The Connected Prayerwheel: A Tangible Design Fostering Everyday Cultural Connectedness for Bhutanese families over Distance

This paper presents Connected Prayerwheels, a pair of augmented cultural objects using gesture sensors, ambient lights, and a song sharing feature designed to enhance everyday cultural connectedness for Bhutanese families over distance. We conducted interviews and design discussions with participants across Bhutan and Australia to understand families’ everyday routines, practices, and interests. We found many of their everyday routines were rooted in Buddhist cultural and religious traditions, which they were keen to share over distance. We therefore designed a prototype, the Connected Prayerwheel, and demonstrated it to participants to explore whether it would be fitting to use a cultural device in a connected form. Our findings highlight how cultural connectedness can be enriched through connected cultural artifacts. Families enjoyed sharing prayers, Bhutanese songs and hymns (Choeyangs), and the meaning of cultural symbols. This study contributes the design and discussion of connected cultural artifacts to studies of family connection over distance.