Proxemic interaction in a multi-room music system
Henrik Sørensen, Mathies G. Kristensen, Jesper Kjeldskov, Mikael B. Skov · 2013
In recent years we have seen a growing interest in proxemic interaction within HCI. In order to explore proxemic interaction that spans across separate locations, we have developed a functional prototype of a multi-room music system, called AirPlayer, and performed a field evaluation. The system implements proxemic interactions on top of an existing Apple AirPlay based platform. The added features allow music to follow the user around the house and provide a smartphone app which can adapt to the current location of the user. The prototype was deployed in two households over a three week period, where data was collected through logging, user-written diaries and interviews. What the field evaluation has revealed is a number of interesting findings specifically regarding the importance of a simple interaction, the power of discrete zones to provide a local interaction, the importance and challenge of understanding background interactions and challenges in designing interaction with music in discrete zones.