Understanding the design of a flying jogging companion

Abstract

Jogging can offer many health benefits, and mobile phone apps have recently emerged that aim to support the jogging experience. We believe that jogging is an embodied experience, and therefore present a contrasting approach to these existing systems by arguing that any supporting technology should also take on an embodied approach. In order to exemplify this approach, we detail the technical specifications of a flying quadcopter that has successfully been used with joggers in order to explore the design of embodied systems to support physical exertion activities. Based on interviews with five joggers running with our system, we present preliminary insights about the experience of jogging with a flying robot. With our work, we hope to inspire and guide designers who are interested in developing embodied systems to support exertion activities.