Feasibility Study of Ubiquitous Interaction Concepts

AbstractThere are all sorts of consumer electronics in a home environment. Using “apps” to interact with each device is neither feasible nor practical in an ubicomp future. Prototyping and evaluating interaction concepts for this future is a challenge. This paper proposes four concepts for device discovery and device interaction implemented in a virtual environment. The interaction concepts were compared in a controlled experiment for evaluation and comparison.Some statistically significant differences and subjective preferences could be observed in the quantitative and qualitative data respectively.Overall, the results indicate that the proposed interaction concepts were found natural and easy to use

Educating the Internet-of-Things generation

As highlighted by the articles in this special issue, the concept of the Internet of Things is becoming increasingly important and understanding both the technical underpinning and wider societal impacts of the Internet of Things (IoT) will be crucial for digital citizens of the future. Building on extensive experience in delivering large-scale distance learning, The Open University has redesigned its introductory computer science curriculum to place the Internet of Things at the centre of students’ experience, in a course called My Digital Life. In this article we present the design of this module, including a learning infrastructure that allows complete novices to experiment with, and learn about, Internet of Things technologies. We also share our experience of having almost 2000 students participate in the first presentation of the course, engaging in a range of activities that include collaborative and collective programming of real-world sensing applications

Audio-based narratives for the trenches of World War I : intertwining stories, places and interaction for an evocative experience

We report in detail the co-design, setup and evaluation of a technological intervention for a complex outdoor heritage site: a World War I fortified camp and trenches located in the natural setting of the Italian Alps. Sound was used as the only means of content delivery as it was considered particularly effective in engaging visitors at an emotional level and had the potential to enhance the physical experience of being at an historical place. The implemented prototype is visitor-aware personalised multi-point auditory narrative system that automatically plays sounds and stories depending on a combination of features such as physical location, visitor proximity and visitor preferences. The curators created for the trail multiple narratives to capture the different voices of the War. The stories are all personal accounts (as opposed to objective and detached reporting of the facts); they were designed to trigger empathy and understanding while leaving the visitors free to interpret the content and the place on the bases of their own understanding and sensitivity. The result is an evocative embodied experience that does not describe the place in a traditional sense, but leaves its interpretation open. It takes visitors beyond the traditional view of heritage as a source of information toward a sensorial experience of feeling the past. A prototype was set up and tested with a group of volunteers showing that a design that carefully combines content design, sound design, tangible and embodied interaction can bring archaeological remains, with very little to see, back to file

EXPERIÊNCIA E PARAMETRIZAÇÃO NO PROCESSO DE PROJETO DE APLICAÇÕES DIGITAIS INTERATIVAS

Designers’ experiences are reflected on prototypes developed by them, which are of paramount importance to the formation of concepts, especially in the design and design of computer systems phases. Therefore, this article demonstrates how prototyping can benefit from the parameter in the design of these systems. To make it happen, the design process, exposed in this article, is established methodologically by the understanding of concepts that spread through the experiential and interactive contexts (immersion), in the structuring of ideas (ideation) that delineate one solution liable to implementation (prototype) and its subsequent validation. As a result, a computational solution that consists of an embedded system is proposed, validated by functional tests that show that parametric modeling hold up the establishment of relations and correlations between the components used in prototyping, and demonstrate that the parameter assists both the creation and the redesign of interactive computer systems.Experiências de projetistas se retratam nos protótipos por eles desenvolvidos, os quais são de suma importância para a formação de conceitos, principalmente na fase de projeto e de concepção de sistemas computacionais. Diante disso, o presente artigo tem como objetivo demonstrar como a prototipação pode se beneficiar da parametrização na concepção destes sistemas. Para isso, o processo projetual, exposto neste artigo, é estabelecido metodologicamente pelo entendimento de conceitos que permeiam os contextos experienciais e interacionais (imersão); na estruturação de ideias (ideação) que delineiam uma solução passível de implementação (prototipação) e na sua posterior validação. Como resultado, é proposta uma solução computacional constituída por um sistema embarcado e validada por testes funcionais que retratam que a modelagem paramétrica favorece o estabelecimento de relações e correlações entre os componentes utilizados na prototipação, e demonstram que a parametrização auxilia tanto na criação quanto no redesenho de sistemas computacionais interativos

Emerging models for the development of social mobile applications: people as a service, and social devices. A proof of concept.

Nowadays mobile devices have gained a great importance in our society and they are present everywhere. These devices have a huge amount of data about their owners and context data of their surroundings, and many communication channels. Nevertheless with current models mobile devices cannot take advantage of this situation. For these reasons, new models for mobile applications have appeared recently. People-as-a-Service (PeaaS) allows interactions between mobile devices in their surroundings, using sociological profiles of their owners to create communication between interested devices. Social Devices is a recent model that implements the PeaaS concept, taking advantage the devices are almost always with the user it creates a new kind of interactions between nearby devices with the main target of improve social relations. For this purpose each device is able to provide services to nearby devices and consume them, keeping the user’s data in the device and sharing it only when it is authorized. This concept could be integrated with technologies like Internet-of-Things and Ubiquitous Computing, allowing devices to connect with nearby objects like elevators, traffic lights or your own vehicle. In particular, there is a new platform that implements both concepts, which is the study object of this work: OrchestratorJS. The platform is still under development and is not too stable yet, furthermore there is no documentation available. The main target of this work is to explore the platform and to create a basic documentation which could be used for anybody interested on the in, acting as a starting point for future works

