Using Mobile Technology to Bring Families Together: The Design of a Family History Concept to Motivate Face-to-Face Communication

Increased use of digital technology, such as social media or individual entertainment systems, may lead to less face-to-face communication between family members. This paper presents a two-phase design research study on a novel use of technology that could help reconnect co-located family members. The authors present the design qualities for a domestic technology that can increase the level of social interaction within a family. These design qualities provide a guideline for the second phase, in which a novel system concept, FAMEX, is designed to support discussion about family experiences. FAMEX is based on the concept of family history, and involves the creation, finding, and discussion of family memories, which are represented as virtual notes around the home. The design emphasizes ludic values in the form of playful stimulants to face-to-face discussion. Mobile devices, together with augmented reality and embodied interaction, are utilized within the home context: this combination has the potential to raise curiosity and interest, and therefore, encourage ongoing use of the system. In an iterative user study, with prototypes of various fidelities, the participants rejected the features of formal game play, but gave positive feedback to the main features of FAMEX.