SCADs: Social Connection Awareness Devices to Reduce Isolation during Social Distancing

该项目的影响将是通过支持使用轻型通信设备的远程社交关系，在社交距离期间受益于健康和建议依从性。Zoom或Teams等远程会议系统缓解了社会隔离，但需要集中注意力，并且在很大程度上无法重建支持共同在场情况下持续社会联系的外围意识。在这个研发项目中，我们将开发一系列专用的社会联系意识设备（scad），通过提供不需要的非语言交流来补充电话会议，以提高与远程朋友和家人的社会和情感联系的意识和感觉。为了产生直接和广泛的影响，scad将作为自建ICT产品分发：人们使用现成的电子元件在家中制作的电子设备，从我们的网站下载的软件，以及由日常材料制成的外壳。与在线食物食谱相似的技能水平将指导它们的构建，并且一个在线论坛将支持围绕它们发展的社区。这个策略已经在最近的项目中支持了成千上万的人来构建我们的设计。我们将在项目启动后不久发布一系列月度设计；通过开发共享的硬件和软件基础设施，将促进快速发展。每一个新的设计都将基于之前的大规模定性研究来改进，这些研究是关于轻量级通信设备的不同特性如何支持社会和情感联系的。因此，SCADs将增强HCI方面的知识基础，并及时影响这种相对不发达的电信形式。

This project's impact will be to benefit wellbeing and advice adherence during social distancing by supporting remote social relationships with lightweight communications devices. Teleconferencing systems such as Zoom or Teams relieve social isolation, but demand focused attention and largely fail to recreate the peripheral awareness supporting ongoing social connection in co-present situations. In this R&D project we will develop a series of dedicated Social Connection Awareness Devices (SCADs) that complement teleconferencing by offering undemanding, non-verbal communication to increase awareness of and feelings of social and emotional connection with remote friends and family. To allow immediate and widespread impact, SCADs will be circulated as self-build ICT products: electronic devices that people make at home using off-the-shelf electronic components, software downloaded from our website, and housings made from everyday materials. Highly accessible, illustrated instructions pitched to a similar skill level as online food recipes will guide their construction, and an online forum will support a community to grow around them. This strategy has already supported 1000s of people to build our designs in recent projects. We will release a series of monthly designs starting soon after the project starts; rapid development will be facilitated by developing shared hard- and software infrastructures. Each new design will be improved based on the large-n qualitative research made possible by previous ones into how different features of lightweight communication devices support social and emotional connections. SCADs will thus enhance the knowledge base in HCI and make timely impact with this relatively underdeveloped form of telecommunications.