Can Wearable Technology Enhance Emotional Intimacy? An experimental design research

Emotion is an intangible fact that is woven into interpersonal relationships in order to sustain social bonds with more understanding, trust and intimacy. Today, people are in an era of digitally mediated HHI (Human-to-Human Interaction), which is transforming the traditional way of communication and social dynamics. In order to increase the affective level of communication, research areas, such as affective haptics and wearable technology have emerged to find more affective interaction avenues and convey human emotions through technology in a more physical way. This paper presents a survey and a design practice that aim to explore how wearable technology can enhance emotional intimacy by introducing new ways for expressing emotions. The analysis of this study is addressed on the privacy issue of emotional expression through wearable technology and intimacy of emphatic communication through these agents.