F-formations—the spatial arrangements of people in social encounters—have been studied in settings where the context (e.g., home, office, parties) and the presence of physical elements (e.g., furniture) can strongly influence the way people socially interact with each other. There are other less-structured, dynamic, and larger-scale spaces that present different types of challenges and opportunities for technology to enrich how people experience these (semi-) public spaces.

We conducted exploratory in-the-wild F-formation observations—in the real world during everyday uncontrolled activities—at a tourist attraction. This work can inform the design of mobile collocated interactions that aim to exploit F-formations.