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Computing for Socio-Economic Development

Computing for Socio-Economic Development. Kentaro Toyama Assistant Managing Director Microsoft Research India Emerging Technology Conference (ETech) March 5, 2008 – San Diego. Outline. The Challenge of India Three Projects from MSR India Simultaneous Shared Access

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Computing for Socio-Economic Development

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  1. Computing for Socio-Economic Development Kentaro Toyama Assistant Managing Director Microsoft Research India Emerging Technology Conference (ETech) March 5, 2008 – San Diego

  2. Outline The Challenge of India Three Projects from MSR India • Simultaneous Shared Access • Text-Free User Interfaces • Digital Green Five Stages of Design

  3. Outline The Challenge of India Three Projects from MSR India • Simultaneous Shared Access • Text-Free User Interfaces • Digital Green Five Stages of Design

  4. India People • ~1.1 billion people • Over half under 25 years old • 22 official languages • Annual incomes $100-$100M+ • 28 states Area • ~1/3 the area of United States Technology • ~30M PCs, installed base • ~110M households with TV • 65M cable consumers Roads in India Sources: CIA Factbook, TRAI, CNN

  5. India, a Personal View People • ~1.1 billion people • Over half under 25 years old • 22 official languages • Annual incomes $100-$100M+ • 28 states Area • ~1/3 the area of United States Technology • ~30M PCs, installed base • ~110M households with TV • 65M cable consumers but, power held by few tremendous energy and optimism incredible diversity, EM microcosm reminiscent of European Union impact of weather (ubiquity of agriculture) huge interest in PCs, by everyone information still flows (e.g., 250M mobiles) Huge potential opportunity for computing industry. But, there are new challenges that neither India nor the industryhave ever faced before.

  6. Infosys campus, Bangalore

  7. A small Internet café on a market street in a town near Bombay

  8. Rural village with a VSAT Internet connection near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

  9. Technology for Emerging Markets Microsoft Research India Understand potential technology users in economically poor communities: • E.g., urban domestic labourers • E.g., rural entrepreneurs Adapt, invent, or design applications of computing that contribute to socio-economic development of poor communities worldwide. Computer-skills camp in Nakalabande, Bangalore (MSR India, Stree Jagruti Samiti, St. Joseph’s College)

  10. Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan – International Development Public Administration and Jonathan Donner – Communications Nimmi Rangaswamy – Social Anthropology Indrani Medhi – Design Kentaro Toyama (Group Lead) Computer Science – Randy Wang Computer Science – Paul Javid – Computer Science Saurabh Panjwani – Computer Science Rikin Gandhi – Astrophysics Multidisciplinary Research Society Society Group Group Impact Impact Understanding Understanding Individual Individual Technology Technology Innovation Innovation

  11. Outline The Challenge of India Three Projects from MSR India • Simultaneous Shared Access • Text-Free User Interfaces • Digital Green Five Stages of Design

  12. Simultaneous Shared Access Udai Singh Pawar, Joyojeet Pal (UC Berkeley), Kentaro Toyama

  13. Education in India 300M children aged 6-18; 210M enrolled in school; 105M actively attending. Mostly children of low-income farmers, villagers, migrant wage workers Teachers poorly trained and frequently absent Schoolchildren outside of Bhopal

  14. A Computer Per Child? Intel’s Classmate PC True personal computer Typical PC Classroom XO from One Laptop Per Child

  15. Photo: Randy Wang Rural school in Chinhat, Uttar Pradesh

  16. Even with computing… One PC, many children. Photos: Joyojeet Pal

  17. MultiPoint: Solution Provide a mouse for every student • One cursor for each mouse, with different colours or shapes • USB mice • Have tried up to 20 • Content modified • Game-like environment

  18. MultiPoint: Screenshot

  19. MultiPoint: Results Kids understand MultiPoint immediately. All students more engaged for longer periods of time. • Even children without mice engage longer. Self-reporting is positive. • Exception: one student didn’t like MultiPoint because of competitiveness For memorization tasks, MultiPoint as effective as one PC per student Before After

  20. MultiPoint: Advantages Costs reasonable; incentives aligned • Cost effective: One computer + 5 mice comes to ~$100 per child. • Content authors can adapt to paradigm • Government / administrators can claim better use of computers • Teachers can keep more students entertained • Students have more fun (cf., multi-player computer games)

  21. Continuum of Sharing Nothing shared Shared processor Shared processor & monitor Shared processor, monitor & keyboard True personal computer Shared PC Personal mouse, keyboard & monitor (Multi-console, Thin client) Personal mouse & keyboard (Split Screen) Personal mouse (MultiPoint) Nothing personal

  22. Split Screen Two users, two mice, two keyboards, two instances of the OS, but only one monitor

  23. Split Screen Research IT training centre in a busy low-income urban community • Run by HOPE Foundation • Co-certified by state gov’t Content is basic computer skills education: • Computer basics • Office suite (Word, Excel) No problems with usability; individual Split-Screen users can accomplish as much as single-screen users. Minor technical problems. Collaboration effects strongly correlated with existing degree of friendship between users Photo: Divya Kumar Two young adults learning with Split Screen

  24. Outline The Challenge of India Three Projects from MSR India • Simultaneous Shared Access • Text-Free User Interfaces • Digital Green Five Stages of Design

  25. Text-Free User Interfaces Indrani Medhi, Kentaro Toyama

  26. Illiteracy 1-2 billion illiterate population in the world. 98% live in developing countries. India’s rate of literacy (optimistically) estimated at ~60%.

