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lydia
@lydia

Developing a connection. All participants expressed various
feelings of connection with our device. Pl, P2, P4, and P5 all de-
scribed it as a little friend and/or pet. P2 expressed, "it's always
good to be accompanied by some living creature, I really like dif-
ferent, animals or plants. (... ) carrying this little friend also made
me feel happy and peaceful". P4 noted that she would be reminded
by the slime mold's presence by its smell, even stating that it felt
endearing, my cat's kind of have a smell, dogs have a smell, the
physarum, I recognize the smell and it smells kind of, organic, it's
kind of yeasty but not like decaying, it smells alive". In recalling an
experience where she had to take a long drive, P4 explained, "oh, I
gotta bring my little pet mold friend, during the drive, I was also
thinking about how I used to be really into Tamagotchis (... ) with
the physarum, (... ) it has this smell to it which your Tamagotchis
don't have, it has a sense of physicality, (... ) they're definitely dif-
ferent". Pl stated that their personal care routine ended up linked
to the device's care routine "I think every time I fed myself is when
I would remember to at least check it, I think that was actually
quite linked". While she was sick, P5's partner helped take care of
her as well as helped to take care of her device. P5 recounts, "I was
taking care of the slime and feeding it oats and stuff, my partner
was also feeding me oatmeal because I was sick and so she was like
you're my little slime and I was like yeah, I am (.. .) then she started
calling me her slime because I mean me and the slime, like, we were
eating the same stuff, (... ) we were both being fed and watered". P2
& P4 also stated that the visual appearance of their device affected
their mood. P2 explained that growth made them feel refreshed. P4
associated the bright yellow of the physarum with happy feelings,
noting this affective quality several times in her diary entries and
in her interview.


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