R U Home?

R U Home? explored how long-distance couples maintain connection when they cannot share the same physical environment. The project focused on small, everyday signals of presence rather than constant messaging or scheduled calls.

The goal was to create a system that felt subtle, personal, and emotionally supportive without becoming another demanding communication platform.

Research centered on long-distance couples at Georgia Tech, using cultural probes and synthesis to understand how partners think about routines, missed moments, reassurance, and emotional closeness.

The research revealed that connection often comes from small signs of everyday life: knowing someone arrived home, seeing a familiar routine, or receiving a lightweight reminder that the other person is thinking of you.

The system combines a companion app with a phone charm that acts as a tangible reminder of the relationship. The app supports lightweight check-ins and shared presence, while the charm gives the experience a physical anchor.

This pairing helped the concept feel less like a productivity tool and more like an emotional object that lives alongside the user throughout the day.

Development focused on emotional tone, interaction pacing, and the role of the phone charm as a small but meaningful object. The design needed to support connection without creating obligation or pressure.

My contributions included research synthesis, charm form development, and video editing for the final presentation, helping communicate how the system would fit into everyday long-distance routines.

The final concept gives long-distance couples a way to share small moments of presence through a connected app and physical charm. It focuses on reassurance, emotional rhythm, and low-pressure connection.

R U Home? demonstrates emotional design, research synthesis, app-system thinking, physical-digital interaction, and storytelling through presentation media.