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How close do we really feel to technology? And what does that mean for the design of the intersection between people and technology? We investigated these questions at the HPI d-school as part of a small experiment, with surprising insights and clear impetus for the future.
In an exploratory survey, we asked ten participants to rate their emotional closeness to two technologies: an emotionally charged virtual reality experience with VR glasses and their own smartphone. The scale ranged from 1 (very close) to 10 (very distant).
On average, participants rated their emotional closeness to the VR experience at 3.06 – significantly closer than expected. The smartphone, on the other hand, although deeply embedded in everyday life, received an average rating of 6.25. Interestingly, 18% of participants still felt that their smartphone was emotionally closer to them than the VR experience.
Of course, our survey was not representative, but it does provide some exciting food for thought. Precisely because we deliberately kept the barrier to entry into virtual reality low and closely accompanied our participants, they were able to experience VR as more immediate and emotionally touching than many everyday interactions via smartphone.
These findings shed important light on the design of technologies: Emotionality does not automatically arise from technological sophistication. What is much more important is how human-centered a technology is designed: how intuitive it is to use, how much it addresses real needs, and how strongly it enables experiences that resonate with people.
It is also interesting to compare this with an assessment we obtained using AI: Based on current studies, one would have expected smartphones to seem more emotionally accessible than an immersive VR experience due to their everyday presence. However, our results show that with the right support and sensitive design, new technology can also create a deep emotional connection.
Virtual reality has enormous potential to reach people emotionally, provided that the technology is consciously designed with people in mind. Currently, many VR applications still lack this dimension. In order to successfully integrate technologies such as VR into work processes and everyday life, methods are therefore needed that consistently put users at the center.
Design Thinking offers the ideal approach for this: Instead of developing technology for its own sake, we first ask about people, their needs, and their perceptions. In this way, we create intersections that not only work but also truly touch people, resulting in innovations that have a lasting impact.
So there is still a lot to do. And that is precisely what makes designing the human-technology intersection so exciting: it is not only a technical challenge, but above all a human one, and an invitation to shape the future together with empathy and courage.
