Memory probes:Exploring retrospective user experience through traces of use on cherished objects

Our daily interactions with objects can not only leave traces of use on the objects but also leave memories in our minds. These human traces on objects are potential cues that can trigger our autobiographical memories and connect us to social networks. The first aim of this paper is to demonstrate what might be a suitable method of inquiry into the way materials can enrich dialogues about remembered experiences derived from human traces left on cherished possessions. The second aim is to investigate how the accumulation of human traces on objects influences people’s remembering and usage. The design of our research artifacts, Memory Probes, was situated in relation to three spectra of paired values: (1) the familiarity and strangeness of tool use, (2) the definiteness and ambiguity of data capture, and (3) the objective and subjective reality of interpretation. Our field study revealed a transactive nature between traces of interaction with possessions and memories in the owners’ minds. It also informed us of how gradual and curiosity-driven understanding could become a methodological nuance when we are empathetically engaged in a collaborative way of knowing with other participants. To conclude, several implications for designing products that can participate in our everyday reminiscing and meaning-making are proposed

Probiotic Therapy for Treating Behavioral and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials

The therapeutic potentials of probiotics in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains controversial, with the only existing systematic review on this topic published in 2015. Results from new trials have become available in recent years. We therefore conducted an updated systematic review, to assess the efficacy of probiotics in relieving behavioral symptoms of ASD and gastrointestinal comorbidities. Our review includes two randomized controlled trials, which showed improvement of ASD behaviors, and three open trials, all which exhibited a trend of improvement. Four of these trials concluded from subjective measures that gastrointestinal function indices showed a trend of improvement with probiotic therapy. Additional rigorous trials are needed to evaluate the effects of probiotic supplements in ASD

