Designing technologies for presence-in-absence: illustrating the Cube and the Picture Frame

Presence-in-absence is a subjective feeling of a significant other when he or she is not physically copresent and several emerging technologies increasingly aim to support this feeling of presence. However, no established framework for designing presence-in-absence technologies exists. We report on the design and evaluation of two novel technologies for supporting the experience of an absent significant other being present i.e. presence-in-absence. On the basis of a longitudinal field study of communication in romantic relationships, we constructed two technology sketches with the purpose of supporting presence-in-absence by employing graphical code languages: the Cube and the Picture Frame. The results of a subsequent evaluation involving potential users potentially inform the design of future presence-in-absence technologies. Keywords Presence-in-absence Æ Intimate technology Æ Intimacy

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2007
• Where: PUC
• Authors: Kasper Garnæs, Olga Grünberger, Jesper Kjeldskov, Mikael B. Skov
• Keywords: Presence-in-absence Technologies, PUC 2007, Subjective Feeling, Technologies