On Tuesday, July 12th, 2022, at 2 p.m., the thesis reading of the doctoral student Maria Alejandra García Corretjer will take place in the room MSF0.1, Miquel Febres building of La Salle Campus Barcelona, entitled “On the relationship between people, objects, & interactive technologies: Transforming digital & physical experiences through the process of Realizing Empathy”, which has been carried out under the direction of Dr. David Miralles Esteban. The doctoral student is part of the GTM - Research Group on Media Technologies of La Salle Campus Barcelona. The tribunal is made up by Dr. Àlex Barco, Dra. Leticia Duboc and Dra. Beste Özcan.
The thesis, which can be followed in streaming, focuses its contributions on how people that engage with their surroundings, whether physical or digital, becomes increasingly complex and rapid, making the user’s relationship with their objects and digital tools, at times, extreme and short-lived. Yet, there is still meaning in ownership of objects and interactive technological objects, they are tokens of reflection and representation to others and their role in society. The key to sustaining a relationship and sense of meaning with these objects lies in the design and intention of the interactive experience created. Inspired by disciplines of psychology, design, Human-computer interaction, and business modeling, this thesis explored, analyzed, created, and tested theoretical foundations on Empathy and the concept of initiating a long-term relationship between people and their interactive technologies. The results are encouraging and clearly establish a path for further research on this model’s design.