Heart2Heart Records

After moving to Ithaca, much of my communication with my close friends and family is done through digital means. I wanted to analyze both my communication habits over time as well as the emotional context of my correspondences. How do I record and display the emotional signficance of these conversations, beyond their actual textual form?

Heart2Heart Records is a data physicalization that preserves the emotion of digital conversations as tactile, replayable objects. Inspired by the mechanics of physical data storage and playback in vinyl records, the user’s finger becomes the needle that reads the data along the edge of the spinning disc, feeling the emotions embedded in the form—from sharp, painful spikes to smooth, pleasurable bumps. Each stackable disc stores 24hrs worth of conversational data, where different concentric rings represent relationship categories, and bumps varying in sensation and size represent emotion and intensity.

All data was collected using Google Sheets. Parameters included time start/end (for duration-based like calls), modality (text, call, email), relation (friend, family, work, school, partner), and emotion (happy, sad, angry, calm). One issue we encountered is that nearly all of these parameters were categorical: there were only so many forms and colors we could use to represent each parameter before the viewer had to cross-reference the legend for each point.

Instead, we looked to make the data as simple as intuitive as possible. We moved relation from equivalent categories to concentric "circles of closeness" starting from the heart, going partner -> friends and family -> acquaintances.

We also found that color-coding for emotions was subjective. There are common associations, such as yellow for happiness and blue for sadness, but when emotions are more nuanced these colors are harder to discern intuitively. Instead, we defined emotional data on two linear axes: intensity (how strongly the emotion is felt) and valence (how positive the emotion is). This allowed us to represent the emotion through texture, using sharp and painful spikes for negative valence and softening to smooth and round bumps for positive valence. Bump protrusion was then mapped to intensity, with naturally only extreme positivity/negativity being the most intense.

We laser-cut 8 discs from clear acrylic and stacked the concentric rings with vertical padding to leave a sizable free edge for the finger to touch. We used a heart shape for the padding as a directional marker to align all the discs to midnight so that we could visualize conversational patterns across days. The central acrylic rod's square cross-section helps spin the discs without slipping.

The wooden base houses an Arduino uno, stepper motor, and button. Pressing the button activates the motor's spin, and the user can rest one or three fingers on the disc edges to read the data chronologically.

By pure coincidence, the conversational data was captured during the end of a serious relationship. The patterns are evident: the partner circle spikes for hours with pain and anger. The friends and family circle bursts with color, painful spikes softening to smooth bumps as they talk me down. Then, withdrawal, a day of distraction through work, and a day of futile attempts at contact, and gradually the partner circle falls silent entirely. The circles seem to slowly return to more neutral and positive conversations.

And now, such an intangible, indescribable experience is immortalized in physical form.