Intelligent emotional communication.
The Challenge
I was given the requirement to apply a futuristic interface to a communication challenge. My solution focused on the challenge humans experience when communicating their emotions.
Project Type
Secondary Research
Hardware / Wearables
Prototyping & Testing
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Initial Research
After researching emotional intelligence and expression of emotions, I found that fear was often the primary motivation of not sharing emotions with others. The second consideration was that remaining stoic is seen as a generally positive characteristic in western culture. We don’t want others, even our loved ones, to think of us as weak. However, “bottling up” or suppressing emotions can have considerably negative impacts on health, including a 30% increase in the chance of premature death from all causes. If we weren’t so proud or afraid of other people’s reactions, we might extend our life expectancy.
Hiding emotions not only impact our health, but our relationships. The divorce rate in America hovers around thirty percent and lack of communication, including communication about one’s feelings, is cited as the third most common reason for divorce. Based on this, we can conclude that we’re even afraid of showing our emotions to our most loved companions. So how might we encourage people to share their emotions by eliminating the fear of someone else’s immediate reaction?
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Market Scan
With this challenge in mind, I researched solutions that may already exist. I identified several devices that measured some proxy for emotion, usually stress, and sent that data to a mobile application which allowed the user to analyze stressors and therefore, proactively manage that stress. However, there was a lack of devices which offered two or multi-way communication and real-time feedback.
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Moodmetric Ring
A next-gen “mood ring” that uses measures electrodermal activity (EDA) – an indicator of the sympathetic activity of the autonomic nervous system that is associated with emotion, cognition, and affection – to determine stress levels. The ring comes with a mobile app that can be used to understand stress over time. Gaps in this solution include lack of two-way communication and no immediate feedback without the app.
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Feel Bracelet
An emotion sensing wristband that tracks emotions (skin conductance, heart rate, skin temperature) throughout the day and provides real-time (in-app) coaching. This solution also relies on an app to provide feedback and is only concerned with 1-way communication.
Pain Points in Emotional Communication
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That's not what I meant
Failures in communication happen when the message received is different from the message intended. Regardless of intent, the recipient of a message may leave with a different understanding of what was (or wasn’t) said in a conversation.
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Don't let them see you cry...
People often struggle to share emotions because they are busy hiding them. People are concerned that revealing hurt feelings might lead others to react negatively. Additionally, cultures influence willingness to open up, which can be seen as “weak” or make us susceptible to others.
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Virtually disconnected
There is growing concern around lack of face-to-face interactions and the impact on emotional intelligence of younger generations. As we lose physical connection, can we maintain methods for sensing how someone is doing?
“When we share our experiences and feelings sincerely, we come to realize that all of us experience emotions, but that each of us experiences them in our own way. We can recognize the similarities among us as well as our individual differences.”
— Linda Jones, Kansas State University
A few design principles.
It became clear that one issue was caused by what wasn’t said in these situations; people were missing non-verbal communication cues. Based on this insight, I determined a successful solution should translate non-verbal communication into an easily understood medium.
Additionally, people weren’t explicitly stating their feelings for fear of being judged or opening themselves up to additional exposure. Exposure is often caused by immediate reaction, so a successful solution may eliminate that immediate reaction or feedback from a partner or loved one.
How might we encourage emotional communication by eliminating the fear of immediate reaction?
Prototyping the Concept
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The idea.
I designed a wearable device that visually communicated non-verbal inputs, such as emotion, for a partner who may not be in the same vicinity as their partner, this way their partner is informed about the emotion without the immediate opportunity to breach the subject.
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Wear it.
The wearable was made from a Circuit Playground device and a hair tie used to keep the hardware on the user’s hand.
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Use it.
Using MakeCode, the first iteration of the prototype changed colors by using the “A” and “B” buttons on the Circuit Playground as inputs. When a button on Device 1 was pressed, an infrared “send number” was received by Device 2, which processed the number and determined which output to show (light). I then added functionality to allow for “shake” and “loud noise” inputs as proxies for excitement/happiness and frustration/anger, respectively. While the devices were not active, they remained white.
Testing it out.
To begin testing the prototype, I asked users to pretend as if their device was “linked” to a significant other or loved one (partner, spouse, child, etc.).
Originally, the testers were encouraged to shake the device to communicate excitement or create a loud noise to indicate anger or frustration. However, there were some technical difficulties with the Circuit Playgrounds, so the second round of testing was completed using the wizard-of-oz method.
Testers were still able to experience having their wearable light up different colors based on “emotional” inputs, however, the inputs were controlled by using buttons on one of the two devices. Testers were then asked a series of questions about the device and their (somewhat conceptual) experience. Responses were recorded and later evaluated for opportunities to enhance the prototype.
Final Thoughts
Based on feedback received during testing, the first change to the prototype would be to make the device smaller and easier to engrain in everyday life. The device may not even be a wearable or be an additional feature to an accessory the user already wears.
In future iterations, I would want to add different inputs that conveyed a range of emotional inputs, potentially using advancing technology that uses sweat to detect cortisol, another indicator of stress. A variety of inputs would be useful to avoid false-positives. I would also experiment with haptic feedback instead of just visual. Ideally, there would be additional long-term testing or a case-study to help understand the realistic impact of this information on a relationship.
p.s. someone did the thing.
I completed this project in March of 2019. Since then, several similar concepts have been released for purchase, such as the Long Distance Touch Bracelet Set on Uncommon Goods.
Download the design document.
Read more about the design and testing process.