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

Thirteen Unlikely Stories

Thirteen Unlikely Stories is a collection of fiction composed and revised at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers

Biting Tongues/ Critical Theory as Creative Tool: Using Bakhtin’s Theory of Double-Voiced Discourse to Edit a Short Novel

Biting Tongues is a short, character-driven novel set in South East England in 2001. Central to its narrative present is the recovery of 27-year old Adam Strange from a 13-year coma and its repercussions on his mother, Peggy, his father, Bill and his sister, Jess. Although his recovery is initially welcomed, old tensions resurface to force a re-evaluation of each of the four central characters’ senses of self and personal relationships, especially as the truth of the coma, and of events surrounding it, begin to emerge. The narrative is interspersed with segments depicting each character’s personal history and the events leading up to and following Adam’s coma. It is a novel of fragile identities and of alienation, not only of each character from another and from contemporary society, but also of inward alienation from perceived morals, values and sense of self. Critical Theory as Creative Tool describes the process of adapting Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories of double-voiced discourse and polyglossia to develop an editorial tool for critiquing an earlier draft of Biting Tongues which has assisted in creating the draft submitted here. It investigates why such an adaptation is relevant to structural problems posed by themes and content in Biting Tongues and evaluates the strengths of its implementation. Primarily using Bakhtin’s essay ‘Discourse in The Novel’ and the chapter ‘Discourse in Dostoevsky’ from Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics (1984), this dissertation also uses the work of other Bakhtinian scholars and counterpoints the main argument with a structuralist reading of the theory of free-indirect discourse