New DIY electronic devices from Goldsmiths, University of London, transmit playful feelings and flirtations to family and friends during the pandemic.

A team of researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London have just released Yo-Yo Machines – a series of four DIY devices for people to build at home which transmit feelings, flirtations, and activities in playful ways.

Developed with UK Covid-19 research funding, Yo-Yo Machines are pairs of adaptable gadgets which enable long-distance communication through light and movement, helping to maintain connections between partners, friends, and family who are physically separated as a result of Covid-19.  They can be made with paper plates, cereal boxes, jam jars and other household items, together with simple low-cost (around £26 – £36 to build a pair) hardware such as a simple microcontroller and USB cable, and software and instructions downloaded from the Yo-Yo Machines website. 

Developed by the Interaction Research Studio at Goldsmithsthese not-for-profit makeshift devices allow playful forms of communication to connect those separated by the pandemic. The research team, who were also behind the popular My Naturewatch wildlife cameras, have released four adaptable designs, Light Touch, Speed Dial, Knock, Knock, and Flutter By. 

Light Touch devices allow you to exchange coloured lights across the internet which hold symbolic meanings unique to you and your partner. When you choose and send a colour from one device, it pulses on the partner device then fades away slowly, so can be used in real-time or leave traces to find later. 

Each Light Touch has two LED lights: a ‘send’ light that is controlled from one device, and a ‘receive’ light controlled from a partner device. There is also a button or capacitive sensor (a metal piece that senses touch) on each Light Touch which is used to select and send colours. Turning on your partner’s light indicates ‘I’m thinking of you’ and different light colours can mean whatever you want them to, yellow for happy or blue for sad, for example. Users can create rhythms with light pulses, learn Morse Code, or send and receive colour mixes to create new effects representing different things. 

Professor Bill Gaver, co-director of the Interaction Research Studio, has been using a pair with his 91-year-old mother for a month. He said: “They’re surprisingly compelling — when she sends me a light from California it feels like she’s right next to my desk in London. It’s also really nice when I wake up or return home and find a light she’s sent earlier, and she says she looks for a light from me particularly when she gets up at night.” 

Speed Dial is a mood barometer connected in pairs, where a pointer can be moved to indicate a choice from a set of options. Using a ‘capacitive touch controller’ the choice will be sent over the internet and the partner’s device will move to point to the same option. They can then respond with theirs. Different dials give different options and can be as serious, silly or creative as the user likes – you could share states of mind, insults, or show what activity you’re doing. 

Knock Knock sends tapping sounds between devices. Knocking on one causes an identical knocking sound on the other, even if it is halfway around the world. A simple and immediate way to create a moment of connection, they can be used to attract attention, say hello, or play elaborate rhythm games. 

Flutter By are gentle communicators that use motion sensors to pick up activity in one place and signal it in another – like curtains swaying when someone walks by on the other side. You don’t need to press any buttons to operate them: just set them running and they’ll do their thing, creating a sense of social connection between distant spaces.

Andy Boucher, co-director of the studio explains; “It’s important to stay in touch while physically separated, but teleconferencing tools like Zoom and Teams can be a lot of work. What if you just want to send somebody a wave, or a smile, without demanding too much attention? That’s what Yo–Yo Machines are for. Simple devices you can make yourself, they connect across the Internet to let you send a signal that you’re thinking of somebody, and give just enough control to play around, or maybe invent a secret language.” 

Yo–Yo Machines has been funded by the UK Research and Innovation’s “Call for Research and Innovation ideas to Address COVID-19”, an innovative programme that supported a wide range of projects addressing and mitigating the health, social, economic and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. This has allowed the team to develop and distribute plans for making Yo–Yo Machines for free to help people feel socially close while physically isolated.  

Gaver explains: “We are motivated to pursue the project by our desire to positively impact on people’s wellbeing during this crisis. Yo–Yo Machines will neither save lives nor replace video conferencing, but they will reduce isolation and add a bit of joy to peoples’ lives, making it easier to adhere to distancing advice in the months to come.”

The designs build on at least 30 years of research into systems that support peripheral and emotional awareness remotely. Led by Professor Bill Gaver and Andy Boucher, the Interaction Research Studio in the Department of Design at Goldsmiths explores the design of computational systems for everyday life, designing prototype products that encourage playfulness, exploration and insight. 

Interaction Research Studio Team:

Bill Gaver (Director), Andy Boucher (Director), Dean Brown, David Chatting, Naho Matsuda, Jen Molinera, Liliana Ovalle, Andy Sheen, Mike Vanis