SneezeLove: Embodying Cultural Superstitions in Connected Devices

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Devices for remote communication and sending digital gestures have been widely explored in the field of ubiquitous computing. With the lack of social contact during the COVID-19 pandemic and renewed interest in these devices in mind, we suggest the affordances of a culturally-informed design approach. We present SneezeLove, a device that uses sneezes to communicate that someone is missing you. Users tickle the device’s nose to send an electromechanical ‘sneeze’ to another device. The concept plays on a superstition in Chinese culture that attributes an additional layer of meaning to sneezes, and we found similar beliefs in other cultures that signify that someone out there is missing you: hiccups in India, “burning” ears in Ireland. The device, and its design approach, suggests how low-resolution messages can be enlivened and made more personally meaningful by tapping into expressive and specific cultural superstitions.