Project

Touch-Phone

Groups

The Touch-Phone was developed to explore the use of objects to mediate the emotional exchange in interpersonal communication. Through an abstract visualization of screen-based color changes, a standard telephone is modified to communicate how it is being held and squeezed. The telephone receiver includes a touch-sensitive surface which conveys the user's physical response over a computer network. The recipient sees a small colored icon on his computer screen which changes in real time according to the way his conversational partner is interacting with the telephone object.