“It’s Not that it Will Kill Me”: Living with Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity

Abstract

While the future visions of Internet of Things are slowly being implemented, the wireless and networked infrastructures that enable these connections already intervene and matter in people’s everyday lives in powerful ways. In this paper, we present a case study of a woman living with electromagnetic hypersensitivity; the heightened sensitivity of electromagnetic fields. We describe how her daily activities and everyday habits are both enabled and constrained by digital technologies. Through this narrative, we reflect on how this case has impact for design research regarding how the objects we design matter in people’s everyday life in unpredictable and uncomfortable ways - also those that are not wirelessly connected.