Abstract
This thesis discusses commensality as a significant social activity, that helps to maintain and strengthen social bonds. It also examines the sense of touch as a communication channel, and provides an insight to how it can be used to communicate affect. Touch as contextualized medium and its relevance to interaction design is investigated. Based on studies made in psychology, physiology, sociology and communication it aims to find an answer to the question: ”How may we create togetherness -with the help of an interactive device- between loved ones separated by distance during dining,
through remote communication?” In order to meet the objectives of the above question this research followed the Research Through Design methodology, with series of workshops and prototyping sessions. ?
Keywords
Tangible interaction, haptic feedback, commensality, sense of touch, nonverbal communication, emotional contagion, digitally mediated touch, immediacy, joint movement
