SMSlingshot a shared encounter in urban space

Interaction design is increasingly situated beyond the desktop and demands new approaches, if it is made for Urban Space. Public and semi-public spaces add new challenges in terms of interaction theory, technology and sociology. SMSlingshot is an interactive unban installation (also named a Shared Encounter) and research vehicle that helps to explore these new challenges

Familiars: social gaming with PASION

The PASION (Psychologically Augmented Social Interaction Over Networks) project is designed to research social presence technologies and their effect on individual and group behaviour within mediated collaborative environments. A mobile multiplayer social game called Familiars is being designed, where the success and rank of a player within the game is directly linked to the qualities of the player's in-game social network. By examining the structures of the game-wide social network generated through playing the game, the aim is to identify patterns in the interactions which can be used to direct further studies and build future versions of the game that will enhance the game experience, bringing more of the face-to-face social value to technologically mediated games and hence mediated collaborations in general

Place-centred interaction design: situated participation and co-creation in places of heritage

This paper argues that the design of interactive installations for museums and other heritage sites should be concerned with understanding, supporting and augmenting visitors 19 lived experiences in context, thus their ability to actively participate in an exhibition. We use the concept of 18place 19 to refer to the physical environment as it is invested by the qualities of human experience, and to placemaking as the active process of connecting and relating to locations that become meaningful in our lives. We will discuss some of the limitations of existing heritage technologies in considering aspects of active place experience, and will argue how a place-sensitive approach can lead to successful interaction design whereby people establish meaningful and active connections at personal, cultural, social and physical levels to the places of heritage they experience

Transitioning Between Audience and Performer: Co-Designing Interactive Music Performances with Children

Live interactions have the potential to meaningfully engage audiences during musical performances, and modern technologies promise unique ways to facilitate these interactions. This work presents findings from three co-design sessions with children that investigated how audiences might want to interact with live music performances, including design considerations and opportunities. Findings from these sessions also formed a Spectrum of Audience Interactivity in live musical performances, outlining ways to encourage interactivity in music performances from the child perspective

GlobalFestival: Evaluating Real World Interaction on a Spherical Display

Spherical displays present compelling opportunities for interaction in public spaces. However, there is little research into how touch interaction should control a spherical surface or how these displays are used in real world settings. This paper presents an in the wild deployment of an application for a spherical display called GlobalFestival that utilises two different touch interaction techniques. The first version of the application allows users to spin and tilt content on the display, while the second version only allows spinning the content. During the 4-day deployment, we collected overhead video data and on-display interaction logs. The analysis brings together quantitative and qualitative methods to understand how users approach and move around the display, how on screen interaction compares in the two versions of the application, and how the display supports social interaction given its novel form factor

Sonic souvenirs: exploring the paradoxes of recorded sound for family remembering

Many studies have explored social processes and technologies associated with sharing photos. In contrast, we explore the role of sound as a medium for social reminiscing. We involved 10 families in recording 'sonic souvenirs' of their holidays. They shared and discussed their collections on their return. We compared these sounds with their photo taking activities and reminiscences. Both sounds and pictures triggered active collaborative reminiscing, and attempts to capture iconic representations of events. However sounds differed from photos in that they were more varied, familial and creative. Further, they often expressed the negative or mundane in order to be 'true to life', and were harder to interpret than photos. Finally we saw little use of pure explanatory narrative. We reflect on the relations between sound and family memory and propose new designs on the basis of our findings, to better support the sharing and manipulation of social sounds

FM radio: family interplay with sonic mementos

Digital mementos are increasingly problematic, as people acquire large amounts of digital belongings that are hard to access and often forgotten. Based on fieldwork with 10 families, we designed a new type of embodied digital memento, the FM Radio. It allows families to access and play sonic mementos of their previous holidays. We describe our underlying design motivation where recordings are presented as a series of channels on an old fashioned radio. User feedback suggests that the device met our design goals: being playful and intriguing, easy to use and social. It facilitated family interaction, and allowed ready access to mementos, thus sharing many of the properties of physical mementos that we intended to trigger

Crossing Over: Theatre Beyond Borders / Telematic Performance

This article discusses “Crossing Over,” a pedagogical art / performance project linking university students around the world that investigates the notions of cosmopolitanism and mobility as ways to constitute meaningful social networks by exchanging virtual performances—and suitcases—over the internet. The questions that the project asks are critical in light of the globalization of information that the World Wide Web and other crossing over points represent. While globalization opens borders to all manner of material exchanges (including people), endless digital data stream through the Internet portal providing opportunities to trade on personal information. We explore and share our identity at our peril. “Crossing Over” also explores the idea that there is an intrinsic relationship between embodied presence and one’s place in the world. Performing or representing who we are is indistinguishable from the place from which we come. The Internet shows us that the experience of presence is manifold and strongly manifest in virtual environments. Cyberspace is not a non-place—it is the ever-mutable backdrop, the mirror held up to a virtual spectator—who will always see something more than a mere reflection—will see differently based on his/ her place in the world.Dans cet article, l’auteure examine «  Crossing Over  », un projet pédagogique artistique axé sur la performance auquel ont participé des étudiants universitaires du monde entier. Ces derniers ont examiné les notions de cosmopolitisme et de mobilité en tant que fondements de réseaux sociaux porteurs de sens en échangeant des performances virtuelles—et des valises—au moyen d’Internet. Le projet soulève des questions très importantes en cette ère de mondialisation de l’information par l’entremise d’Internet et d’autres points de convergence. Si la conjoncture actuelle ouvre nos frontières à toutes sortes d’échanges matériaux (y compris les gens), le flux incessant de données numériques sur nos portails Internet nous permet d’échanger des données personnelles. Or, c’est à nos risques et périls que nous nous livrons à l’exploration et au partage de notre identité. Le projet « Crossing Over » explore l’hypothèse selon laquelle il y aurait un rapport intrinsèque entre la présence « incarnée » et la place que chacun occupe dans le monde : jouer ou représenter qui nous sommes est un processus indissociable de notre lieu d’origine. Sur Internet, nous voyons que l’expérience de la présence est multiple et qu’elle se manifeste fortement dans un environnement virtuel. Le cyberespace n’est pas un non-lieu  : c’est un arrière-plan en constante évolution, un miroir que l’on présente au spectateur virtuel. Ce dernier y verra toujours plus qu’un simple reflet de luimême, selon sa place dans le monde