The like-a-hug project

Just reading about this interactive garment, which is connected to Facebook's 'like'. The Like-A-Hug project is a "wearable social media vest", developed by Melissa Kit Chow in collaboration with Andy Payne and Phil Seaton, as part of the MIT Media Lab's Tangible Media Group. They came up with the concept over a casual conversation about long-distance relationships and the limitations of video chat interfaces like Skype.

I wonder however if someone really wants to wear the jacket all the time and receive hugs at random moments or whether it is not crucial to actually feel the body warmth and sense the smell of the other person. Think it might be very useful if you do research in the arctic :-) Though it has to be said that this project can be considered as an provocative art project... Read full blog here

Turkle's: "Connected, but alone"

I subscribe to Turkle's talk: "Connected, but alone" on TED. "I share, therefore I am". She gives plenty of examples where this situation happens; where we are together, but alone since we're only connecting through digital devices. I notice this very much on the train these days, everybody staring at their phones and tablets. I feel she's right about calling for a reflective use of technology and that we need to develop a more self-aware relationship with our electronic devices, with each other and with ourselves. We need to create space for solitude, so we can appreciate ourselves and are able to really connect and listen to people. See the full talk here

Another example of a social networking site for older people that didn't work

iYomu - a site that was set up in 2007 and which failed after only a year. It's confirming my research results: older people don't necessarily want a social networking site separate to existing websites (which are also used by younger people) Read here why iYomu failed.

When does 'middle age' start and finish?

Interesting article on the BBC about the perceptions of age. It's mostly a "state of mind". Read article here

NY times Article: the high price of loneliness

This article sums up how tricky it is to measure the consequences of loneliness experienced with age. What does it mean to be lonely? "62.5 percent of older adults who reported being lonely in this new study were married" read the article here

Trend: increasingly more older internet user

The latest estimates by the ONS confirm that the number of older Internet users between 65-74 years is increasing. When I started my studies in 2008 only about about 20percent of the 65plus category (in those days ONS didn't differentiate between 65-74 and 75+) had regularly used the Internet. The group of 75+ years old are with 29% the smallest group of Internet users. Read the ONS Internet access report update here.

the joy of reminiscence

Mid July I had to speak to the local TV & areal business to sort out our television. Bernard came over to check out our leads, sockets and areal connections. I guessed Bernard to be over 60 years old - at some point he mentioned that he had been through 3 marriages. We ended up chatting about my research and I showed him a website which I used as a resource for inspiration for the Teletalker design.
He absolutely loved it. It made his day he said and wrote down the link to the site. He surely will sit down in the evening and look at the visuals of the old TVs... why has made this day, because he repaired them when he was 13 years old or a bit older - the visuals take him back to he youth ... he hasn't seen those television sets in ages
I felt very happy for him and that I accidentally gave him a tool (the websites) to revisit experiences from the past. Being German and living in the UK I noticed how difficult it is to be reminded of things from my German past. If I'd like to create memories of that time I either need to dig out the photo album or I need to be prompted by someone German... although the German and English culture are pretty similar there are not many things here that remind me of my childhood or teenage days.