Thermal Transport to Droplets Impinging on Heated, Superhydrophobic Surfaces

An analytical model is developed to quantify the heat transfer to droplets impinging on heated superhydrophobic surfaces. Integral analysis is used to incorporate the apparent temperature jump at the superhydrophobic surface as a boundary condition. This model is combined with a fluid model which incorporates velocity slip to calculate the cooling effectiveness, a metric outlined in contemporary work. The effect of varying velocity slip and temperature jump is analyzed for different impact Weber numbers and contact angles for surface temperatures below 100 _C. Heat transfer to the drop on superhydrophobic surfaces is decreased when compared to conventional surfaces

Visual abstraction for games on large public displays

From its earliest developments video game design has arguably been closely coupled to technological evolution particularly in relation to graphics. In very early games the limitations of technology led to highly abstracted graphics but as technology improved, abstraction has largely been left behind as developers strive towards ever-greater realism. Thus, games are generally drawing from conventions established in the mediums of film and television, and potentially limiting themselves from the possibilities abstraction may offer. In this research, we consider whether highly abstracted graphics are perceived as detrimental to gameplay and learnability by current gamers through the creation of a game using very low-resolution display that would accommodate a range of display options in a playable city. The results of trialing the game at a citywide light festival event where it was played by over 150 people indicated that abstraction made little difference to their sense of engagement with the game, however it did foster communication between players and suggests abstraction is a viable game design option for playable city displays

Games as speculative design:allowing players to consider alternate presents and plausible futures

As games are inherently about exploring alternative worlds this paper proposes the utilisation of games as a medium for speculative design through which players can explore scenarios that represent plausible alternative presents and speculative futures The paper reviews futures orientated design practices such as Design Fiction, Speculative Design, and Critical Design alongside complimentary research areas in games studies such as Critical Play, Persuasive Games, and Procedural Rhetoric to create a frame for using games as speculative design practice. The aim of this design frame is to create debate and facilitate productive future practice through which designers can develop games that encourage user reflection by enabling players to reflect upon the complex challenges the world now faces

Designing Mobile Augmented Reality interfaces for locative games and playful experiences

Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) has predominantly been used in locative games and playful experiences for the presentation on virtual game objects in conjunction with separate 2-D maps for navigation. This distinct switch in interaction modalities can detract from the game play experience and will arguably be less relevant for AR glasses. Therefore this research considers the application techniques from graphic design to MAR interfaces to provide an effective means of navigation through a physical game space without maps. To illustrate this approach we present a MAR application that provides a playful way for visitors to explore a small rural village in both space and time in relation to its main cultural event, the annual Scarecrow Festival. In particular we present the considerations that designers must address when creating purely augmented reality navigation interfaces through the design, implementation, and user evaluation of the application scARecrow Time Machine

LabView Interface for School-Network DAQ Card

A low-cost DAQ card has been developed for school-network cosmic ray detector projects, providing digitized data from photomultiplier tubes via a standard serial interface. To facilitate analysis of these data and to provide students with a starting point for custom readout systems, a model interface has been developed using the National Instruments LabVIEW(R) system. This user-friendly interface allows one to initialize the trigger coincidence conditions for data-taking runs and to monitor incoming or pre-recorded data sets with updating singles- and coincidence-rate plots and other user-selectable histograms.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. Presented as Paper NS26-119 at IEEE-NSS 2003, Portland, OR, by R. J. Wilke

Supporting Real-Time Contextual Inquiry Through Sensor Data

A key challenge in carrying out product design research is obtaining rich contextual information about use in the wild. We present a method that algorithmically mediates between participants, researchers, and objects in order to enable real-time collaborative sensemaking. It facilitates contextual inquiry, revealing behaviours and motivations that frame product use in the wild. In particular, we are interested in developing a practice of use driven design, where products become research tools that generate design insights grounded in user experiences. The value of this method was explored through the deployment of a collection of Bluetooth speakers that capture and stream live data to remote but co-present researchers about their movement and operation. Researchers monitored a visualisation of the real-time data to build up a picture of how the speakers were being used, responding to moments of activity within the data, initiating text conversations and prompting participants to capture photos and video. Based on the findings of this explorative study, we discuss the value of this method, how it compares to contemporary research practices, and the potential of machine learning to scale it up for use within industrial contexts. As greater agency is given to both objects and algorithms, we explore ways to empower ethnographers and participants to actively collaborate within remote real-time research

Designing data driven persuasive games to address wicked problems such as climate change

This paper considers the increasing utilisation of games design as an approach to encouraging behavioural change through design. In particular it considers how to address issues that cannot be reduced to easily actionable personal goals such as climate change and are often termed ‘wicked problems’ by designers due to their innate complexity. This paper presents a research through design approach that focuses on rhetoric within the design of a mobile phone game - Cold Sun. Thus the aim is not to examine the utility or usability of the game but rather offer it as an example of a design approach we believe is desirable and productive for future practice. Cold Sun provides an example that illustrates how scientific and real world data can be integrated into game mechanics to enhance the rhetoric of the game by engaging the player at a more personal level. Thus Cold Sun allows players to effectively rehearse issues of climate change that will affect their plausible futures, and thus develop a greater understanding of some of these complex issues and consider ways to respond

Physical playlist:bringing back the mix-tape

To those of a certain age the concept of the mix-tape holds fond memories, and generally not of the musical content they contained, but rather the emotional and physical connection they represented with either its creator or recipient. They provided an embodiment of the time and effort it its creation and thus presented the same qualities of other handmade gifts. The advent of digital content, and particularly the mp3, for storage and streaming meant that audio content could be shared more quickly and easily than ever before. However, the creation of a digital playlist does not embody the same qualities present in a mix-tape and thus has not gained the same cultural significance. This research re-imagines the mix-tape for digital content as physical customizable jewellery that can once again embody values not generally attributed to digital content. Through a discussion of the design process and the results of preliminary evaluation, the potential benefits on the user experience of sharing digital content through physical objects have been highlighted

Entangled ethnography:Towards a collective future understanding

In this work, we develop a vision for entangled ethnography, where constellations of people, artefacts, algorithms and data come together to collectively make sense of the relations between people and objects. This is grounded in New Materialism’s picture of a world understood through entanglement, through resonant constellations, through a multiplicity of unique individual viewpoints and their relationships. These perspectives are especially relevant for design ethnography, in particular for research around smart connected products, which collect data about their environment, the networks they are a part of, and the ways they are used. However, we are concerned about the current trend of many connected systems towards surveillance capitalism, as data is colonised, machinations are hidden, and a narrow definition of value is extracted. There is a key tension that while design, particularly of networked objects, attempts to go beyond human centeredness, the infrastructures that support it are moving towards a less than human perspective in their race to accumulate and dispossess. Our work tries to imagine the situations where participants in networked systems are richly engaged, rather than exploited. We hope for a future where human agency is central to a respectful and acceptable collaborative development of understanding

Perceptive media:adaptive storytelling for digital broadcast

Storytelling techniques within traditional broadcast media have not made major advances in recent years due to the linear and relatively rigid approach to narrative despite advances in the technology that delivers the content. This research proposes the concept of ‘perceptive media’ in which the content creators have at their disposal different tools and sensors to allow for the subtle adaption of the narrative without any direct interactions from the audience members. The concept is demonstrated through the creation of a ‘perceptive radio’ that is able to play specially designed content that adapts to the physical and social context in which the radio resides