Shared Family Experiences Over Distance in the Outdoors

When family and friends live apart, they often want to connect over distance to stay in touch and be a part of each other’s lives. Yet this can be challenging with existing technologies. Video chat systems begin to bridge this gap by providing views into remote spaces and of remote people. However, such systems are often designed to support conversations and not richer activities that a person might like to do with a family member or friend as if they were together in person. For example, this might include going for a walk together, riding bicycles, or site seeing. We have designed a number of ‘shared family experiences’ over distance that allow family members and friends to participate in outdoor activities together regardless of where they are located. The emphasis is on two-way video and audio links. Through two example projects—Shared Bicycling and Beam Geocaching—we describe the challenges and nuances of designing to support shared experiences over distance in the outdoors. We focus on how feelings of presence can be created, the sensations of the outdoors, and privacy challenges from the participation in ‘private’ activities in public spaces.