Rethinking Wearability: When the Pillow Wears the Dreamer: Toward Intimate Interfaces and Passive Wearable Futures
Edwina Portocarrero, Zsófia Lévai
UbiComp Companion October 12, 2025 DOI: 10.1145/3714394.3756223 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that wearables should be reconceived around relational intimacy and the unconscious body, proposing that objects may 'wear' the user. Presents PillowTalk 2.0, a sleep-based interface for dream recall, as a design case that engages passivity and stillness rather than active, data-driven use, and contends that personalization is an ontological function rather than a feature. |
Abstract
This paper reimagines wearability by exploring how objects might engage the body through relational intimacy rather than attachment, and explores personalization not as a feature, but as an ontological function. We introduce PillowTalk 2.0, a sleep-based interface designed for dream recall as a design case. Unlike conventional wearables that assume an active, data-driven user, PillowTalk 2.0 engages passivity and stillness. We propose that objects may ''wear'' the user, advocating for a shift in wearable paradigms toward intuition, intimacy, and the unconscious body.