On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Dog... Unless You're Another Dog
This is an incremental step in HCI, applying design fiction to uncover key questions for animal-to-animal interfaces, which could inform future technology development for unconventional users like animals.
This design fiction paper explores the concept of animal-animal connected interfaces, using dogs as an example, to envision what a dog internet might look like and how interactions could be presented, with analysis revealing participant concerns around asymmetries and the use of familiar objects and notification systems.
How humans use computers has evolved from human-machine interfaces to human-human computer mediated communication. Whilst the field of animal-computer interaction has roots in HCI, technology developed in this area currently only supports animal-computer communication. This design fiction paper presents animal-animal connected interfaces, using dogs as an instance. Through a co-design workshop, we created six proposals. The designs focused on what a dog internet could look like and how interactions might be presented. Analysis of the narratives and conceived designs indicated that participants' concerns focused around asymmetries within the interaction. This resulted in the use of objects seen as familiar to dogs. This was conjoined with interest in how to initiate and end interactions, which was often achieved through notification systems. This paper builds upon HCI methods for unconventional users, and applies a design fiction approach to uncover key questions towards the creation of animal-to-animal interfaces.