Telepresence Lantern -- Designing an Immersive Video-Mediated Communication Device for Older Adults

TL;DR

The Telepresence Lantern is a user-friendly, portable video communication device designed to enhance social interaction for older adults by reducing technological barriers and enabling natural, ambient conversations.

Contribution

This paper introduces a novel, portable video communication device tailored for older adults, with a focus on ease of use and natural interaction, validated through user testing.

Findings

Improved ease of use for older adults

Enhanced social connectedness through portable design

Positive user feedback on interaction quality

Abstract

We present the Telepresence Lantern concept, developed to provide opportunities for older adults to stay in contact with remote family and friends. It provides a new approach to video-mediated communication, designed to facilitate natural and ambient interactions with simplified call setup. Video communication is an established way to enhance social connectedness, but traditional approaches create a high friction to frequent connection due to, for example, technological barriers. Through interactive sessions with older adult users, we created design and function prototypes to suit their needs and preferences. The main features of our design are a curved, wide field-of-view screen and corresponding camera and sound setup, and the affordance to easily move the device from room-to-room. An interactive user session with a fully functional prototype validated the potential of this concept for improving communication among older adults and their families.