Technology Mediated Reminiscence: Designing Interactions with Digital Mementos

回憶懷舊是我們生活中的日常現象，而科技早已融入其中，甚至取代了我們的能力。絕大部分的記憶輔具，以可靠的資訊提醒使用者那些可能已被遺忘的記憶。然而，卻較少有研究反思這樣以功效為主的「記憶」擴增設計，是否普適於以經驗為重的「回憶」輔助；也少有研究探討回憶經驗與人造物互動性質之間的關係。本論文以一系列數位回憶輔具（reminiscence aid）的設計研究來探索這個設計議題，同時，設計者自身也以這段透過設計的研究（research through design），反身地理解並定義何謂一個好的科技輔助懷舊（technology-mediated reminiscence）。我們視回憶懷舊為日常生活中一段意義建構的歷程。透過這樣的觀點，我們認為回憶輔具應由三個重要的互動屬性所組成：喚起（evocative）、對話（dialogical）與重構（reconstructive）。我們藉由三個框架設計物（framing artifact）與一個設計案例的田野研究經驗，反思何謂一個可能的、更好且「正確」的科技輔助懷舊設計，並主張將人與回憶輔具之間視為一個互為主體（intersubjective）的關係。在這樣彼此知悉的互動關係中，本論文提出「被感知的缺陷（perceived drawback）」此一互動設計的經驗品質（experiential quality），其目的在激起使用者的批判敏銳度，並鼓勵使用者主動跳出數位回憶物消費習慣的常態。本論文記錄了上述批判式製作（critical making）的科技設計與介入的過程，與實作背後的設計思維，以提供人機互動領域的懷舊科技設計者可參考的設計建議。Reminiscence has been viewed as a phenomenon across our whole life, a life where technologies live with us. Most work on digital memory aids focuses on “adding” information to the venue to help users remember or recollect things that might have been forgotten. However, little of that research has reflected on this mainstream approach and focused on the relationship between reminiscence and the qualities of interactive artifacts that leads to a better reminiscence experience. In this dissertation, we present a design research process to gain knowledge of designing reminiscence aids, and show how it reflexively helps us understand a better state of technology-mediated reminiscence. We see reminiscence as an experience-centered rather than a utility-oriented interaction where people are engaged in a meaning-making process situated in their daily lives. From a constructive perspective, we define and explore a new design space for reminiscence aids based on three interaction attributes, namely, evocative, dialogical, and reconstructive. With an epistemological stance of research through design, three framing artifacts and the Reflexive Printer, our design example, illustrate our propositions toward what might be a preferred and “right” interaction design for technology-mediated reminiscence. With the insights from the field studies, we reframe technology-mediated reminiscence as an intersubjective interaction between human and artifact. In this mutually informed relationship, we propose perceived drawbacks as an experiential quality for provoking the critical sensibilities of users and engaging them in transgressing the norm of digital photo consumption. This dissertation is a documentation of the critical making and the design thinking behind our practices. We also highlight several implications for designing technologies for reminiscence that HCI communities can leverage in the future.中文摘要 II ABSTRACT III TABLE OF CONTENTS V TABLE OF FIGURES VII TABLE OF TABLES VIII CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 A TRUE STORY 1 1.2 INITIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS 3 1.3 APPROACHES 4 1.4 DISSERTATION ORGANIZATION 6 CHAPTER 2 BACKGROUND AND RELATED WORK 8 2.1 DIGITAL MEDIA AND MEMORY 8 2.2 DIGITAL MEMORY AIDS 10 2.3 REMINISCENCE 12 2.3.1 REMINISCENCE AS AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY 12 2.3.2 REMINISCENCE AS DIALOGICAL LANGUAGE USE 13 CHAPTER 3 TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED REMINISCENCE 15 3.1 DIGITAL REMINISCENCE AIDS 15 3.1.1 MEMORY AIDS VS. REMINISCENCE AIDS 16 3.2 A PREFERRED STATE OF TMR 17 3.2.1 EVOCATIVE 18 3.2.2 DIALOGICAL 19 3.2.3 RECONSTRUCTIVE 20 3.3 INITIAL DESIGN SPACE OF REMINISCENCE AIDS 21 CHAPTER 4 DESIGN CASE I: MUSIC LISTENING IN HOSPITAL 23 4.1 INTRODUCTION 23 4.2 THE DESIGNED ARTIFACT: RETRO JUKEBOX 24 4.3 FIELD STUDY 26 4.4 FINDINGS 27 4.4.1 I’M NOT FEELING WELL! 27 4.4.2 SITUATED USAGE IN THE WARD 28 4.4.3 MUSIC-MEDIATED EXPERIENTIAL RESONANCE 29 4.5 DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION 31 CHAPTER 5 DESIGN CASE II: PHOTO SHARING IN RELATIONSHIP 33 5.1 INTRODUCTION 34 5.2 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE AND MODEL 35 5.3 THE DESIGNED ARTIFACT: OBLIVESCENCE BOARD 37 5.4 FIELD EXPERIMENT 39 5.5 FINDINGS 42 5.5.1 MEDIATED RECONSTRUCTION OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY 42 5.5.2 DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSACTIVE MEMORY SYSTEM 43 5.6 DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION 44 CHAPTER 6 DESIGN CASE III: SOUNDSCAPE ASSOCIATION IN LIFE 47 6.1 INTRODUCTION 48 6.2 THE DESIGNED ARTIFACT: SOUNDTAG 49 6.3 FIELD STUDY 53 6.4 FINDINGS 54 6.4.1 ENCODED PERSONAL MEANING IN SOUND TAGS 54 6.4.2 SYSTEM LIMITATION INCREASE SENSIBILITY IN SITU 57 6.4.3 INTERNALIZATION OF SELF-ASSOCIATION 58 6.4.4 PERSONAL VALUE ON DIGITAL MEMENTOS 60 6.5 DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION 62 CHAPTER 7 PERCEIVED DRAWBACKS IN REMINISCENCE 64 7.1 INSIGHTS GROUNDED IN THE THREE CASES 64 7.2 A CRITICAL REFRAMING OF TMR 68 7.2.1 THE THREE THEMES 68 7.2.2 INTERSUBJECTIVE REFRAMING OF HUMAN-ARTIFACT RELATIONSHIP 70 7.3 PERCEIVED DRAWBACKS AS A RESOURCE 73 7.2.1 PERCEIVED DRAWBACKS AND CRITICAL DESIGN 74 7.2.2 PERCEIVED DRAWBACKS VS. AMBIGUITY 75 7.4 THE DESIGN SPACE OF REMINISCENCE AIDS WITH DRAWBACKS 76 CHAPTER 8 DESIGN CASE IV: COMPANION IN DAILY PRACTICE 78 8.1 INTRODUCTION 78 8.2 THE DESIGNED ARTIFACT: REFLEXIVE PRINTER 81 8.2.1 THE DESIGNED DRAWBACKS 81 8.2.2 THE DESIGN OF THE REFLEXIVE PRINTER 83 8.3 FIELD STUDY 88 8.4 FINDINGS 90 8.4.1 ARTIFACT AS AN INTERSUBJECTIVE INTERLOCUTOR 90 8.4.2 LIMITED OR ALTERED INFORMATION FOR MEANING MAKING 91 8.4.3 MATERIALITY IN THE WILD 92 8.4.4 REMINISCING IN DAILY ROUTINE 94 8.5 DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION 95 CHAPTER 9 CONCLUSION 98 9.1 CONTRIBUTIONS 98 9.2 STEPS TO THE PREFERRED TMR 100 9.3 DESIGN IMPLICATIONS FOR REMINISCENCE AIDS 100 LIST OF REFERENCES 10

