Role
UX Researcher, Experiential designer
Timeline
February to March
Team
Rania Wijayakusumah, Min Lyu, Jiatong Zhang, Ananya Soni, Fatema Nadeem
Design a way for feelings to spread between people.
Introduction
Heartbeats in Sync: Designing Emotional Contagion Through Shared Experience
In a world where digital communication often replaces physical connection, Heartbeats in Sync explores how emotions can spread between people through embodied, multisensory experiences.
This project asks, "How can we use design to create shared emotional states and foster empathy through physical and sensory connections?"
Process
Research Methodology
Body Storming | Body Mapping | Field Study | AEIOU
Visualisation and Representation
Blueprint Maps | Narrative Clips
Key Insights
Body Mapping Workshop
Research Question
How do we physically hold and express emotions in the body?
Methodology
We conducted a body mapping workshop with 5–6 participants aged 19–28, selected through convenience sampling to reflect a range of backgrounds. Using directed storytelling, we guided participants through questions such as:
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“When you think of your childhood, what emotions do you feel, and where are they located in your body?”
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“How did your last heartbreak manifest physically?”
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“Where do you store anger, if at all?”
Insight
Participants identified specific emotional locations (e.g., happiness in the chest, sadness in the legs, anger in the hands), revealing not just the location but also the intensity and temporal nature of feelings. These findings were thematically grouped into categories of happiness, sadness, and visual expression, forming the foundation for our design exploration.
Closer
Each session concluded with a consensual hug, offering a moment of emotional closure and reinforcing the importance of care and trust in emotionally charged research.
Key Insights
AEIOU
Context & Methods
Using the AEIOU framework, we explored two contrasting emotional experiences:
1. Les Misérables, Sondheim Theatre
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Passive experience: Audience remained seated, engaged mainly through viewing and listening.
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Emotional depth: Strong bonds formed through narrative and performer-audience connection.
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Enhanced by: Lighting, synchronized audio-visual cues, and collective moments (e.g., choruses).
2. UVA: Synchronicity, 180 Studios
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Active participation: Viewers became part of the installation.
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Sensory impact: Light, darkness, and movement guided behavior and evoked emotion.
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Immersion: Roles of observer and participant blurred, enhancing emotional contagion.
Insights & Concept Direction
From this research, we identified key drivers of emotional transmission:
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Sensory cues (light, sound, movement)
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Role transformation (observer ↔ participant)
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Group synchrony and shared rhythm
Heartbeats in Sync
This concept uses physical computing to externalize heartbeats, aiming to foster group synchrony and empathy. By capturing participants’ heartbeats using sensors and translating this data into external outputs (e.g., sound, light, or haptic feedback), we aimed to make individual internal states perceivable to others. The goal was to establish a shared rhythmic experience that could enhance group connectedness and empathy.
Iteration Insight
Early experiments demonstrated the potential for heartbeat synchronization to influence group dynamics. However, we found that audio feedback alone lacked the depth of sensation required to evoke a truly embodied emotional response, suggesting the need for multisensory or more immersive outputs in future iterations.
"I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself."
"It was strange but beautiful to feel so connected to strangers."
"The vibrations made my own heartbeat feel more real, more alive."
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© 2022 by Fatema Nadeem