Experimental Design in Ubiquitous Computing

1. Experimental Design in Ubiquitous Computing Staffan Björk PLAYInteractive Institute

2. PLAY • Founded in 1998 by Lars Erik Holmquist • Research group • Initially all members were Ph.D. students • Located in Gothenburg, Sweden • Part of the Viktoria Institute until 1999 • Became part of the Interactive Institute in 1999 • Non-profit public company • Several studios in different cities of Sweden

3. PLAY, cont. • People • Staffan Björk, Margot Jacobs, Henrik Järnström, Peter Ljungstrand, Sus Lundgren, Ramia Mazé, Linda Melin, Johan Redström • Competences • Educations in computer science, informatics, electrical engineering, philosophy, textile design, industrial design, architecture, etc.

4. Experimental Design in Ubiquitous Computing • Ubiquitous Computing • We wish to explore Mark Weiser’s vision of a future saturated with computers • User-centric research on all aspects of life • Experimental Design • We work by constructing prototypes of various sorts to inform our research • See computation as a design material

5. Experimental Design in Ubiquitous Computing, cont. • PLAY’s working method • Approach the field from several different areas of use • Approach the field using several different methods of work • Dissemination • Scientific papers and demonstrations, public exhibitions at galleries, start-ups and collaboration with industry

6. Smart-Its • Devices for post-hoc computational enhancement of everyday objects • Percept their environment, communication with peers, and have customizable behavior

7. Smart-Its, cont. • Project within the EU’s Disappearing Computer initiative • Collaboration with VTT (Finland), Teco (Karlsruhe, Germany), ETH (Zurich, Switzerland), FAL (Gothenburg, Sweden), and Lancaster University (UK). • Explore emergent collective behaviors of large collections of computationally-enhanced objects.

8. Smart-Its Child supervision Avalanche rescue Restaurant support Assembling furniture Games

9. Slow Technology • Design IT use to support reflection and mental rest • Antithesis of the use of IT to make work faster and more efficient • Informative Art

10. Slow Technology, cont.

11. Slow Technology, cont.

12. Ubiquitous Gaming

13. Ubiquitous Gaming • Context-aware computing • Proximity-sensing and mobility as integral parts of a computer game experience • Creating more social computer games • Promote face-to-face interaction • Reclaim some of the features of traditional games lost with the transition to computer • Design patterns for games • Formalize description and analysis • Support design of all forms of games

14. Sonic City Enable people to create music by walking through a city

15. Sonic City • Wearable and context-aware computing • perception of place, time, situation, and activity applied to real-time, personal audio creation. • Considering mobile behaviors and urban conditions as parameters in music composition. • Methods • Quick and Dirty ethnography • Stalking & Stakeout • Scenarios • Experience Sketches • Prototypes & mock-ups

16. Summary • Our work • Maps the design space of ubiquitous computing system • Is one approach to explore how our future can be affected by ubiquitous computing • Shows how IT can be used to support or enhance activities in all aspects of life

17. Thank you! For more information: www.playresearch.com