The self between two places: Finding connections through digital jewellery

This paper presents work undertaken as part of the first author’s ongoing doctoral research into the nature of digital jewellery and the process of designing personal digital artefacts. In this paper we introduce two digital jewellery objects that focus on people in transition. Transitions in this context are the changes one experiences in physical, personal and social dimensions in the context of living in/between two countries. The concepts were inspired by the lives of three participants and the researcher who frequently travel back to their native countries, but who live permanently in the UK and who experience feelings of transition and what we will describe as “being in-between”. Topoi is a piece that reveals personal microphotographs at certain points in time. The piece is a hand held piece of jewellery containing tiny microfilm images from places that are significant to the individual from both countries. One can view the layers of microfilm with a magnifying glass and interact with different layers by manually focusing on different elements. A LED light activated by the heat of the palm allows one to peek briefly through the glass in short bursts. Togetherness is made up of two brooches, meant for two wearers in two countries. Each brooch works as data logger. The act of pinning the brooch on the body activates the piece, recording the time when the piece is worn. Such data logged is stored in a Micro-SD card inside the piece. This data is later used by an artisan to create a third piece that represents times when the two brooches were worn simultaneously. Most of the digital devices that we live with come with a set of expectations such as: What does it do? How long does the battery last? How cutting edge is the technology? By contrast, this research offers a focus on atypical personal interactions in order to address a different range of questions and potentially open up our expectations of the digital

Blueprints physical to digital: curation of media to support ongoingness

Through describing ‘Blueprints’, a series of fabric collages, we detail a method for translating physical properties of objects into digital materialities of media compilations. This method has emerged within a piece of design research seeking to develop new ways to curate digital media to support ongoingness. The project context centres on working firstly with people who have a life limiting illness, secondly people living with an early stage of dementia and thirdly people who are bereaved. Ongoingness is a theoretical construct denoting an active dialogical component of ‘continued bonds’, which is an approach within bereavement care championing practices that enable a continued sense of connection between someone bereaved and a person who has died. ‘Blueprints’ are fabric collages made from scraps of fabric symbolising digital media (in this case photographs) from 2 people – one bereaved and one now deceased. The physical qualities that result from making the fabric collages (variation in layerings, thicknesses, stitching, fraying) each map onto directions for how the corresponding digital media will be composed in a compilation, and serves as a collaborative method of curating media in new ways. The ‘Blueprints’ method enables us to research if and how physical making of things can serve as a gentle way to engage with the complexities of media curation. It considers the potential value of indirect ways of curating digital media to enable ongoing connections between people through the unexpected compilations that the method creates

The materiality of digital jewellery from a jeweller’s perspective

Taking a research-through-design with craft sensibilities approach we present design propositions in the digital age that value the complexity and uniqueness of being human. We introduce exemplars of digital jewellery objects that offer alternative ways of connecting a person with personal anchor points, significant others and places. The pieces were inspired by the lives of three participants and the researcher who all frequently travel back to their native countries, but who live permanently in the UK and experience feelings of transition and what we describe as “being in-between”. ‘Microcosmos’, ‘Togetherness: Connected Brooches’ and ‘Topoi’ expand our understanding of what digital jewellery can be by embodying interactions that highlight the sensorial and imaginative aspects of digital technology. Building on our previous work on poetic qualities of interaction with digital jewellery we offer a reflective view on how digital jewellery can challenge our expectations of digital connectivity, sensor functionality and location awareness and we discuss the material qualities of the pieces by unfolding the narratives associated with their function and form. Most digital devices come with a set of expectations such as: What does it do? How long is battery life? How cutting edge is the technology? By contrast, this research offers a focus on atypical personal interactions in order to address a different range of questions and potentially open up our expectations of the digital. By reflecting on our designs we continue the discussions on how jewellery practices and digital technologies can suggest more poetic interactions for people

Art Digital Jewellery as Atmospheres: An autobiographical RtD exploration into IoT for poetic contexts

In a process of Research-through-Design two art digital jewellery pieces were created on the same bespoke IoT device that connects a person with the sea: a hand-held piece (SeaVessel) and a necklace (Thalassa). Drawing on the notion of atmosphere, the design development (2020-21) and the first author's lived experience with the pieces (2021-2022) are illustrated and narrated. We share insights into how the pieces augmented intimacy with a significant place and offer a space for self-reflection for the first author to explore their connection with the sea and ultimately the self. We offer insights gained from working with IoT, live data and online servers in such a poetic context. We contribute to experiential approaches to designing reflective and curious ways of interacting with digital technology with the notion of atmosphere as a concept for aesthetics for interaction design and an understanding of data as poetic data

