama, Japan
inakage@kmd.keio.ac.jp
zheng208@kmd.keio.ac.jp
laural@kmd.keio.ac.jp
George Chernyshov
Kai Kunze
Keio University Graduate School Keio University Graduate Schoolof Media Designof Media Design
Yokohama, Japan
Yokohama, Japan
chernyshov@kmd.keio.ac.jp
kai@kmd.keio.ac.jp

Abstract
This study focuses on how technology can encourage andease awkwardness-free communications between people inreal-world scenarios. We propose a device, The WearableAura, able to project a personalized animation onto one’s
Personal Distance zone. This projection, as an extensionof one-self is reactive to user’s cognitive status, aware of
its environment, context and user’s activity. Our user study
supports the idea that an interactive projection around anindividual can indeed benefit the communications with otherindividuals.

Author Keywords

Benjamin Tag
Keio University Graduate Schoolof Media DesignYokohama, Japantagbenja@kmd.keio.ac.jp

Wearable devices; Display; Aura; Personal distance; Proxemics; Communication; Social interaction.

ACM Classification Keywords
H.5.m [Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI)]:
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Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to ACM.
UbiComp/ISWC’17 Adjunct , September 11–15, 2017, Maui, HI, USA
ACM 978-1-4503-5190-4/17/09.
10.1145/3123024.3123161

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Introduction
In the recent released Internet Trends 2017 report, the penetration of SNS has been incredibly large; on the contrary,
deficit of face-to-face communications is becoming moreand more common. This study aims to offer a potential solution by proposing a device called Wearable Aura which
can encourage people to interact in real world. In the sense

UBICOMP/ISWC ’17 ADJUNCT, SEPTEMBER 11-15, 2017, MAUI, HAWAII, USAof interactions, the Wearable Aura is like a spiritual pet thatwalks around the user wherever she/he goes. The aura is
projected within the user’s personal space. It can interact
with the user and with whoever approaches close enough.
The aura changes its status according to the user’s cognitive state or other contextual clues. We aim to design
the aura as an extension of the user by bonding it with theuser’s cognitive activities such as feelings and thoughts.
Studies have shown how walking a pet bridges private andpublic space –it is easier to build social connections withother people [1, 9]. We try to replicate the impact of pets tothe humans’ social interactions with the Wearable Aura. In
the user tests of the first prototype, the Wearable Aura promoted different interactions with pedestrians who passedby the users. We believe the Wearable Aura can augment
face-to-face interactions between people.
Figure 1: Before Auras interactwith each otherFigure 2: When Auras interact witheach other

Related Works
Our approach relies on proxemics: a theory on perceptionof distances between individuals in social context [4]. Hallmentioned four distance zones: Intimate, Personal, Socialand Public. People decide what distance to keep according
to the intimacy level of their relationship. According to theproxemics theory, there is a correlation between physicaldistance and social distance [4].
Many works analyze the relevance of proxemics in humans’
perception and adjustment of their spatial relationship withothers and with the environment [6]. There is not so manyworks on interaction augmentation using the concept ofproxemics, however, the study of Wolf et al. shows how interactive dynamic floor projection is an effective approach
to influence people spatial relationships [8]. In the work by
Tomitsch et al., they intend to improve social interaction by
projecting one’s social identity (Facebook profile details)

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on the ceiling, thus augmenting the personal space aroundthe user. Augmentation was shown to be a conversation
starter [5]. However, they do not focus on enhancing one’s
personality augmenting and showing one’s emotional status.

Approach
Aura is defined as any subtle, invisible emanation or exhalation [3]. Atkinson described it as a oval shape radiation
surrounding each individual on all sides for two or threefeet [7]. In the design of Wearable Aura, we visualize "aura"
as a personalized animation projected by a wearable device. We want to emphasize the thigh bonding between
the device and the user, and make Wearable Aura a tool toaugment user’s personality. For example, Aura is quiet if theuser is calm, brighter and lively if excited, or dark and slow
if bored. We believe that this alive feature intensifies thecommunication potential of the Aura, since it is not just an
animation but it becomes a communication media. Therefore Aura is connected to the cognitive status of the user,
and the shape and configuration of the projections is adjusted according to it.
It does not only represent one’s cognition, but it also acts
like a ’spiritual pet’ that can interact with the user and withthe surroundings. Aura changes is aspect and behavior according to the surroundings, movements of the user andpeople who approach it. Hence, the Wearable Aura createsan Interactivated Space around the user [2], a responsive
environment that reacts to the activities of people in realtime. Similarly to Wolf et al. this kind of augmentations does
not only makes the projection ’alive’, but also encourages
people to interact with it [8]. Or another example: when
pet owners are walking their pets, they can approach eachother naturally. Therefore, we believe that walking with a living ’aura’ can also lead to spontaneous social interactions.

