Julia Kleinau

Hybrid work enables knowledge workers to collaborate across distance and time zones, yet often fails to support interactions that sustain collaboration and team cohesion over time. These challenges are particularly pronounced in cross-continental collaboration, where initiating contact, maintaining awareness, and negotiating interruptibility become difficult. In this work, we report on the early stages of setting up a cross-location living lab for studying distributed collaboration longitudinally. As two research labs collaborating across continents, we aim to establish a research environment where our own hybrid practices provide a situated context for introducing and exploring novel technologies, paving the way for in-the-wild studies with external stakeholders. We present a work-in-progress reflective account on setting up this living lab, drawing on past, present and future insights from our own collaboration. Overall, we scaffold an emerging research agenda that encourages sustained engagement with researchers’ own tools and practices, using lived collaboration to generate situated insight.

MouthIO is the first customizable intraoral user interface that can be equipped with various sensors and output components. It consists of an SLA-printed brace that houses a flexible PCB within a bite-proof enclosure positioned between the molar teeth and inner cheeks. All parts in contact with the oral cavity are made of bio-compatible materials to ensure safety, while the design takes into account both comfort and portability. We demonstrate MouthIO through three application examples ranging from beverage consumption monitoring, health monitoring, to assistive technology.

This paper introduces MouthIO, the first customizable intraoral user interface that can be equipped with various sensors and output components. MouthIO consists of an SLA-printed brace that houses a flexible PCB within a bite-proof enclosure positioned between the molar teeth and inner cheeks. Our MouthIO design and fabrication technique enables makers to customize the oral user interfaces in both form and function at low cost. All parts in contact with the oral cavity are made of bio-compatible materials to ensure safety, while the design takes into account both comfort and portability. We demonstrate MouthIO through three application examples ranging from beverage consumption monitoring, health monitoring, to assistive technology. Results from our full-day user study indicate high wearability and social acceptance levels, while our technical evaluation demonstrates the device’s ability to withstand adult bite forces.

MouthIO is the first customizable intraoral user interface that can be equipped with various sensors and output components. It consists of an SLA-printed brace that houses a flexible PCB within a bite-proof enclosure positioned between the molar teeth and inner cheeks. All parts in contact with the oral cavity are made of bio-compatible materials to ensure safety, while the design takes into account both comfort and portability. We demonstrate MouthIO through three application examples ranging from beverage consumption monitoring, health monitoring, to assistive technology.