CHI 2018 Student Design Competition

CHI 2018, April 21–26, 2018, Montréal, QC, Canada

Wearable Aura: Interactive Personal
Projection to Bring People Closer
Laura Lugaresi
Dingding Zheng
Keio University Graduate School Keio University Graduate Schoolof Media Designof Media Design
Yokohama, Japan
Yokohama, Japan
laural@kmd.keio.ac.jp
zheng208@kmd.keio.ac.jp
Kaiyuan Lin
Keio University Graduate Schoolof Media Design
Yokohama, Japan
rgpstu15@kmd.keio.ac.jp

Abstract
This project focuses on how technology could encourage
and ease awkwardness-free communications between people in real-world scenarios. We propose Wearable Aura,a device that is able to project a personalized animation
around the user. This projection, as an extension of oneself
is aware of the context, reacts to user’s activity, and interacts with anybody nearby, initiating an interplay with people
and taking the burden of making the first move. The Aura,as an enliven spiritual pet, floats around user’s feet. We believe that externalized interactive representation of the user
in form of a spiritual pet can ease and facilitate the communication, serve as a conversation starter, and make theinteractions between people more fun. We believe that Aura
will help the people to engage and gather in both, new andalready existing, communities.

Author Keywords
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CHI’18 Extended Abstracts, April 21–26, 2018, Montreal, QC, Canada
ACM 978-1-4503-5621-3/18/04.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3170427.3180651

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

ACM Classification Keywords
H.5.m [Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI)]:
Miscellaneous; See [http://acm.org/about/class/1998/]: for fulllist of ACM classifiers. This section is required.

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Introduction
Social networks are penetrating our daily lives and getting
broader every year, allowing us to easily get in touch withstrangers online. On the contrary, face-to-face communication often remains problematic, especially with unfamiliar
people [5]. In real-world communication with unknown people happens to be awkward or uncomfortable. Could be
arduous to break the ice and have an interaction with somebody not familiar, even when sharing the same community,
event or space.
The goal of this research is to take advantage of technology
to ease and encourage awkwardness-free verbal and nonverbal communication between people in real-world scenarios. To tackle this problem we propose Wearable Aura.
This device creates a customized and interactive floor projection inside user’s Personal Distance [6]. The Aura, as anenliven spiritual pet that floats around user’s feet, is awareof the environment, reacts to user’s movements and above
all interacts with anyone nearby. Basically, it initiates the interaction with people around the user, taking the burden of
making the first move away from user’s shoulders.
We believe that Aura will enhance connections between
people, bringing them closer. We chose to design a device
to help people interacting in the real world because we thinkthat face-to-face communication is crucial for being part ofa community. We want to replicate off-line the ease and facility of starting communications on-line. Moreover, studies
show that more people feel connected to others, the moresatisfied they were with their lives [10], which only highlights the importance of social connections.

Research and Establishing Requirements
Our vision of Wearable Aura is an extension of oneself.
According to the definition, the aura is a subtle and invisi-

CHI 2018, April 21–26, 2018, Montréal, QC, Canada

ble exhalation [4]. Panchadasi described aura as an oval
shape radiation surrounding each individual on all sides for
two or three feet [9], which perfectly matches the feel andthe area of interest for this project. Since the aura animations will be attached to the user when wearing the device
we also imagine it as a spiritual pet, floating around user’s
feet, responding to one’s movements and to the surrounding environment.
We started from observing how people behave and engage in communications in real-world scenarios. According to our observations, we deducted the requirements of
awkwardness-free verbal and nonverbal communication:• Maintaining a comfortable distance in communication• Need for a conversation starter and attention catalyst• Sense of genuine personal connection
We found it very interesting how people set the distance between them reciprocally. To feel comfortable, people havean untouchable personal area of a variable size aroundthem. According to Edward T. Hall, the anthropologist who
coined the term "Proxemics", humans usage of space ininter-human interaction is based on the social and effective
relationships between them. He mentioned four distancezones: Intimate (less than 8 inches), Personal (1.5-4 feet),Social (4-12 feet), Public (more than 12 feet). The size ofeach zone is influenced by numerous factors (culture, gender, attitude, and so on). People decide which area occupy
according to the intimacy level they have with the interlocutor. According to the Proxemics theory, there is a correlation
between physical distance and social distance [6]. In otherwords, the intimacy and connection between individuals influence their physical distance. Since Distance is an actual

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part of non-verbal communication between individuals, we
see it as a design opportunity. We aim to manipulate thisarea to affect and modify the behavior of people, changing
the distance between them to give them more chances tocommunicate.

