Image: (L to R) Prof. Thea Blackler, Dr Nicole Vickery and Dr Jane Turner
More people are living across continents which presents challenges for maintaining and developing familial connections. Prof. Thea Blackler was joined by Dr Jane Turner and Dr Nicole Vickery at a recent presentation about their successful ARC Discovery Project titled ‘Designing distanced intergenerational interaction with tangible technology’. The project aims to enable close tangible connection across generations that are geographically distant. With more than half of Australians being born overseas or with a parent born overseas, many extended families are separated by distance.
Older people and their young relatives and grandchildren who are geographically distanced cannot currently experience closeness in the tangible ways that reflect the natural ways they would play and build relationships in “real” life. Geographically separated families can communicate more quickly, easily and cheaply than ever before, but this communication is: intangible; conducted on the terms of the technology not the communicators; inflexible; and generally not very playful.
Enabling family connections will have positive impacts for both groups, and the project will seek a better understanding of the impact of intergeneration engagement on emotional closeness. Through a design methodology that applies Mixed Reality and Tangibles, the project will develop approaches to distanced tangible intergenerational interaction which are designed specifically to increase intergenerational closeness. The outcomes will be innovative and subtle so that they fit seamlessly into the lives of older people and young children.
Commencing in 2024, the five year project will support increased and more authentic intergenerational engagement that leads to deeper relationships. It will also contribute to health and wellbeing through reduced loneliness and isolation.
Project Team
Professor Alethea Blackler, Associate Dean (Research), School of Design, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice, QUT
Associate Professor Linda Knight, Early Childhood Education – Digital Media and Creative Practice, School of Education, RMIT
Dr Bernd Ploderer, Associate Professor, School of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, QUT
Dr Jane Turner, Senior Lecturer (Games), School of Design, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice, QUT
Dr Nicole Vickery, Lecturer of Interaction Design, School of Design, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice, QUT
Dr. Shital Desai, Assistant Professor in Interaction Design, School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design and York Research Chair in Accessible Interaction Design, York University