e-Seesaw: A Tangible, Ludic, Parent-child, Awareness System

In modern China, the pace of life is becoming faster and working pressure is increasing often leading to pressure on families and family interaction. 23 pairs of working parents and their children were asked what they saw as their main communication challenges and how they currently used communication technology to stay in touch. The mobile phone was the dominant form of communication despite being poorly rated by children as a way of enhancing a sense of connection and love. Parents and children were presented with a series of design probes to investigate how current communication technology might be supported or enhanced with a tangible and playful awareness system.One of the designs, the e-Seesaw, was selected and evaluated in a lab and home setting. Participant reaction was positive with the design provoking a novel perspective on remote parent-child interaction allowing even very young children to both initiate and control communication.