Affect and Atmosphere in Controlled Responsive Environments

Abstract

We explore the atmospheric potential and the affective connection between humans and their instrumented, responsive environments and develop corresponding artistic design strategies, evaluating ubicomp environments from a critical perspective, beyond pure application and usefulness. We have designed an abstract, cocoon-like, responsively mediated space and conducted a series of experiments with a total of 17 participants. Results show that participants experience affection, a coupling between themselves and the designed environment, and show strong cognitive engagement to understand and structure the environment through patterns of situation awareness and sensemaking.