HeartSway: Exploring Biodata as Poetic Traces in Public Space

TL;DR

HeartSway is an interactive hammock that captures and replays users' biodata, creating poetic urban traces that foster connection and curiosity among strangers in public spaces.

Contribution

This work introduces a novel biodata-based public installation that evokes emotional responses and explores urban traces as poetic and experiential elements.

Findings

HeartSway evokes feelings of connection and curiosity.

Participants appreciate shared human vitality through biodata traces.

Design considerations enable intimate asynchronous encounters in public spaces.

Abstract

Human traces scattered across urban landscapes can signify our everyday lives and societal vibrancy in subtle and poetic forms. In this paper, we explore how designed technology can engage biodata as evocative traces. To this end, we present the design, implementation, and evaluation of HeartSway, an interactive hammock that captures a user's heart rate and micro-movements as traces and replays them as an embodied experience for the next visitor. Through a qualitative field study (N=10), we find that HeartSway evokes feelings of connection, curiosity about prior users, and appreciation for shared human vitality. Our work contributes to understanding anonymous archival biodata as a design material for experiential urban traces. We offer design considerations for intimate asynchronous encounters between strangers in public spaces and for reimagining public amenities.