Retro jukebox:A reflection on designing for cognitive stimulation of postoperative elderly patients

© 2015 ACM. Retro Jukebox is a tablet-based software application designed for postoperative elderly patients and bedside nurses. The application is designed as a reminiscence aid to support patients' cognitive stimulation. In this paper, we present the lessons learned from a field study that led us to reflect beyond its utility-oriented design. We shed light on some implicit values and benefits that may not be seen as the designer's intentions but are a meaningful appropriation heading toward the same goal

Once upon a future:An audio drama game for episodic imagination

\u3cp\u3eEnvisioning the future in a multidisciplinary collaboration continues to be a challenge. This paper presents a tool for engineers and designers to envision applications of emerging technologies. Drawing on the “suspension of disbelief” in audio drama and episodic memory theory about creativity, we build a four-act board game for creative narration. Participants are guided to enact future application scenarios by using playing cards along with theme music and sound effects. To test the tool, we conducted three workshops to discuss the distinct advantages and challenges of this approach.\u3c/p\u3

Peekaboo cam: designing an observational camera for home ecologies concerning privacy

The home is a rich context for design research to study things and the Everyday. However, home is also a place of utmost privacy for most people. To better understand this context through an observational artifact without impacting privacy, we designed the Peekaboo cam that enables inhabitants to control their data release actively or passively. The Peekaboo cam is an observational research camera with a coverable lens. We validate in a field study in two homes for 14 days. The resulting photo streams provide qualitative insights on Everyday things in transition. We suggest four design guidelines for observational artifacts for home ecologies

Once upon a future: An audio drama game for episodic imagination

Envisioning the future in a multidisciplinary collaboration continues to be a challenge. This paper presents a tool for engineers and designers to envision applications of emerging technologies. Drawing on the “suspension of disbelief” in audio drama and episodic memory theory about creativity, we build a four-act board game for creative narration. Participants are guided to enact future application scenarios by using playing cards along with theme music and sound effects. To test the tool, we conducted three workshops to discuss the distinct advantages and challenges of this approach

Flâneur’s phonograph:a flâneur shift in urban exploration

Two of the often discussed perspectives of experiencing a place are the tourists’ lens and the residents’. Noticing the recent rise of atypical tourism, where tourists want to pursue the “live-there” experience, and the rising focus of shifting residents’ attention from mundane day-to-day life, we propose the concept of flâneur as an alternative state. With ‘research through design’ approach, we present our exploration, including (1) gamification for making the sense of place, (2) using situationist-inspired-cards for residents to explore familiar place, and (3) using street photographers’ quotations as inspiration for alternative experience of listening to a city. With these explorative findings, we design Flâneur’s Phonograph, a sound collecting and experiencing device for soundscape, which aims at invoking the flâneur experience during the exploration, and enabling engaging experience different from the perspective of a tourist or a local resident. It invites the users to open up their auditory senses to the places by providing 3 different monitoring modes and 3 types of microphones. We further analyse the qualitative results from investigating a resident and a tourist with our design, make critical reflection, and constructively understand what the flâneur could be in the new technological contexts

Flâneur’s phonograph: a flâneur shift in urban exploration

Two of the often discussed perspectives of experiencing a place are the tourists’ lens and the residents’. Noticing the recent rise of atypical tourism, where tourists want to pursue the “live-there” experience, and the rising focus of shifting residents’ attention from mundane day-to-day life, we propose the concept of flâneur as an alternative state. With ‘research through design’ approach, we present our exploration, including (1) gamification for making the sense of place, (2) using situationist-inspired-cards for residents to explore familiar place, and (3) using street photographers’ quotations as inspiration for alternative experience of listening to a city. With these explorative findings, we design Flâneur’s Phonograph, a sound collecting and experiencing device for soundscape, which aims at invoking the flâneur experience during the exploration, and enabling engaging experience different from the perspective of a tourist or a local resident. It invites the users to open up their auditory senses to the places by providing 3 different monitoring modes and 3 types of microphones. We further analyse the qualitative results from investigating a resident and a tourist with our design, make critical reflection, and constructively understand what the flâneur could be in the new technological contexts