Aboard an Arctic expedition sailing along the coast of Svalbard, there is a disconnect between the group and the rest of the world, especially when facing a lack of internet connectivity. We conducted a co-design workshop with 13 participants in a unique context - a ship in remote areas of the Arctic with limited connectivity. We see this scenario as an opportunity to research how people's needs, behaviours, and social dynamics are influenced by digital disconnection to design better tools for connection in everyday life. Through this research, we develop themes related to social and technological connection and disconnection. We discuss a number of implications and questions for design, including suggestions to (1) Use Naturally Emerging Aspects of the Environment to Connect People without Pulling Them out of the Moment, (2) Design to Shift Expectations for Response Speed and Richness, and (3) Understand Disconnection Needs, Responsibilities, and Safeguards.

When families live in the same home, they feel a sense of connection through the subtle, passive aspects of family life. Over distance, these passive aspects are hard to experience as most communication technologies support sharing conversations or activities. Through a research-through-design methodology, we explored the design of smart home technologies for passive co-presence over distance. Based on our design explorations, we arrived at an interaction space which includes the dimensions of Activity, Solitude, Synchronicity, and Spontaneity. Our research-through-design process additionally resulted in the design of two smart home systems. The There Chair employs the senses of touch and sight to passively display when a remote family member is sitting at the dining room table. The Fragrance Frame is a paired picture frame that detects when a remote family member is passing by their frame, and emits a scent reminiscent of togetherness. We reflect on our design decisions and propose considerations for future design.

When emerging adults move out of their parents’ homes for the first time, their needs for togetherness and connection evolve, as do their parents’. In co-located homes, people often experience togetherness passively by sensing one another’s presence in their environment. However, when no longer living together, methods of experiencing togetherness change. Thus, we conducted an interview and co-design study with 16 pairs of parents and emerging adults that explores this concept across distance. The study uncovered differences in the connection needs of emerging adults and their parents, including their goals in connecting, the amount of communication they needed, and their needs for privacy and transparency. We additionally found that passive connecting factors included ambient sounds of the home, visual shared experiences and traces of one another in the home, ambient home smellscapes and smell memories, touching left-behind objects or gifted objects, and the taste of family recipes and the ambience of family mealtimes. We discuss suggestions for designing for passive co-presence based on this new knowledge.

Rapid iteration is crucial to effective prototyping; yet making certain objects - large, smoothly curved and/or of specific material - requires specialized equipment or considerable time. To improve access to casting such objects, we developed FoldMold: a low-cost, simply-resourced and eco-friendly technique for creating scalable, curved mold shapes (any developable surface) with wax-stiffened paper. Starting with a 3D digital shape, we define seams, add bending, joinery and mold-strengthening features, and "unfold" the shape into a 2D pattern, which is then cut, assembled, wax-dipped and cast with materials like silicone, plaster, or ice. To access the concept's full power, we facilitated digital pattern creation with a custom Blender add-on. We assessed FoldMold's viability, first with several molding challenges in which it produced smooth, curved shapes far faster than 3D printing would; then with a small user study that confirmed automation usability. Finally, we describe a range of opportunities for further development.