  27. Text-Free UI, Take 1 Design Principles: • Pen or touch interface • Liberal use of icons and images • Voice feedback • Care in details of graphics; semi-abstracted cartoons • Aggressive use of mouse-over functionality • Consistent help icon Maps for illiterate users? Monster.com for domestic labourers?

  28. Results, Take 1 Task: For a friend who is unemployed, find the best-paying job in her neighborhood. Results: Subjects could manipulate the application, but only 30% completed the task, even with significant prompting: Problem: Deeper problem in motivation and lack of cognitive model of how the PC worked.

  29. New Problem! Original question: Can any UI be converted into one that is usable by illiterate users? ILLITERACY FEAR OF TECHNOLOGY LACK OF TRUST IN TECHNOLOGY LACK OF AWARENESS OF WHAT TECHNOLOGY CAN DELIVER New question: Can a UI be developed to allow an illiterate, first-time PC user to access information he/she needs without any assistance or prompting?

  30. Full-Context Video Full-Context Video A full-context video explains the broader context of the application and how it works, in addition to instructional material about how to use the application.

  31. Results, Take 2 100% of subjects completed task with full-context video! Round-two subjects were incredulous that round-one subjects didn’t understand the application. Impact of video not permanent for most subjects. Many wanted to see the full-context video each time, even after seeing it before. Full-context video appears to increase motivation, as well as performance. Those who saw full-context video were interested in providing feedback on the specifics of the UI.

  32. Text-Free UI, Take 2 Design Principles: • Pen or touch interface • Liberal use of icons and images • Voice feedback • Care in details of graphics; semi-abstracted cartoons • Aggressive use of mouse-over functionality • Consistent help icon • Full-context video

  33. Outline The Challenge of India Three Projects from MSR India • Simultaneous Shared Access • Text-Free User Interfaces • Digital Green Five Stages of Design

  34. Digital Green Rikin Gandhi, Rajesh Veeraraghavan, Vanaja Ramprasad, Randy Wang, Kentaro Toyama

  35. Agriculture Extension Dissemination of expert agriculture information and technology to farmers “Training & Visit” extension popularized by the World Bank in 1970s Face-to-face interactions of extension officers and farmers 100,000 extension officers in India Extension agent-to-farmer ratio is 1: 2,000 610,000 villages in India with average 1,000-person population Typical extension officer salary is $100 per month Extension officer “commuting” between farms

  36. Agricultural Social Networks ? Main source of information about new technology and farm practices over the past 365 days (India: NSSO 2005)

  37. Early Experimentation Six months in field trying various combinations Over 200 days of surveys, ethnographic investigation, and iterative design

  38. Digital Green System Participatory content production Video database Mediated instruction Structured sequencing

  39. Experimental Set-Up Preliminary Evaluation 9-month study • 20 villages in Karnataka: • Language: Kannada • Crops: Ragi, banana, mulberry, coconut • Population: 50-80 households • Irrigation: 10-20 households with access • Television: 15-20 households • Metrics: • Knowledge: Before-and-after • Attendance: Farmers at each screening • Interest: Intent to take-up a practice • Adoption: Number of households taking up each new farming practice or technology • Classical GREEN (8) • Same as usual Expert Research Assistant • Digital Green (8) • 3 sessions per week • Cost: • Rs. 9,500 ($240) for TV/DVD per village • PC / camera costs shared • Extension officer shared • Mediator salary • Accountability: • Daily metrics and feedback • Official extension staff Extension Officer Local Mediator Local Mediator Local Mediator Farming Community Farming Community Farming Community • Poster Green(4) • Same as Digital Green with local mediator, but no TV/DVD • Mediator makes posters and holds regular group sessions

  40. Digital Green: Results 7 times more adoptions over classical extension at less cost per village Sustained local presence Mediation Repetition (and novelty) Integration into existing extension operations Social homophily between mediator, actor, and farmer Desire to be “on TV” Trust built from identities of farmers and villages in videos 9 months: 12 villages, 3 nights a week, 1,000 regulars Digital Green is at least 10 times more effective per dollar spent than classical extension!

  41. Outline The Challenge of India Three Projects from MSR India • Simultaneous Shared Access • Text-Free User Interfaces • Digital Green Five Stages of Design

  42. Five Stages of Design Good design comes out of deepintuition into the user. Deeper Intuition

  43. Five Stages in Our Projects Cyclical process Time spent with (potential) users is key!

  44. Conclusion The Challenge of India Three Projects from MSR India • Simultaneous Shared Access • Text-Free User Interfaces • Digital Green Five Stages of Design

  45. Thank you! http://research.microsoft.com/research/tem kentoy@microsoft.com Photo: Indrani Medhi

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