Scott Sherwood - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Scott Sherwood

Mobile Networks and Applications, 2007

This paper explores the potential for use of an unaugmented commodity technology—the mobile phone... more This paper explores the potential for use of an unaugmented commodity technology—the mobile phone—as a health promotion tool. We describe a prototype application that tracks the daily exercise activities of people, using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to analyse GSM cell signal strength and visibility to estimate a user’s movement. In a short-term study of the prototype that shared activity information amongst groups of friends, we found that awareness encouraged reflection on, and increased motivation for, daily activity. The study raised concerns regarding the reliability of ANN-facilitated activity detection in the ‘real world’. We describe some of the details of the pilot study and introduce a promising new approach to activity detection that has been developed in response to some of the issues raised by the pilot study, involving Hidden Markov Models (HMM), task modelling and unsupervised calibration. We conclude with our intended plans to develop the system further in order to carry out a longer-term clinical trial.

Abstract. The increasing health problems of the western world underline the need to encourage dai... more Abstract. The increasing health problems of the western world underline the need to encourage daily exercise and activity. This paper explores the use of an unaugmented everyday device—the mobile phone—to support increased socialization around exercise and activity. We describe an application that tracks the daily exercise activities of people carrying phones, using fluctuation in signal strength to estimate a user's movement. In evaluating the application that shared activity information amongst groups of friends, we ...

This paper investigates emergent practices around 'microblogging', changing and sharing status wi... more This paper investigates emergent practices around 'microblogging', changing and sharing status within a social group. We present results from a trial of 'Connecto', a phone based status and location sharing application that allows a group to 'tag' areas and have individuals' locations shared automatically on a mobile phone. In use the system moved beyond being an awareness tool to a way of continuing the ongoing 'story' of conversations within the group. Through sharing status and location the system supported each groups' ongoing repartee -a site for social exchange, enjoyment and friendship.

International Journal of Human-computer Interaction, 2009

We present a reflection on a series of studies of ubiquitous computing systems in which the proce... more We present a reflection on a series of studies of ubiquitous computing systems in which the process of evaluation evolved over time to account for the increasing difficulties inherent in assessing systems 'in the wild'. Ubiquitous systems are typically designed to be embedded in users' everyday lives, however, without knowing the ways in which people will appropriate the systems for use, it is often infeasible to identify a predetermined set of evaluation criteria that will capture the process of integration and appropriation. Based on our experiences, which became successively more distributed in time and space, we suggest that evaluation should become adaptive in order to more effectively study the emergent uses of ubiquitous computing systems over time.

Outdoor multi-player games are an increasingly popular application area for pervasive computing, ... more Outdoor multi-player games are an increasingly popular application area for pervasive computing, supporting experimentation both with new technologies and new user experiences. This paper presents a set of experiments with an outdoor pervasive game that exploits the gaps or seams that exist in complex computer systems. The Bill game is designed so that players move in and out of areas of wireless network coverage, taking advantage of the connectivity within a wireless 'hotspot' and also of the lack of connectivity outside it. We draw lessons for how such games can successfully encourage social interaction between players, discuss the interaction between the game and the local environment, and describe our approach to recording and 'replaying' such games. More broadly, this paper discusses how the notion of seamful design can be a source of design ideas for such games.

We introduce a location-based game called Feeding Yoshi that provides an example of seamful desig... more We introduce a location-based game called Feeding Yoshi that provides an example of seamful design, in which key characteristics of its underlying technologies-the coverage and security characteristics of WiFi-are exposed as a core element of gameplay. Feeding Yoshi is also a long-term, wide-area game, being played over a week between three different cities during an initial user study. The study, drawing on participant diaries and interviews, supported by observation and analysis of system logs, reveals players' reactions to the game. We see the different ways in which they embedded play into the patterns of their daily lives, augmenting existing practices and creating new ones, and observe the impact of varying location on both the ease and feel of play. We identify potential design extensions to Feeding Yoshi and conclude that seamful design provides a route to creating engaging experiences that are well adapted to their underlying technologies.

