Designing an Archive of Feelings: Queering Tangible Interaction with Button Portraits

Title of the Paper

Designing an Archive of Feelings: Queering Tangible Interaction with Button Portraits

Paper Information

• Subject Area: Human-Computer Interaction Design and Queer Historical Archives
• Keywords: Queer HCI, Gender and Sexual Minorities, Queer Archives, Cultural Heritage Design, Wearable Computing, Tangible Interaction Design

Research Background and Problem

• Problem or Challenge:

  • Making queer history visible to resist systemic erasure in the U.S. context.
  • "Ephemera" in queer archives are often forgotten or overlooked by traditional collections.
  • There is a lack of research on designing bodily interactions that evoke personal reflection on queer history.

• Significance:

  • Highlighting queer history is crucial for cultural heritage and social awareness, especially in localized contexts like the American South.
  • Many aspects of queer culture, such as protest, community organizing, and personal identity, require deeper exploration and discussion.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • The authors combine queer theory with human-computer interaction design (Queer HCI) to explore how technology can support the experiences of queer communities.
  • Existing research focuses more on online contexts, with limited attention to tangible, wearable design.
  • This work integrates queer archival theory with new design practices to provide a tangible experience of queer history.

Solution

• Proposed Method or Solution:

  • Creation of a design called "Button Portraits": using historical buttons from queer communities, attaching them to wearable audio devices that play related oral history clips.
  • Leveraging buttons as iconic queer symbols to act as catalysts for engaging with queer archival history, while designing an experience that fosters bodily interaction.

• Innovative Aspects:

  • Exploring the historical significance of queer symbols (buttons) to bridge emotional connections between personal identity and historical materials through tangible interaction.
  • Bringing the complexity and critical practices of queer theory into the field of wearable design.
  • Optimizing the design process to enhance users' perception of the nonlinear connections between buttons and historical narratives.

• Implementation Steps and Key Technologies:

  1. Select button-related segments from queer historical archives, linking button artifacts with oral histories.
  2. Use NFC tags to bind each button, paired with Raspberry Pi and NFC readers to play audio.
  3. Design a wearable audio device that remains close to the body while avoiding privacy violations or surveillance concerns.
  4. Validate the design through semi-structured interviews and user studies.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Outcomes:

  • Button Portraits enabled tangible interaction with queer history, allowing users to engage in bodily reflection on personal and collective queer identities.
  • Seventeen participants reported emotional connections during the interactive experience and reflected on the diversity and challenges within queer community history.

• Advantages:

  • Compared to traditional archival design, this approach offers a more physically engaging method, using buttons to evoke deep personal connections during wear.
  • Effectively triggers emotional and social reflection, not only showcasing historical narratives but also reshaping perceptions of queer culture through its symbols.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • The interactive experience demonstrated a strong reflective effect, particularly in fostering intimacy and personalized connections beyond traditional archival experiences.
  • Users praised the design for emphasizing queer symbols and their effectiveness as carriers of queer identity.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations:
    • A high proportion of participants were from white and Western backgrounds, limiting perspectives on non-Western diversity.
    • The adaptability of wearable devices in cross-cultural and cross-gender group contexts requires further exploration.
  • Future Directions:
    • Further development of collaborative designs to enable shared archival experiences among multiple users.
    • Exploration of the binary relationship between safety and visibility, developing wearable technologies that enhance the safety of queer individuals.
    • In-depth investigation of non-Western queer cultures and intersectional experiences across different racial groups.

Copyright Holder: Georgia Institute of Technology