Experiences with the Co-design and Evaluation of Locative Media Experiences with the National Trust

In this paper we present our recent research work with the English Lake District National Trust. This work has involved the co-design of a Locative Media Experience for a rural valley in the Lake District. The co-design activity has sought to create an engaging visitor experience and one that fits with the key aims/values of the National Trust. The Locative Media Experience has received both domain expert evaluation and evaluation through public field trial over the Easter vacation perio

Who needs a doctor anymore?:risks and promise of mobile health Apps

Personal health monitoring is a hot topic. With bracelets and other wearables, we keep track of our heart rate, exercising, sleep, and more. We are becoming our own doctors and coaches. Improving citizens' health brings the society significant savings, besides healthier citizens. Health data also has important value beyond healthcare, e.g. in insurance and advertising. However, risks on privacy, data management, information interpretation and incorrect health diagnosis and treatments exist. This panel discusses the promise and risks related to mobile health apps, highlighting both research and industrial aspects related to the current trends

The open source guild:creating more sustainable enterprise

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on an action research project with two emergent micro-businesses that explored how their business model connected with the principles of open source. Design/Methodology/Approach: We first gained initial qualitative data to establish the core values of each micro-business, which we then explored in the context of open source and business models in two design workshops with each organisation. Findings: We developed the open source guild business model, which has the elements of: building a focal micro-business with resources secured through the guild, promoting learning and development through apprenticeship, promoting shared values through a commons of experience and capturing value by protecting key intellectual property. Research limitations/implications: This research was undertaken with two emergent micro-businesses in the North West of England. Further research will be needed to establish the wider applicability of the open source guild model. Practical implications: The open source guild model can be a mechanism for an emergent micro-business to create a community around their values and grow their business without conventional external investment of resources. Originality/value: This research contributes to the literature on business models based on open source and how these models can be sustainable in terms of the quadruple bottom line, which extends the triple bottom line to include personal values and meaning

Supporting the design and consumption of Locative Media Experiences related to the Cultural Heritage of a Rural Village Community

In this paper, we provide an overview of the SHARC research project. Our approach, based on technology probes, is to design, develop and evaluate (over a longitudinal period) a system that supports the design and consumption of locative media experiences that relate to the cultural heritage of a rural village community named Wray. Our design needs to cater for the different backgrounds and cultural diversity reflected in the range of envisioned users of the system which includes both residents and visitors to the village

Technology and Mastery:Exploring Design Sensitivities for Technology in Mountaineering

The idea of man’s ’mastery over nature’ is ubiquitous in western philosophy and in western thinking and technology has been widely used in support of this end. Given the growing interaction design opportunities for personal digital technologies in supporting outdoor and recreational nature activities such as mountaineering it is timely to unpack the role that technology can play in such activities. In doing so it is important to consider the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations at play for the individual and the accepted social norms or ‘rules’ that are associated with the activity through its community and passed on through its community of practice. Technologies that may be considered as a form of ‘cheating’ when first introduced (such as handheld GPS) can later become accepted through common practice, although the rules are often nuanced. For example, it is widely regarded that GPS should not replace the skill of map reading and navigation. In this position paper we consider different forms of mastery over nature that technology can support and reflect on the design sensitivities that these provide

Exploring information delivery on a guided tour using mobile projection and visual markers

We present an in-the-wild user study (n=27) investigating the combination of two mobile technologies – picoprojectors and marker based information browsing. We studied a tour, where the tour guide used combinations of fixed and projected elements to present information, and compare four cases: A) as a baseline, a traditional paper poster, B) a projected poster, C) a printed paper fiducial marker, viewed through a mobile device browser application, and D) a projected fiducial marker viewed through a mobile device browser application. As a contribution, we present a novel approach to ad hoc projection of markers, and the findings of the user study. Here, the salient findings suggest that the techniques using markers have the potential to enhance the tour participants’ engagement with the tour guide, attention, group cohesion and responsiveness to contextual factors, but face practical challenges due to lighting conditions and image stability

Projected fiducial markers for dynamic content display on guided tours

In this paper, we present a novel interaction technique – combining mobile projection and visible, fiducial marker based information display. We vision it to be suitable for small groups e.g. for narrative playful experiences and guided on places, where physical tags would be disturbing. This interaction technique, where one person (guide) is projecting a marker and other users can read it with their mobile devices, enables in situ information delivery while the guide can control the dynamics of the situation. We present an example use case of using the interaction technique on a guided tour, and a preliminary results from the user evaluatio

UbiMount: 2nd workshop on ubiquitous computing in the mountains

Mobile and wearable computing has great potential to support alpine outdoor sport activities. This includes, but is not limited to, rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, paragliding, and skiing. Interestingly, technology for tracking, monitoring and supporting sport activities is broadly used in sports like running or cycling, but has not reached the top of the mountains yet. Nevertheless, such technologies could support people in many mountain scenarios such as activity tracking, navigation, or emergency support. Technologies and applications for mountaineers can learn from ubiquitous computing research in many ways to provide more joyful, motivating and safer outdoor experiences

HCI Outdoors:Understanding Human-Computer Interaction in Outdoor Recreation

HCI in outdoor recreation is a growing research area. While papers investigating systems in specific domains, such as biking, climbing, or skiing, are beginning to appear, the broader community is just beginning to form. The community still seems to lack a cohesive agenda for advancing our understanding of this application domain. The goal of this workshop is to bring together individuals interested in HCI outdoors to review past work, build a unifying research agenda, share ongoing work, encourage collaboration, and make plans for future meetings. The workshop will result in a report containing a research agenda, extensive annotated bibliography, an article about this topic and plans for unifying the community at future meeting

Communication Needs of Elderly at Risk of Falls and their Remote Family

The aging population experiences increased health risks, both physical and emotional. Two such risks are those of isolation and falling. This papers draws from HCI literature in these two independent research areas to explore the needs of family communication with elderly parents at risk of falls. We report on a study with 7 elderly parents and 3 of adult children, as well as a group interview with 12 elderly living in a sheltered accommodation. Findings indicate important emotional needs on both parts: adult children’s anxiety for the wellbeing of their parents at risk of falls, and elderly’s need for autonomy and their appreciation for an aesthetic design. We concluded with implications of these findings for designing for family communication in this challenging context