Using Stop Motion Animation to Sketch in Architecture: A practical approach

Widely acknowledged as an archetypal design activity, sketching is typically carried out using little more than pen and paper. Today’s designed artifacts however, are often given qualities that are hard to capture with traditional means of sketching. While pen and paper sketching catches the character of a building, it may not equally well capture how that building changes with the seasons, how people pass through it, how the light moves in between its rooms from sunrise to dawn, and how its façade subtly decays over centuries. Yet, it is often exactly these dynamic and interactive aspects that are emphasised in contemporary design work. So is there a way for designers to be able to sketch also these dynamic processes? Over several years and in different design disciplines, we have been exploring the potential of stop motion animation (SMA) to serve this purpose. SMA is a basic form of animation typically applied to make physical objects appear to be alive. The animator moves objects in small increments between individually photographed frames. When the photographs are combined and played back in continuous sequence, the illusion of movement is created. Although SMA has a long history in filmmaking, the animation technique has received scarce attention in most design fields including product design, architecture, and interaction design. This paper brings SMA into the area of sketching in architecture by reporting on the planning, conduct, result, and evaluation of a workshop course carried out with a group of 50 students at Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå University, Sweden

SME export channel choice in international markets

The Internationalization Process (IP) model claims that firms gradually accumulate knowledge of foreign markets, and that this kind of knowledge determine foreign establishment. Later developments of the model claim that experiences and knowledge of local business relationships are also essential elements of the IP model. The IP model has been found to hold well for incremental resource commitments. However, while other theories, such as the transaction-cost theories have managed to explain why firms go from integrated to non-integrated channels, the IP model has produced mixed results. This paper tests some of the fundamental IP model factors on a sample of Small and Medium Sized firms. Findings are that factors included in the initial explanation of the IP model explain choice of channel, but that the later developments of the model does not. Implications are that the foreign market knowledge is, and that more incremental experiential knowledge accumulation is not relevant for export channel choice as regards integrated or non-integrated channel.QC 2011120

AudioIndex: Library Access for the Visually Challenged Using an RFID-based Point and Listen Interface

We present the AudioIndex prototype that allows visually impaired users to browse and search for audio books within a public library without the need for library staff guidance. AudioIndex is a light-weight mobile system based on a combination of RFID, PDA, and wireless technologies allowing users to point at objects in the library environment, typically audio books and bookshelves, to get audio feedback about their nature in the form of synthesized speech, including information about the book’s author, title, and a summary of its content

Be Green: Implementing an Interactive, Cylindrical Display in the Real World

Many studies in Human-Computer Interaction and related fields, such as pervasive displays, have historically centered around user evaluation and knowledge production, focusing on usability issues and on creating a more efficient user experience. As the trajectory of HCI moves toward the so-called ‘third wave’, new values are being emphasized and explored. These include concepts such as embodiment and engagement, complementing usability as the primary metric of evaluation. This paper explores the ideation, iteration, design, and real-world deployment of such a ‘third wave ’ interactive pervasive installation in the form of an interactive, large cylindrical display. The purpose was to display the air quality data in a manner that would inspire elevated environmental consciousness and discussion among Umeå citizens, especially with regard to the environmental impact of different methods of transportation

The Voice Harvester: An Interactive Installation

The Voice Harvester is an exploratory interactive installation that embodies human voice in physical materials. Sound input is processed, amplified and transmitted through audio drivers connected to a thin, flexible membrane that agitates the material on it. The title “Voice Harvester ” is derived from the original design brief, which called for an object able to elicit non-linguistic, expressive, and naturalistic human vocal sounds to explore the full range of capability of the human voice through use of a novel, playful, and embodied interaction. This paper describes the intention, design process, construction, technical details, interaction, and planned/potential uses of this design exploration