Designing [Im]Material Inventories of Nomadic Belongings

In response to this year’s conference theme of why design and the recognition of instability and uncertainty as factors influencing the future of the field, our workshop "Designing [Im]Material Inventories of Nomadic Belongings" revolves around the experiences of being a nomad in our [im]material world of various entanglements. In this space, we will share our stories through the belongings and technologies we carry and discard, problematising nomadism and impermanence as possibilities for resilience and growth. Through the use of various design methods -including collaborative inventorying, somatic noticing and material fabulations- we will unpack together our experiences of mobility in academia, speaking about the objects and affects we embrace and leave behind, the role of technology in the construction of our changing identities, and possible futures we envision for nomadism

HCI at End of Life & Beyond

Death, whilst an inevitable part of being alive, factors more significantly in our lives than the event itself. The role that technology can play in how people live as they approach end of life as well as in bereavement is full of rich possibilities, but research here is also fraught with ethical and methodological dilemmas. Although there has been a turn to focus on the topic of death by some in HCI we need to go far further to embrace the contexts relating to it more meaningfully and broadly. Through this design focused workshop, we will bring experts and interested parties together to creatively explore opportunities and challenges for HCI at the end of life and beyond. Discussions and design activities will be supported by conceptual resources for design, lived experience accounts, design methods and ethical resources. The workshop will provide a time and place to bring together experts but will also provide an open and accepting environment for those for whom HCI at end of life and beyond is a new area of concern

Scribing as seen from the inside:The ethos of the studio

This reflective piece focuses on the practices of Scribes, a feature that was newly introduced to RTD 2015 and is envisioned to capture aspects of the highly discursive nature of this conference format. Scribing comprises drawing, writing notation, or mark making on paper to capture some essence of the discussions, dynamics, and atmosphere of the various conference sessions as they took place

A plurality of practices:artistic narratives in HCI research

The arts and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) have a lot in common. As part of computer science HCI is ground breaking, interdisciplinary and focused on the interactions that form part of our everyday world. As part of the arts, HCI is a lens on technology, showing us spaces where there is room to interact and create new and meaningful blended experiences. It is therefore no surprise that many researchers and practitioners in our field have and maintain creative practices alongside, and as part of their research. We explore how these dual practices relate to each other, and how we might reconcile our mindful creative experiences with the formality of research. What benefits does such duality have, and can we illustrate the value of arts practice in HCI? This pictorial curates diverse artistic practice from a range of researchers, and offers reflection on the benefits and tensions in creativity and computing

A plurality of practices : artistic narratives in HCI research

The arts and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) have a lot in common. As part of computer science HCI is ground breaking, interdisciplinary and focused on the interactions that form part of our everyday world. As part of the arts, HCI is a lens on technology, showing us spaces where there is room to interact and create new and meaningful blended experiences. It is therefore no surprise that many researchers and practitioners in our field have and maintain creative practices alongside, and as part of their research. We explore how these dual practices relate to each other, and how we might reconcile our mindful creative experiences with the formality of research. What benefits does such duality have, and can we illustrate the value of arts practice in HCI? This pictorial curates diverse artistic practice from a range of researchers, and offers reflection on the benefits and tensions in creativity and computing

Drawing on Experiences of Self

In this paper, we present a method of Dialogical Sketching. We introduce the development of this method as a discursive aid to understanding design probe responses within participatory co-design engagements but also articulate its potential more broadly within participatory research. Situated within a research study into the potential of digital jewellery to support self, we focus on how sketching can elucidate reflection on layers of meaning conveyed both explicitly and implicitly in participants' probe responses. The method enabled an iterative dialogue not bound by certainty, but more by inference, interpretation and suggested meanings. Systems of sketching scaffolded conversations about personal issues and feelings that were difficult to articulate in a way that was imaginative, rather than descriptive. We argue that the method firstly enriches the potential of probes, secondly encourages discourse in open and often uncertain ways and thirdly can enable sustained participatory engagement even through challenging circumstances