Gust of me: reconnecting mother and son

The Gust of Presence conceptual design lets parents and children who live apart reconnect in a more friendship-based relationship. With two Gustbowls, parents and children can communicate in a simple way that requires little effort and could subtly become a part of their daily routines. Gustbowl is designed to promote and support informal, unobtrusive interactions in families whose members live apart. The Gustbowl helps families keep in touch, rather than just exchange information, by letting members be a part of each other's daily routines. This lets them have the little encounters that are ordinary to members who live together yet are greatly missed by members who live apart. We describe how the Delft design team created the Gustbowl from user studies by developing the concept for and field-testing an experiential prototype.