AURA: Urban Personal Projection to Initiate the Communication.

We present a concept of AURA, an urban personal projection to initiate the communication. In this work, we focus on how to break the ice with strangers through technology in urban public space. The Aura, as an enliven spiritual pet, floats around users feet. We introduce a simple interaction scenario, attracting a person who comes within personal distance of the user who carries the AURA. To break the ice between strangers, a projected butterfly as the Aura is moved toward a person who comes within 2m of the user, and then back and forth to attract that person. We believe that externalized interactive representation of the user in the form of a spiritual pet can ease and facilitate the communication, serve as a conversation starter, and make the interactions between people more fun.