Immersiveness of ubiquitous computing environments prototypes: A case study

The development of ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) environments raises several challenges in terms of their evaluation. Ubicomp virtual reality prototyping tools enable users to experience the system to be developed and are of great help to face those challenges, as they support developers in assessing the consequences of a design decision in the early phases of development. Given the situated nature of ubicomp environments, a particular issue to consider is the level of realism provided by the prototypes. This work presents a case study where two ubicomp prototypes, featuring different levels of immersion (desktop-based versus CAVE-based), were developed and compared. The goal was to determine the cost/benefits relation of both solutions, which provided better user experience results, and whether or not simpler solutions provide the same user experience results as more elaborate one.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through Projecto Estratégico – LA 9 – 2014-2015 (PEst-OE/EEI/LA0009/201

Tranquillity mapping in New Zealand national parks - a pilot study

YesThe tranquillity in national parks worldwide is currently under threat from intrusion of anthropogenic noise of a growing tourism industry and activity related to park management. This was addressed by creating informative tranquillity maps, where perceived tranquillity can be considered a key indicator of soundscape quality in natural areas. Tranquillity of an area can be assessed using TRAPT (Tranquillity Rating Prediction Tool), that has been developed and refined for assessing urban green spaces, national parks and wilderness areas in the United Kingdom. The subjective response to helicopter noise levels of a sample group of 35 people representing the general New Zealand population was obtained, based on visual and audio stimuli that were collected in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. These results were used to produce a revised TRAPT equation. It was discovered that levels under 32 dBA correspond to an excellent level of tranquillity. This thresholdwas used to produce a noise level exposure calculation for two national parks using noise prediction model AEDT (Aviation Environmental Development Tool). Contours representing tranquillity duration were then calculated and plotted, to serve as a planning tool for use by the Department of Conservation. A similar approach could be used for other national parks worldwid

Evaluating location-based services (a position paper)

This position paper outlines a central question at the intersection of geography and human-computer interaction (HCI): how to evaluate location-based services with users? Systems that incorporate spatial information and adapt their behaviour and appearance depending on where users are located, pose specific challenges for evaluation that differ from applications that are not intrinsically linked to spatial concepts. This paper outlines some of these challenges as well as potential approaches to address them and puts them into the wider context of integrating geography and HCI