CAMY: Applying a pet dog analogy to everyday ubicomp products

Abstract

Ubicomp products have become more important in providing emotional experiences as users increasingly assimilate these products into their everyday lives. In this paper, we explored a new design perspective by applying a pet dog analogy to support emotional experience with ubicomp products. We were inspired by pet dogs, which are already intimate companions to humans and serve essential emotional functions in daily live. Our studies involved four phases. First, through our literature review, we articulated the key characteristics of pet dogs that apply to ubicomp products. Secondly, we applied these characteristics to a design case, CAMY, a mixed media PC peripheral with a camera. Like a pet dog, it interacts emotionally with a user. Thirdly, we conducted a user study with CAMY, which showed the effects of pet-like characteristics on users' emotional experiences, specifically on intimacy, sympathy, and delightedness. Finally, we presented other design cases and discussed the implications of utilizing a pet dog analogy to advance ubicomp systems for improved user experiences.