Traeddy: a stress sensitive traffic jam companion for car commuters

Commuting by car can be stressful, especially unexpected traffic jams may result in feelings of loss of control and social disconnectedness. In this paper, we present Traeddy, a teddy bear augmented with embedded technology, which serves as a wellbeing companion for car commuters in case of traffic jams. Traeddy is capable to help, for example by notifying relevant contacts about traffic jams and potential delays. We describe in detail the design process, including 20 contextual inquiries and report the evaluation of Traeddy through an online survey with 102 participants and a field study evaluating Traeddy with three commuters and two contacts in the field. The results of the field study indicate that Traeddy has a positive impact on the relationship between the commuter and the notified contact. Furthermore, the majority of the online participants anticipated Traeddy to be useful and to support their wellbeing in traffic jams.