Examining Sensorial Interfaces as the Stimuli for Remote Affective Communication

Current communication technologies have a significant role in satisfying social connection and networking, but have not yet been developed to entirely support interpersonal communication, especially in creating and maintaining intimacy and a sense of connection in an intimate relationship, specifically with young adult children and older parents. Under the emerging trend of ubiquitous computing, this research examines the possibility of creating new means for augmenting intimacy in remote affective communication between young adult children and older parents. From a small-targeted group, this exploratory study rooted in family communication activities and family life is exploring the possible themes, cues and artefacts that support family closeness but are missing in conventional communication (audio and video). By generating a group of concepts and new tools for remote family interaction, the findings of this thesis offer insights into new means of communication tools for supporting family connectedness.