Embracing Companion Technologies
This work addresses the need for humanistic design in HCI to ensure interactive technologies contribute to user wellbeing, though it is theoretical and incremental.
The paper tackles the problem of understanding human experiences with interactive agents by proposing a reframing through the metaphor of digital companions, using empathy theory to develop a framework that connects psychological needs to companion-like features.
As an increasing number of interactive devices offer human-like assistance, there is a growing need to understand the human experience of interactive agents. When interactive artefacts with human-like features become intertwined in our everyday experience, we need to make sure that they assume the right roles and contribute to our wellbeing. In this theoretical exploration, we propose a reframing of our understanding of interactions with everyday technologies by proposing the metaphor of digital companions. We employ the theory in the philosophy of empathy to propose a framework for understanding how users develop relationships with digital agents. The experiential framework for companion technologies provides connections between the users' psychological needs and companion-like features of interactive systems. Our work provides a theoretical basis for rethinking the user experience of everyday artefacts with a humanistic mindset and poses future challenges for HCI.