Flippo the Robo-Shoe-Fly: a Foot Dwelling Social Wearable Companion

This project explores the design of a social wearble that is meant to support people to take breaks away from their desk and move, as well as to socialize with others by caring for their on-body companion 'robot'. Flippo takes the shape of a soft and fuzzy bug-like creature. It lives on people’s shoes and occasionally nudges them when it needs to move and have social interaction with another creature from its species. It does this by making sounds and visual effects, and requires that the wearers coordinate shaking their feet and helping the creatures face each other. If Flippo is satisfied with the interaction it displays a light animation and plays ’happy’ tunes, and if not it nudges the wearer again. We ran a field study with 13 participants, preliminary results show potential of the design to encourage and facilitate co-located social interaction. This project was led by Ella Dagan and co-authored with James Fey, Rachel Hsiao, Charlene Hoang, Sanoja Kikkeri, and Katherine Isbister.