Future feasibility of using wearable interfaces to provide social support

Abstract

Social support has a positive inuence on a person's overall wellbeing. The recent creation of mobile and online social networks have changed the methods used to obtain such support. Previous wearable devices have focussed on in-creasing an individuals perceived level of social support by either encouraging new social relationships or strengthen-ing those already existing. With the release of the Apple Watch, wearable interfaces are becoming popular but there is little research into the current attitudes of using these interfaces as a social support medium. In this paper we present the results of our survey to establish the attitudes of current smartwatch owners. Results show owning a smart-watch has no effect on the levels of social support a person feels they have. The most commonly used method of sup-port was through smartphone, which was true for people regardless of whether they own a smartwatch. A large num-ber of smartwatch owners stated using their device was their last preference in seeking emotional (61%) and informational (57%) support from others. Results from the survey indicate that more research is needed to establish exactly what fac-tors make technological devices well suited to accommodate social support and how these can be applied to wearable interfaces in the future.