Ubicomp products have become more important in providing emotional experiences as users increasingly assimilate these products into their everyday lives. In this paper, we explored a new design perspective by applying a pet dog analogy to support emotional experience with ubicomp products. We were inspired by pet dogs, which are already intimate companions to humans and serve essential emotional functions in daily live. Our studies involved four phases. First, through our literature review, we articulated the key characteristics of pet dogs that apply to ubicomp products. Secondly, we applied these characteristics to a design case, CAMY, a mixed media PC peripheral with a camera. Like a pet dog, it interacts emotionally with a user. Thirdly, we conducted a user study with CAMY, which showed the effects of pet-like characteristics on users' emotional experiences, specifically on intimacy, sympathy, and delightedness. Finally, we presented other design cases and discussed the implications of utilizing a pet dog analogy to advance ubicomp systems for improved user experiences.

People worldwide are increasingly acquiring collections of virtual possessions. While virtual possessions have become ubiquitous, little work exists on how people value and form attachments to these things. To investigate, we conducted a study with 48 young adults from South Korea, Spain and the United States. The study probed on participants' perceived value of their virtual possessions as compared to their material things, and the comparative similarities and differences across cultures. Findings show that young adults live in unfinished spaces and that they often experience a sense of fragmentation when trying to integrate their virtual possessions into their lives. These findings point to several design opportunities, such as tools for life story-oriented archiving, and insights on better forms of Cloud storage.