Wisp: Drones as Companions for Breathing

Paper in proceeding, 2023

The spectrum of applications for social drones is broadening as they become an increasingly accessible technology. In order to expand on the immensely rich but poorly researched field of Human-Drone Interaction (HDI), we present a minimal, explorative, and anti-solutionist design. We describe the first steps of a Research through Design (RtD) project focused on the concept-driven exploration of an unlikely pairing: drones and breathing. We present Wisp, a micro-drone probe controlled by a user’s breath. Informed by experts on breathing, drawing inspiration from soma design, Wisp is described as platform for the development of defamiliarising views towards intimate somatic interactions between humans and drones. In this paper we describe the initial studies in a RtD development process, including expert interviews, prototyping, and informal evaluations. We contribute to the field of HDI with a design composite framework combining soma design and slow technology for exploratory somatic slow interactions between humans and drones.