Figure 1: Storyboard of user
scenario: utilizing Aura in public
spaces to facilitate people’sinteractions

Another source of inspiration were pets. Pets are usual andcommon topic starter to generate a conversation when theowners are walking them. Studies have shown how people walking with a dog are more likely to experience social
contact and conversation than people walking alone since
pets facilitate social interactions. Pets give the sense oftrust, are a casual conversation starter and attention catalyst too, therefore they prevent the awkwardness effectthat happens when a stranger invade one’s Personal Distance space. Walking dogs promote and encourage genuine interactions and conversations between strangers [1,12]. Pets are a valuable example of a bridge between people in public spaces. Inspired by it, we aim to recreate thismechanism and achieve the same spontaneity in social interactions in our design. Therefore we conceived Aura as
a visible spiritual pet, floating into user Personal Distancespace.

CHI 2018, April 21–26, 2018, Montréal, QC, Canada

in their personal space. The work by Tomitsch et al., intended to improve social interaction by projecting one’s social identity (Facebook profile details) on the ceiling, using
the visualization as a conversation starter. It is an effective
breaking-the-ice tool, but people felt uncomfortable due toprivacy issues related to the data shown publicly [7]. In ourconcept, the user can decide what Aura to show and how
it should behave, so private data will not be exposed unless the user wishes it. Similar to our concept, the work of
Cassinelli use projection around the user as a representation of their emotional expression [3]. However, this design
aims only to express people status and not to stimulate interactions.
Since our design objective is to improve interaction in thereal world, Aura has to be a touch point to initiate the communication. Consequently, it has to be visible with bare eye,
without the use of additional interfaces, to reduce the physical barrier and encourage the face-to-face communication.
It also necessitates to be placed into one’s Personal Distance space, and, as a pet, to be interactive with both, theuser and other people approaching.

Initial Design
Figure 2: Before Auras interact
with each otherFigure 3: When Auras interact witheach other

Further, we analyzed previous projects and researchers,
to investigate how other people approached this topic. Former studies analyze the relevance of Proxemics in humans’
perception and adjustment of their spatial relationship withothers and the environment [8]. Instead, the topic of manipulating artificially Proxemics zones to improve humaninteraction is not well developed yet. However, a study from
Wolf et al. shows how interactive dynamic floor projections
are an effective approach to influence people spatial relationships [11].
Different studies investigate how to enhance people’s communication through augmentation of one’s "personality"

Continuing our research, we started to sketch different storyboards to visualize Aura. We conducted several informalinterviews using the storyboards and some sketches to illustrate our idea. We received interested feedbacks andsuggestion for implementation. We found out that people
like the idea of having Aura placed around their feet, on thefloor. People also stated that it would spark their curiosity
and would increase the likelihood of a contact. Interviewees
expressed the wish to have different animations and werealized animation should be self-representative, besides
having an interactive function.

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In this perspective, we used low fidelity techniques to create the first prototype and test the idea. We decided to startwith a simple graphics that could catch people’s attention.
We utilized a smart laser beam projector(5x5x5cm), andan animation of a butterfly. The projector is small and lightenough to be held in the hand or hidden in the sleeve. We
simulated the movement of the Aura animation by manually moving the projector pointing the Aura onto Personal
Distance area. This setup was used to test and analyze thepossible impact of the device.
Figure 4: User test at Keio Grad
School Forum in November 2017.

Quotes from user’s feedbacks"I enjoy Aura because it goesoutward and inward: it gives
the reason to interact withpeople around but it also
protects personal space; thechanging video gives you areason to feel the surrounding at your own pace". User
(Taiwan)"I think wearing Aura is fun.
People would stop by andhave conversations, especially children will play withme. It reminds me of childhood and I like to play withpeople instead of talking
about the weather". User
(China)We run two sets of tests around 9 p.m. in two different locations. The first one is a quiet area near the university.
We ask separately to two participants to wear the Aura andhave a walk for about 10 minutes in the neighborhood. We
observed and tracked the reactions of the people encountered. Around 10 people clearly express curiosity and attempted a verbal interaction with the participant. Around 3
went closer to the Aura to interact with the projection. Mostof the people encountered glanced or smiled at the participant. We compared these results with the ones from thesame experience of walking in the same place, but without the device, which leads to receiving 2-3 glances and no
more.
The second test was run in Shibuya, one of the most crowded
areas of Tokyo, for around 20 minutes walk. The goal wasto understand if the different impact of the Wearable Aurain a diverse context. It was interesting to notice how the
projection was noticed from only a 30% of the people, differently in the first test the rate was around 90%. However, theeffect of the interaction was much stronger. Some people
actually started the conversation, and some clearly playedwith the projection.
The results might be influenced by the novelty of a personal
projection following one’s steps, meanwhile, it makes us

CHI 2018, April 21–26, 2018, Montréal, QC, Canada

believe that Aura is a possible bridge to enhance communication with strangers, acting as an interactive catalyst
and possible conversation starter. We found out that people are more willing to interact when steady, rather thanwalking. This makes us reconsider the user scenarios andutilization context. The experiment also established thatthe interaction occurs only if the people face each other,so aura doesn’t need to be all around the user, instead, in
one’s eye span. Finally, we recognize that the interaction isreally short because the reaction of the Aura is not interesting enough, due to the repetition people get bored and lose
interest after a couple of seconds.
We presented our research’s first results at Ubicomp 2017
in Hawaii [13]. The concept was commented as a very interesting possibility to encourage human interactions.