This paper demonstrates how useful content can be generated as a by-product of an enjoyable mobil... more This paper demonstrates how useful content can be generated as a by-product of an enjoyable mobile multiplayer game. In EyeSpy, players tag geographic locations with photos or text. By locating the places in which other players' tags were created and 'confirming' them, players earn points for themselves and verify the tags' locations. As a side effect of game-play, EyeSpy produces a collection of recognisable and findable geographic details, in the form of photographs and text tags, that can be repurposed to support navigation tasks. Two user trials of the game successfully produced an archive of geo-located photographs and tags, and in a followup experiment we compared performance in a navigation task using photographs from the game, with geo-referenced photos collected from the Flickr website. Our experiences with EyeSpy support reflection upon the design challenges presented by 'human computation' and the production of usable by-products through mobile game-play.

1. Picking pockets on the lawn: the development of tactics and strategies in a mobile game.

Public health promotion technology should be accessible to the general public at which it is aime... more Public health promotion technology should be accessible to the general public at which it is aimed. This paper explores the potential for use of an unaugmented commodity technology-the mobile phone-as a health promotion tool. We describe a prototype application that tracks the daily exercise activities of people carrying phones, using fluctuation in signal strength to estimate a user's movement. In a short-term study of the prototype that shared activity information amongst groups of friends, we found that awareness encouraged reflection on, and increased motivation for, daily activity. We describe some of the details of the pilot study, and conclude with our intended plans to develop the system further in order to carry out a longer-term clinical trial.

Outdoor multi-player games are an increasingly popular application area for ubiquitous computing,... more Outdoor multi-player games are an increasingly popular application area for ubiquitous computing, supporting experimentation both with new technologies and new user experiences. This paper presents an outdoor ubicomp game that exploits the gaps or seams that exist in complex computer systems. Treasure is designed so that players move in and out of areas of wireless network coverage, taking advantage not only of the connectivity within a wireless 'hotspot' but of the lack of connectivity outside it. More broadly, this paper discusses how the notion of seamful design can be a source of design ideas for ubicomp games.

Mobile Networks and Applications, 2007

This paper explores the potential for use of an unaugmented commodity technology—the mobile phone... more This paper explores the potential for use of an unaugmented commodity technology—the mobile phone—as a health promotion tool. We describe a prototype application that tracks the daily exercise activities of people, using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to analyse GSM cell signal strength and visibility to estimate a user’s movement. In a short-term study of the prototype that shared activity information amongst groups of friends, we found that awareness encouraged reflection on, and increased motivation for, daily activity. The study raised concerns regarding the reliability of ANN-facilitated activity detection in the ‘real world’. We describe some of the details of the pilot study and introduce a promising new approach to activity detection that has been developed in response to some of the issues raised by the pilot study, involving Hidden Markov Models (HMM), task modelling and unsupervised calibration. We conclude with our intended plans to develop the system further in order to carry out a longer-term clinical trial.

Abstract. The increasing health problems of the western world underline the need to encourage dai... more Abstract. The increasing health problems of the western world underline the need to encourage daily exercise and activity. This paper explores the use of an unaugmented everyday device—the mobile phone—to support increased socialization around exercise and activity. We describe an application that tracks the daily exercise activities of people carrying phones, using fluctuation in signal strength to estimate a user's movement. In evaluating the application that shared activity information amongst groups of friends, we ...

This paper investigates emergent practices around 'microblogging', changing and sharing status wi... more This paper investigates emergent practices around 'microblogging', changing and sharing status within a social group. We present results from a trial of 'Connecto', a phone based status and location sharing application that allows a group to 'tag' areas and have individuals' locations shared automatically on a mobile phone. In use the system moved beyond being an awareness tool to a way of continuing the ongoing 'story' of conversations within the group. Through sharing status and location the system supported each groups' ongoing repartee -a site for social exchange, enjoyment and friendship.

