In this paper, we explore people’s perceptions and usage of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it had changed compared to the pre-pandemic times. As salient findings, we report increased activity in social media, which followed both from the increased opportunity to spend time in social media, the need to be socially connected, and the motivation to follow pandemic related updates. The perceived emerging content visible in social media postings were face masks, home and outdoors activities, remote events, and different challenges. Social media also made people aware of the divided opinions related to the pandemic, and could lead to more careful self-censoring of own postings. Our study is based on interviews of 29 and online survey of 172 people.

We explore the possibilities of augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) as co-design tools for service design. Four expert service designers, working in industry, tried out and discussed different VR and AR based tools: Head mounted display (HMD) based VR and AR, and projected environments. The findings emphasize that HMD techniques are not favored, as they isolate the wearer from the co-design situation and hinder the observation of emotions and expressions. Projection of the design context was positively commented, as supporting collaboration in co-design sessions.

We present our prototype application of head mounted display (HMD) based augmented reality (AR) for use in in factory contexts. The prototype was evaluated in a focus group based user study held at an industrial production line. The prototype was implemented using a Microsoft HoloLens, and supported placing different AR notifications, such as machinery fault or maintenance messages, in the environment. The prototype was used as a stimulus in the focus group consisting of factory workers (n = 6) for exploring the potential use of HMD AR in the industrial production line context. As the main findings, we identified two themes where factory workers saw HMD AR as a potential technology: in task instruction, and in confirming correct functionality. The technology was seen as having potential for collaborative tasks, especially for receiving instructions. Hands-free usage and ability to interact whilst wearing gloves were highly appreciated.