Get in touch with me at ananyamanishdesigns@gmail.com
Co-presence
In collaboration with BitterSuite
Design Brief
Design a way to spread feelings.
Design Phase 2
Testing insights gained from research by designing user experimentations.
Designers
Lyu Min, Rania, Jaitong Zhang, Fateema Nadeem, Ananya Manish
Research Methodologies
Bodystorming, Participatory Design Research
Key words
Sensory Experience, Emotional Contagion, Design for Togetherness, Participatory Design Research, Sampling Methods
Designing Experimentations enabling Emotional Contagion
Objective 1
Designing social interaction experiments aimed at fostering empathetic connections among small groups, drawing on our research findings.
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Objective 2
Utilise insights from these experiments to develop a more polished experience for a broader audience, including participants, facilitators, and observers, to facilitate empathetic connections and emotional contagion.
Our research identified several key factors that effectively promote empathetic connections:
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The use of heartbeat sounds to convey emotional states.
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The integral role of empathy and emotions in music listening experiences.
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The link between faster music tempos and increased emotional contagion.
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The capability of lighting to modify emotional experiences.
Historical and modern musicians have delved into making bodily sounds, like the heartbeat, audible, exploring their aesthetic and creative potential. The heartbeat is an easily recognizable sound with many structural similarities to the beat of music. Importantly, like musical tempo, a fast heartbeat is associated with greater affective arousal than a slow heartbeat (Winters, R. 2020).
Building on this, we hypothesised that making an individual's heartbeat perceptible to others could enhance feelings of connectedness. Therefore, we aimed to design experiments that externalise the heartbeat through auditory and visual means, leveraging these insights to create empathetic bridges between individuals.
Experiment 1: Navigating Space Through Heartbeat Tempo
Method and Setup
In this experiment, we aimed to explore the potential of using the tempo of heartbeats to foster a sense of presence among participants. We blindfolded two participants, equipped them with headphones, and positioned them at opposite ends of a room. Their task was to find each other, guided by the tempo of heartbeat sounds played through the headphones. The heartbeat tempo was manipulated by two team members acting as facilitators: as the participants moved closer to each other, the tempo increased.
Objective
This setup was intended to examine if auditory cues from heartbeats and their varying tempos could enhance empathetic connections and influence behaviour. We conducted this test with four participants using a convenient sampling method.
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Observations
However, the experiment did not foster empathetic connections as hoped. This outcome was attributed to the participants experiencing different tempos of a third person's heartbeat, which individualised their experiences rather than uniting them.
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Despite this, the change in heartbeat tempo did lead to noticeable behavioural changes. Participants associated the quicker tempo with reduced distance to the other person.
Reflecting on this as a facilitator, I found the experiment lacked dynamism due to its straightforward structure and definite conclusion. Nevertheless, the use of heartbeat as an element showed promise, prompting us to consider real-time heartbeat mapping as a means to create empathetic connections.
Experiment 2: Exploring Methods to Externalize Heartbeats
The second experiment focused on various techniques to make heartbeats perceptible to others, aiming to investigate their impact on empathetic connections. Each trial lasted one minute and involved only our team members.
Technique 1: Sound Amplification of Real-time Heartbeats (Auditory)
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Method
Utilised a sound amplifier to magnify the sound of a heartbeat, which participants listened to via headphones.
Observations
Listening to another person's heartbeat fostered a sense of connection. However, the setup, involving sound amplifiers and headphones, proved to be cumbersome, particularly when considering the inclusion of an audience.
Technique 2: Touch and Vocal Repetition of Heartbeats (Auditory)
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Method
Conducted in two variants: one with participants' eyes closed and the other with direct eye contact.
Observations with eyes closed
This method was calming and seemed to deepen the empathetic bond with the heartbeat's owner. Participants were fully focused on the heartbeat of the person whose hand they held.
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Observations with eyes open
Allowed for the observation of facial expressions and a greater transfer of feelings, along with behavioural synchrony. However, it was challenging to concentrate on both sensing the heartbeat and vocalising it due to the distractions from the other participant’s actions.
Technique 3: Visualising Heartbeats with Blinking Lights (Visual)
Method
Tested in a dark room in two setups: one where each participant visualised the heartbeat through coloured lights, and another where two were observers while two participants visualised the heartbeat.
Observations
The interplay of light and darkness added an intriguing element but did not lead to behavioural synchrony or create an empathetic connection.
