Games as Social Spaces: A Tangible Interaction Contribution for Social Anxiety
Abstract
Energetic spaces like events, parties or other social gatherings can be overwhelming for those who are afraid of being judged by others in a negative light. This becomes more oppressing for those who are more socially anxious when the event is in person.
Those with social anxiety know they cannot hide forever and want to change their ways to meet others and be more comfortable in these on-site events. We designed a system, through tangible/physical interaction, that helps decrease social anxiety caused by these interpersonal on-site interactions and helps people stay in contact with others they interact with. Our goal is to break the ice and let people in a more familiar environment, characteristic of table games, which only work if played with others.
Our research proposes a tabletop game that — through its tangible interaction, rules and challenges —, helps people to engage with each other and gets to know them better in these face-to-face scenarios. We researched what makes social anxiety such trouble for people, what are its treatments and how to incorporate the best solutions into the rules of our game. Based on the rules, we sketched and designed how people would interact with our device, and created a wizard of oz prototype to evaluate it with potential users.
As a result, we discovered that the challenges that require more thinking, reflection and introspection tend to be less fun and generate more anxiety. Spontaneous challenges tend to be more fun and generate more excitement. We believe our research might be a solution for socially anxious people to build trust around others and help overcome or accept their anxious state.