Wearable Aura
With the feedback from first user tests, we designed thesecond prototype. First of all, we improved the interaction.
We want the animation to be more reactive to approaching people, and to generate a more interesting interactive
space around the user [2]. Since our study is based on
Proxemics zones, we think that the animation needs to respond to the distance between the user and surrounding
people. So in the next prototype, the animation was dynamically changing according to the distances to people
approaching the user, in order to invite them to come closer
and interact more. To implement it we have installed a distance sensor on a shoe and used the distance measured
by the sensor to control the animations using Processing.
Conceiving Aura as a tool for user’s self-expression, we designed different animations and allowed the user to pick hisor her favorite one, to make it feel more personal.
In the second prototype, we used butterfly, jellyfish, andSDC05, Page 4

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bubbles, combined with different animations reacting to the
distance changes. To increase the spontaneity, we prefer
the user not to be distracted by manipulating the projector.
Therefore it was fixed into a pouch bag with a hole for the
projector lens. Both, the sensor and the projector are connected via WiFi to a computer, where the behavior of theanimation is controlled automatically using a Processing
program. The prototype was exhibited at Keio Media Design Forum, in November 2017, Japan. Around 20 visitors
had a genuine interaction with the projection and with theaura wearer. 5 volunteers tried wearing it and interactedwith others. We avoided any preliminary explanation to test
the instinctive reaction of people.
Figure 5: Interaction during Keio
Grad School Forum in November
2017.

We observed how people got interested in realizing that
their movements have caused a change in the animation.
At first, the projection on the floor sparks people’s interest. As they see it reacting to their steps they try different
position and steps to discover how it changes. In comparison with the previous prototype, people spent longer timeengaged with the projection, having more moments andchances to engage in interactions with the user. However,the complexity of the projection made it a bit confusing tosomeone to understand why it keeps modifying. On theother hand, the projection led to playful interactions andfurther question to the user. Moreover, we observed andinterviewed the 5 people who wore the Aura, to understandthe user herself or himself feelings and impression of using
our design. People perceive Aura as a fun way to entertain
alone and with others, replacing annoying and boring small
talks.
The gestures and interactions of both user and approachingpeople are the starting point for designing new animations
and gestures of the device, as turning on and off function.
Furthermore, people couldn’t understand where the pro-

CHI 2018, April 21–26, 2018, Montréal, QC, Canada

jection is coming from and this generated wonder and curiosity. We believe that technology needs to be naturally
integrated into people life. Particularly in this case, into garments and it shouldn’t hinder people’s movements. Therefore our final goal is to embed all the technology in a single
wearable device as a pair of shoes.

Conclusions and Future Work
We believe that Aura is a tool to stimulate and enhancecommunication in any context. The concept can be deployed in any social situation, for example, conference,
party, schools, etc. Currently, we just tested a public exhibition and public space situations, but we expect to also test
in entertaining situations in which people look for interaction, such as gatherings, events, or clubs. Another limitation
so far is that every culture has different distances at which
the private space begins, and actually every person has adifferent perception of space. We also plan to embed all
the technology in one single device, to give the user more
freedom and spontaneity.
As mentioned above we would like to test more scenarios in
the future. We will also individualize the coverage space of
the aura animation to be adjustable for each user. Besides,
we are currently working on making the Aura more personal
and to improve the connection with the user. There is anambition to reflect or synchronize personal emotional status through Aura, change the Aura’s behavior, interactions
and animations depending on the emotional state of theuser. We believe this will increase Aura ability and variability, making it more interesting as an actual communication
tool. We believe emotional tracker will also help to build aconnection with the user and set the precise Personal Distance area to be used, according to each person. Finally,
the last challenge we are working on is enabling multiple
Auras to interact and communicate with each other.

Figure 6: Prototype evolution: all
the technology embed in a single
device.

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Acknowledgements
This work is partly supported by JST CREST Grant No.
JPMJCR16E1. We like to express our gratitude to the participants who agreed to test our prototype and gave us invaluable feedback. We would also like to thank our mentors, Masa Inakage and Kai Kunze, for providing helpful
resources and advice. Finally we want to thank George
Chernyshov, Ratu Anjani and Yurike Chandra for their support.

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