POSTERS

User Study

Figure 3: Interaction of projection
during prototype test

In this first stage of research, we aim to analyze the visual
impact of the Aura and investigate if it generates interest inthe manner we envisioned. We tested the first prototype ofWearable Aura with a qualitative research on people’s reaction to it, with the of Wizard of Oz approach. We used minilaser projectors. The projection was manually controlled,
and the projector was hidden from the subjects. The Aurawas represented by an animated butterfly (about 15x15cm size) projected in one’s personal space, following theuser and interacting with people around the user’s personaldistance. We ran two tests during the nighttime (around 9p.m.). The participant wear the Aura and walk for about 10
minutes around the neighborhood (area near university andtrain station). We observed the reactions of people passing by and the interactions occurred between them and theAura Wearer.
About 30% people encountered clearly express curiosity,and attempted a verbal interaction with the participant.
Around 10% went closer to the Aura to interact with theprojection. Most of the people encountered interacted nonverbally with the participant, smiling or glancing (see Figure 3). We compared these results with the ones from thesimilar experience run without the device, which led to few
glances and no more.

Figure 4: Interaction of projection
during prototype test

We run a second test in Shibuya, one of the most crowded
areas of Tokyo, with the same equipment, supposing thata more lively context will augments the impact of the Aura.
In the second location the projection was noticed by around
30% of the people encountered, differently from first test
(around 90%). However, the effect of the interaction was
more intense and lasted longer. Several people started aproper conversation, and some openly played with the projection (see Figure 4).

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The results may be influenced by the novelty of a personal
projection following one’s steps, but at the same time they
make us believe that the Wearable Aura is a possible bridgeto enhance communication with strangers, acting as interaction catalyst and possible conversation starter, especially
if people are willing to interact with each other. In thosecases, people already have the clear intention of meetingother people, so we believe Aura will be a valuable tool tosimplify and enhance it.

Envisioned Setup
There are three major parts in the system: the input sensors, the Aura translator, and the output device. Severaltechnologies are already available to implement The Wearable Aura system (see Figure 5).
The Input Sensors
The Wearable Aura requires two input groups of sensors:
motion and space awareness sensors and cognitive statesensors. The motion and space awareness sensors are distance sensors and an IMU. These will be used to map thesurroundings of the Aura to adjust the projection. The cognition input sensors will offer the information of the user’s
cognitive status. All the data will be transfered to the Aura
Translator System.
The Aura Translator System
The Aura Translator System will render the animations according to the input data. The cognitive data will determine
the status of the aura animation; the motion data will determine the behavior; while the geometry of the environment
will determine the position.
The Output Device
The output is an animations rendered by the Aura Translator System and project around the user. Taking the wave
animation as an example, the Aura output device will dis-UBICOMP/ISWC ’17 ADJUNCT, SEPTEMBER 11-15, 2017, MAUI, HAWAII, USA

play strong waves animation when the Aura translator system detects that user is excited, calm waves animation forneutral state, and slow and dark bubbling waves for boredor relaxing state.

Figure 5: System design

Figure 6: prototype test with
EmotivePrototype Test
In this test, we used Emotive Insight as the cognitive input
sensor. It is a wearable headset with mobile EEG systemthat detects emotions such as excitement, relax, bored andso on. The data is displayed on a EEG software. We asked
a participant to wear the Emotive Insight while we used
his excitement data group (orange curve; see Figure 6) as
the input data. We utilized an animation of a flying butterfly
to present the aura. The flying speed changed according
the excitement levels through the Aura translator system, acoded program on a PC. All the components are connected
wireless trough wifi. During the prototype test, the participant perceived the butterfly flied faster and more aggressive
when he got more exciting, and slower and calmer when hegot relaxed.

Future Work

Figure 7: Sketch of Wearable Auradevice embedded shoes. Input
sensors, output appliance, andbattery are all part of the shoe
design.

For the future work, we will focus on three aspects. Firs ofall, instead of having the user wearing multiple units of devices, we aim to design one single wearable item, such asa pair of shoes (see Figure 7). In addition, the current Auraanimation is a 2D floor projection, we expect to project 3D
animations in the future. Moreover, if possible, we would
like to display the aura animations without a physical projector. Moreover, We plan to test in what kinds of scenarios theWearable Aura can be used as a tool to enhance communication. We expect to test in entertaining situations in whichpeople look for interaction, such as gatherings, events, barsand clubs.

Acknolledgemnts
This work is partly supported by JST CREST Grant No.
JPMJCR16E1.

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