MaDrone: Using drones to facilitate connectedness across geographic boundaries

The emergence of affordable consumer drones promises new perspectives for interacting with the physical world around us. Affordable, accessible, and easy to operate drones have the potential to overcome geographic boundaries between users living in different locations and subsequently foster connectedness. Yet, the design space of using drones to facilitate social interactions beyond geographic boundaries is still underexplored. In this position paper, we envision principles derived from the concept of lucid engagement and the psychological need for connectedness to explore how drones can mediate social interactions. We introduce our design concept and discuss it based on a specific application scenario. We discuss the opportunities and challenges related to our interaction concept. Finally, we outline next steps for future research.