International Journal of Human-computer Interaction, 2009

We present a reflection on a series of studies of ubiquitous computing systems in which the proce... more We present a reflection on a series of studies of ubiquitous computing systems in which the process of evaluation evolved over time to account for the increasing difficulties inherent in assessing systems 'in the wild'. Ubiquitous systems are typically designed to be embedded in users' everyday lives, however, without knowing the ways in which people will appropriate the systems for use, it is often infeasible to identify a predetermined set of evaluation criteria that will capture the process of integration and appropriation. Based on our experiences, which became successively more distributed in time and space, we suggest that evaluation should become adaptive in order to more effectively study the emergent uses of ubiquitous computing systems over time.

Outdoor multi-player games are an increasingly popular application area for pervasive computing, ... more Outdoor multi-player games are an increasingly popular application area for pervasive computing, supporting experimentation both with new technologies and new user experiences. This paper presents a set of experiments with an outdoor pervasive game that exploits the gaps or seams that exist in complex computer systems. The Bill game is designed so that players move in and out of areas of wireless network coverage, taking advantage of the connectivity within a wireless 'hotspot' and also of the lack of connectivity outside it. We draw lessons for how such games can successfully encourage social interaction between players, discuss the interaction between the game and the local environment, and describe our approach to recording and 'replaying' such games. More broadly, this paper discusses how the notion of seamful design can be a source of design ideas for such games.

We introduce a location-based game called Feeding Yoshi that provides an example of seamful desig... more We introduce a location-based game called Feeding Yoshi that provides an example of seamful design, in which key characteristics of its underlying technologies-the coverage and security characteristics of WiFi-are exposed as a core element of gameplay. Feeding Yoshi is also a long-term, wide-area game, being played over a week between three different cities during an initial user study. The study, drawing on participant diaries and interviews, supported by observation and analysis of system logs, reveals players' reactions to the game. We see the different ways in which they embedded play into the patterns of their daily lives, augmenting existing practices and creating new ones, and observe the impact of varying location on both the ease and feel of play. We identify potential design extensions to Feeding Yoshi and conclude that seamful design provides a route to creating engaging experiences that are well adapted to their underlying technologies.

This paper demonstrates how useful content can be generated as a by-product of an enjoyable mobil... more This paper demonstrates how useful content can be generated as a by-product of an enjoyable mobile multiplayer game. In EyeSpy, players tag geographic locations with photos or text. By locating the places in which other players' tags were created and 'confirming' them, players earn points for themselves and verify the tags' locations. As a side effect of game-play, EyeSpy produces a collection of recognisable and findable geographic details, in the form of photographs and text tags, that can be repurposed to support navigation tasks. Two user trials of the game successfully produced an archive of geo-located photographs and tags, and in a followup experiment we compared performance in a navigation task using photographs from the game, with geo-referenced photos collected from the Flickr website. Our experiences with EyeSpy support reflection upon the design challenges presented by 'human computation' and the production of usable by-products through mobile game-play.

1. Picking pockets on the lawn: the development of tactics and strategies in a mobile game.

Public health promotion technology should be accessible to the general public at which it is aime... more Public health promotion technology should be accessible to the general public at which it is aimed. This paper explores the potential for use of an unaugmented commodity technology-the mobile phone-as a health promotion tool. We describe a prototype application that tracks the daily exercise activities of people carrying phones, using fluctuation in signal strength to estimate a user's movement. In a short-term study of the prototype that shared activity information amongst groups of friends, we found that awareness encouraged reflection on, and increased motivation for, daily activity. We describe some of the details of the pilot study, and conclude with our intended plans to develop the system further in order to carry out a longer-term clinical trial.

Outdoor multi-player games are an increasingly popular application area for ubiquitous computing,... more Outdoor multi-player games are an increasingly popular application area for ubiquitous computing, supporting experimentation both with new technologies and new user experiences. This paper presents an outdoor ubicomp game that exploits the gaps or seams that exist in complex computer systems. Treasure is designed so that players move in and out of areas of wireless network coverage, taking advantage not only of the connectivity within a wireless 'hotspot' but of the lack of connectivity outside it. More broadly, this paper discusses how the notion of seamful design can be a source of design ideas for ubicomp games.