Social connectedness and inclusion by digital augmentation in public spaces

With several design iterations we explored the ways of increasing people’s feeling of inclusion and connectedness in a public space using interactive public art installations as media. The study used the Social Connectedness Revised Scale and the pictorial Inclusion of Community in Self as measurement tools and a university cafeteria as the context. Experiments were carried out to investigate the possible difference among several types of interaction elements, examining the influence on people’s perceived sense of inclusion and connectedness to others who were present in the same space. Subsequent interviews were conducted to support the findings of the questionnaires and to shed light on some of the results. The results showed a notable difference when the physical space was augmented with interactive digital content.