Technique 4: Combining Auditory and Visual Representations of Heartbeats
Method
Participants sensed the heartbeat both through touch and vocal repetition, coupled with visualisation using blinking lights.
Observations
While the combination of auditory and visual elements was interesting, it failed to achieve behavioural synchrony or establish empathetic connections.
Experiment 3: Engaging Participants, Facilitators, and Audience in a Public Setting
Phase 1: Vocalization of Heartbeats Through Touch
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Location
Conducted in the exhibition area of the London College of Communication.
Methodology
Utilising voluntary response sampling, we engaged 6-10 individuals, primarily students from LCC. The experiment began with a small group and gradually invited onlookers to join, sparking curiosity among both active participants and those who chose to observe and inquire about the activity.
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Procedure
Participants were instructed to sense the heartbeat of the person beside them and vocalize it using a repetitive sound. The activity was timed for 1 minute, during which participants could freely enter or exit the circle.
Expansion
We later expanded this experiment into a workshop with 30 classmates to gauge the activity's impact on a larger scale and in a more public setting.
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Recorded Reactions of Participants​
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“After a point, I started mirroring X person’s sound ”
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“I kept on laughing, the sounds were infectious”
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“It is fun, not sure why we are doing this”
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“I lost the sensation of the heartbeat”
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“It was a little intimidating for me”
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“I wasn’t sure when I can stop and leave”
Phase 2: Combining Vocalisation and Visual Representation of Heartbeats
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Location
Conducted in a dark room at LCC, making it a closed yet interactive session.
Methodology Adjustments
Recognizing the challenge of multitasking from our internal tests, we simplified the experiment for better engagement. We invited students from LCC, employing convenient sampling for participation. The experiment began with 6 participants, 3 facilitators and 3 audience members.
Setup
Participants formed two concentric circles. Those in the outer circle held hands and vocalised the heartbeat of their neighbour, while those in the inner circle used blinking coloured lights to visualise these sounds. This structured experiment also welcomed 3 audience members to observe. They were instructed to end the experiment by pressing the light button once they feel synchronicity of emotions or behaviour in the space
Recorded Reactions of Participants (Outercircle)
“It was quite meditative”
“I was very tempted to open my eyes and see the blinking lights”
“I got nervous when I couldn’t find the heartbeat at first, I also lost the pulse in between, that made me anxious”
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Recorded Reactions of Participants (Innercircle)
“The lights were fun to play with and visually appealing in the dark, but the experience was flat”
“I didn’t know whose sound to follow, the followed the louder one, but then they stopped and I was confused”
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Recorded Reactions of Audience
“I felt pressured to end the experience even though I didn’t feel the synchronicity”
“It wasn’t engaging enough for me”
Concluding Thoughts
The experimentation phases bought out a range of user reactions.
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In Phase 1, participants found the activity to be fun yet somewhat confusing, with many losing the sensation of the heartbeat or becoming distracted by the sounds of others.
Phase 2 shifted towards a more structured and meditative approach, yet challenges remained. The addition of visual elements, although appealing, did not significantly enhance engagement as anticipated.
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We learned we need to make our experiments clearer and more engaging for everyone involved. The combination of touch, sound, and light with externalising the heartbeat resulted in individual sensations although achieving synchronicity and deep engagement remains a nuanced challenge.
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Reflecting back on our user research,I feel we didn't use structured tools like the Likert scale or "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" to measure responses. This meant we gathered feedback more informally, without a set way to record how people felt. Without these tools, we risked our insights being influenced by our expectations or assumptions.
References
Winters, R. (2020). EMPATHIC EFFECTS OF AUDITORY HEARTBEATS: A NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty. [online] Available at: https://repository.gatech.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/57f69a33-9de3-4e82-a69b-a0291784cf24/content [Accessed 16 Apr. 2024].
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Márquez Segura, E., Turmo Vidal, L. and Rostami, A. (2016). Bodystorming for movement-based interaction design. Human Technology, 12(2), pp.193–251. doi:https://doi.org/10.17011/ht/urn.201611174655.
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Scariot, C.A., Heemann, A. and Padovani, S. (2012). Understanding the collaborative-participatory design. Work, 41, pp.2701–2705. doi:https://doi.org/10.3233/wor-2012-0656-2701.
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Drennan, B. and Boal, A. (1994). Games for Actors and Non-Actors. Theatre Journal, 46(2), p.299. doi:https://doi.org/10.2307/3208476.
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