Living Alongside Areca: Exploring Human Experiences with Things Expressing Thoughts and Emotions

Technological advancements such as LLMs have enabled everyday things to use language, fostering increased anthropomorphism during interactions. This study employs material speculation to investigate how people experience things that express their thoughts, emotions, and intentions. We utilized Areca, an air purifier capable of keeping a diary, and placed it in the everyday spaces of eight participants over three weeks. Weekly interviews were conducted to capture participants’ evolving interactions with Areca, concluding with a session collaboratively speculating on the future of everyday things. Our findings indicate that things expressing thoughts, emotions, and intentions can be perceived as possessing agency beyond mere functionality. While some participants exhibited emotional engagement with Areca over time, responses varied, including moments of detachment. We conclude with design implications for HCI designers, offering insights into how emerging technologies may shape human-thing relationships in complex ways.