HeartSway: Exploring Biodata as Poetic Traces in Public Space

2026-04-13

AI Summary

This work proposes HeartSway, a novel interactive hammock that fosters emotional connections among strangers in public spaces by introducing anonymous physiological data as a material for urban poetic traces. Leveraging biosensing and motion-capture technologies, the system captures users’ heart rates and subtle movements in real time and asynchronously replays them in an embodied manner to subsequent users. Findings from a qualitative field study with ten participants demonstrate that HeartSway effectively evokes a sense of connection between users, curiosity about prior occupants, and resonance with the shared vitality of human experience. The design offers a new paradigm for public installations that cultivate asynchronous intimate encounters through embodied, data-mediated interactions.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Interaction Techniques and Devices
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: The sharing economy
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Data management and stream processing for Web, mobile and wireless applications

Abstract

Human traces scattered across urban landscapes can signify our everyday lives and societal vibrancy in subtle and poetic forms. In this paper, we explore how designed technology can engage biodata as evocative traces. To this end, we present the design, implementation, and evaluation of HeartSway, an interactive hammock that captures a user's heart rate and micro-movements as traces and replays them as an embodied experience for the next visitor. Through a qualitative field study (N=10), we find that HeartSway evokes feelings of connection, curiosity about prior users, and appreciation for shared human vitality. Our work contributes to understanding anonymous archival biodata as a design material for experiential urban traces. We offer design considerations for intimate asynchronous encounters between strangers in public spaces and for reimagining public amenities.

Problem

• biodata
• public space
• urban traces
• asynchronous encounters
• intimate experience

Innovation

• biodata
• interactive installation
• urban traces
• asynchronous interaction
• embodied experience