Thermal signals have been explored in HCI for emotion-elicitation and enhancing two-person communication, showing that temperature invokes social and emotional signals in individuals. Yet, extending these findings to group communication is missing. We investigated how thermal signals can be used to communicate group affective states in a hybrid meeting scenario to help people feel connected over a distance. We conducted a lab study (N=20 participants) and explored wrist-worn thermal feedback to communicate audience emotions. Our results show that thermal feedback is an effective method of conveying audience engagement without increasing workload and can help a presenter feel more in tune with the audience. We outline design implications for real-world wearable social thermal feedback systems for both virtual and in-person communication that support group affect communication and social connectedness. Thermal feedback has the potential to connect people across distances and facilitate more effective and dynamic communication in multiple contexts.

翻译：热信号已在人机交互领域被用于情绪诱发和增强双人通讯，研究表明温度能激发个体的社交与情绪信号。然而，将这些发现扩展到群体通讯仍属空白。我们研究了在混合会议场景中如何利用热信号传达群体情感状态，以帮助人们跨越距离产生联结感。我们开展了一项实验室研究（20名参与者），探索通过腕戴式热反馈传达观众情绪。结果显示，热反馈是传递观众参与度的有效方式，且不会增加认知负荷，还能帮助演讲者更好地与观众产生共鸣。我们为真实世界的可穿戴社交热反馈系统（适用于虚拟与面对面通讯）提出了设计启示，这些系统可支持群体情感通讯与社会联结。热反馈具有跨越距离连接人群的潜力，并在多种情境中促进更高效、更动态的通讯。