Summary
Touch can create a feeling of intimacy and connectedness even when transmitted over a distance. In this work we propose feelabuzz, a system to transmit movements of one mobile phone to the vibration actuator of another one. This is done in a direct, non-abstract way, without the use of pattern recognition techniques in order not to destroy the feel for the other. This means that the same channel enables direct communication, i.e. what another person explicitly signals, as well as implicit context communication, i.e. the complex movements any activity consists of or even those that are produced by the environment. We explore the potential of this approach, present the mapping we use and discuss further possible development beyond the existing prototype to enable a large-scale user study.