Tong: A wearable system to remind people of interpersonal distance

Abstract

The range of interpersonal distance is changing according to the environment, gender, culture, and individual person. Thus, realizing interpersonal distance is an important factor in modern society. In this work, we aim to call people’s attention to personal distance. We developed a prototype system, TONG, consisting of a wearable device and a mobile phone application. The system detects the people from behind entering the set distance and reminds them of keeping a proper interpersonal distance. To test the effectiveness of this system, we conducted quantitative and qualitative experiments. The results showed that our system express interpersonal distance more clearly. Further studies will be conducted by using multi-mode to suit different needs of interpersonal distance.