Light Bridge: Improving Social Connectedness Through Ambient Spatial Interaction

While social relationships are important for human well-being, maintaining these relationships can be difficult, especially for individuals living apart from friends and loved ones. We present "Light Bridge", an ambient spatial interaction concept designed to convey a sense of closeness and co-presence through changes in ambient lighting that reflect the partner's location and activity, thus providing a subtle form of communication that blends seamlessly into daily routines. We tested our concept in a Wizard-of-Oz study with pairs of subjects in a separated locations (N=20) with a controlled protocol of activities to mimic a daily routine. Our study addressed four questions: social connectedness, privacy, distraction and joint action motivation. The results showed that ambient light can effectively convey a sense of physical closeness between separated individuals without causing distraction or irritation in terms of privacy. The study provides valuable insights regarding the potential of ambient spatial interaction in smart homes to improve the sense of social connectedness.