Software Engineering in the IoT Context: Characteristics, Challenges, and Enabling Strategies

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Head Up Games : on the design, creation and evaluation of interactive outdoor games for children

This thesis proposes a new genre of outdoor games for children, namely Head Up Games. The concept was inspired by the observation that existing pervasive outdoor games for children were mostly played head down, as the predominantly screen-based interaction of existing games required constant attention of the children. First, the vision of Head Up Games is described and illustrated with several design cases (Chapter 2). In contrast to the head down games, Head Up Games aim to encourage and support rich social interaction and physical activity, play behaviors that are similar to play behaviors seen in traditional outdoor games (such as tag and hide-and-seek). The design process of Head Up Games poses several challenges. In User Centered Design it is commonly accepted to start the development of a new product using low-fi mock-ups, e.g., paper prototypes, and evaluate these with end-users. In the case of Head Up Games this proved to be difficult, as the emerging game experience is significantly altered when using paper prototypes. Therefore, a study was carried out that used high-fi prototypes, i.e. working, interactive, prototypes, from a very early stage in the design process (Chapter 3). This way, the effect of interactions on the game experience can be addressed earlier and better in the design process. Furthemore, having access to technology early in the design process, allows designers to better explore the design space. However, designers often do not possess adequate skills to quickly prototype interactive products, particularly products that need to be evaluated in an outdoor context. Such a development is often costly and time-consuming. Therefore, the RaPIDO platform was developed (Chapter 4). The platform not only includes the appropriate hardware for creating outdoor games, but is also bundled with software libraries, to allow designers not specifically trained in software engineering to adopt the platform easily. RaPIDO was evaluated using a case study methodology with two Industrial Design master students. The evaluation not only focused on the usability of the platform, but, more importantly, how the use of the platform affected the design process. The main conclusion of the study was that the designers indeed were able to rapidly create mobile games, and that the hardware offered was suitable for creating outdoor games. Furthermore, issues were identified with regard to writing the game software, e.g., managing the complexity of the software. Finally, for evaluating Head Up Games with children two methods were applied: the Outdoor Play Observation Scheme (OPOS) was used to quantify the intended play behavior. Furthermore, GroupSorter was developed to provide a framework to interview a group of children simultaneously, resulting in qualitative comments. Both OPOS and GroupSorter were applied for evaluating three Head Up Games, which are described in Chapter 5

Sistema de adquisición de biopotenciales para entornos académicos

114 páginasThis project presents the design and implementation of a biopotential acquisition system based on one of the latest application specific integrated circuit in the field; this acquisition system has specifications that makes it special to be used in academic environments because allows people to concentrate on developing applications involving biopotentials without spending a lot of time on design details of the acquisition and conditioning systems.En este proyecto se presenta el diseño e implementación de un sistema de adquisición de biopotenciales, basado en dispositivos integrados de aplicación especifica del estado del arte, con especificaciones que lo hacen especial para ser utilizado en entornos académicos dado que permite concentrarse en desarrollar aplicaciones que involucren biopotenciales sin detenerse mucho tiempo en los detalles de diseño del sistema de adquisición y acondicionamiento.PregradoIngeniero(a) Biomédico(a

Investigating the design of Smart Objects in the domain of forgetfulness

PhDWhen we forget things, we feel anxious which can impact our day negatively. Some individuals believe they are forgetful, so emphatically, it disrupts their day. There has been little discussion about perceived forgetfulness in design and HCI, combined with few studied smart objects to aid with memory. However, embedded systems, radio frequency identification (RFID) and HCI research provides inspiration towards creating a solution. Challenges of creating a day-to-day smart object that can enhance a user’s lifestyle are explored and recommended design guidelines for creating a smart object in a specific domain are the focus of this thesis. Using an experience-centred approach, ‘Message Bag’ and ‘Tag Along’ are two purpose built object-based memory aids that have emerged as a result of investigating the design processes for smart objects. The work examines smart objects in the context of forgetting what items to pack in a bag. A solution presented is a device consisting of an RFID system involving (a) pre-tagging essential items; (b) scanning those tagged items and; (c) viewing a corresponding light illuminate, to communicate to the user. Although the conceptual model is simple, success depends on a combination of technical design, usability and aesthetics. These scanning interactions result in a person feeling more confident as suggested through autoethnography reporting, real-world, third person engagements - single user walkouts, conference demos, professional critiques, and residential weekends with potential users (focus group) studies conducted. My work involved extensive autobiographical research and design-led enquiries. Testing was undertaken with investigative prototypes, followed by field testing high-fidelity prototypes. This involved an in-the-wild comparative study involving six users over several months. Results show that people feel more confident and respondents claim no longer needing to continually check items are packed, thus ‘gaining time’, and feeling less forgetful. Although the application of RFID is not new to ubiquitous computing, this implementation, styling and system immediacy is novel. This thesis presents the development of ten prototypes as well as design guidelines. The research provides a solid base for further exploration, and includes discovery of the importance of a user’s style universe and extreme ease-of-use. I conclude with the presentation of early positive results including; (i) the unique form factor becomes a reminder itself and; (ii) usability coupled with the intuitive nature of the system is shown to be essential. We found that when you are creating a smart object, usability and an intuitive nature is even more important than in a standard system. When dealing within the domain of forgetfulness, this is paramount.This research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through the Media and Arts Technology Doctoral Training Centre from the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary University of London