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Conversational aware Chair

Come down

Year
2018

Role
Concept
Software
Hardware

Team
Lukas Licher
Pia Kodalle

Ziel

In a conversation, people meet on different levels, which may be predetermined by social structures, personality or authority, or may only arise during the conversation. Good communication is based on mutual understanding, consideration and respect. Without this basic prerequisite, no healthy communication can take place. Due to different levels, communication problems and an imbalance of the interlocutors can occur.

Abstract

The project focuses on the influence of seat height on human communication. The goal was to equalize two conversational partners and create a balance. In doing so, the chair analyzes the conversational behavior of the conversational partners and automatically adjusts the seat height of the participants in order to manipulate communicative dominance.

Size has a direct influence on social perception

Seat height is used as an instrument for exerting influence. Body height is one of the most important factors in generating dominance. According to studies, it is positively associated with interpersonal dominance. There is a direct correlation between body size and perceived authority. The designed chair responds to dominance within a conversation and adjusts the seat height accordingly. It balances the two partners by compensating for dominant behavior by changing the seat height.

Solution

Dominance is determined on the basis of the proportion of speech and the volume. These two values are objectively quantifiable and thus lend themselves to a simplified form as a measure of a psychologically abstract construct such as "dominance." The system can intervene in two ways. First, by decreasing the seat height of the dominant partner, and second, by increasing the height of the recessive speaker.

The project was developed as a fully functional prototype. A RaspberryPi evaluates the conversation and instructs the networked chair to respond. The system is fully mobile and can be used in various situations.