Ubicomp Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The Personal Server is a mobile device that enables you to readily store and access the data and applications you carry with you through interfaces found in the local environment. Unlike conventional mobile computers with relatively poor... more

The Personal Server is a mobile device that enables you to readily store and access the data and applications you carry with you through interfaces found in the local environment. Unlike conventional mobile computers with relatively poor user interfaces, it does not have a display at all, instead wirelessly utilizing displays, keyboards and other IO devices found nearby. By co-opting large screens such as those found on desktop PCs, public display monitors, information kiosks, and other computers, a Personal Server is more effective than relying on a small mobile screen. This model goes beyond the mobile context and has wider implications for how we think about computing in general. A prototype system, including applications, system infrastructure, and a mobile platform, has been built to fully explore this model. This prototype sheds light on the suitability of standard components to support such a computing model, and from this illuminates directions for the design of future ubiquitous computing systems.

We present a study of people’s use of positional information as part of a collaborative location-based game. The game exploits self-reported positioning in which mobile players manually reveal their positions to remote players by... more

We present a study of people’s use of positional information as part of a collaborative location-based game. The game exploits self-reported positioning in which mobile players manually reveal their positions to remote players by manipulating electronic maps. Analysis of players’ movements, position reports and communications, drawing on video data, system logs and player feedback, highlights some of the ways in which humans generate, communicate and interpret position reports. It appears that remote participants are largely untroubled by the relatively high positional error associated with self reports. Our analysis suggests that this may because mobile players declare themselves to be in plausible locations such as at common landmarks, ahead of themselves on their current trajectory (stating their intent) or behind themselves (confirming previously visited locations). These observations raise new requirements for the future development of automated positioning systems and also suggest that self-reported positioning may be a useful fallback when automated systems are unavailable or too unreliable.

We present a revisitation analysis of smartphone use to investigate the question: do smartphones induce usage habits? We analysed three months of application launch logs from 165 users in naturalistic settings. Our analysis reveals... more

We present a revisitation analysis of smartphone use to investigate the question: do smartphones induce usage habits? We analysed three months of application launch logs from 165 users in naturalistic settings. Our analysis reveals distinct clusters of applications and users which share similar revisitation patterns. However, we show that much of smartphone usage on a macro-level is very similar to web browsing on desktops, and thus argue that smartphone usage is driven by innate service needs rather than technology characteristics. On the other hand, on a micro-level we identify unique characteristics in smartphone usage, and we present a rudimentary model that accounts for 92% in the variability of our smartphone use.

Ubicomp environments impose tough constraints on networks, including immediate communication, low energy consumption, minimal maintenance and administration. With the AwareCon network, we address these challenges by prescribing an... more

Ubicomp environments impose tough constraints on networks, including immediate communication, low energy consumption, minimal maintenance and administration. With the AwareCon network, we address these challenges by prescribing an integrated architecture that differs from classical networking, as it features an awareness of the surrounding situation and context. In various settings, where AwareCon was implemented on tiny battery driven devices, we show that applications and usability of devices benefit from this approach.

HCI projects are increasingly evaluating technologies in the wild, which typically involves working with communities over extended periods, often with the goal of effecting sustainable change. However, there are few descriptions of... more

HCI projects are increasingly evaluating technologies in the wild, which typically involves working with communities over extended periods, often with the goal of effecting sustainable change. However, there are few descriptions of projects that have been successful in the long-term. In this paper we investigate what factors are important for develop- ing long lasting community ICT interventions. We do this by analysing a successful action research project and provide five recommendations for facilitating sustained community engagement. CrowdMemo aimed to preserve local heritage in a town in rural Argentina and the project was set up so that it could be continued by the community once researchers had left. Participants created videos about personal memories of the town and over 600 people attended the premiere where they were first screened. The impact has not just been short-term and there has been sustained engagement with the project by stakeholders in the town and wider region: the lo- cal school integrated digital storytelling into its curriculum; the approach has been adopted by two nearby towns; and the project has influenced regional government educational policy.

We describe the motivation, design and initial implementation of the Equip Component Toolkit (ECT), a software toolkit for ubiquitous computing that is intended to reduce the cost - especially in time and effort - of develop- ing ubicomp... more

We describe the motivation, design and initial implementation of the Equip Component Toolkit (ECT), a software toolkit for ubiquitous computing that is intended to reduce the cost - especially in time and effort - of develop- ing ubicomp installations, applications and environments, and increase the po- tential involvement of designers and users in this process. The toolkit supports distributed applications

This paper describes our research on feedback mechanisms of wearables for supporting indoor landmark identification in the context of blind pedestrians’ mobility. It contributes with a promising alternative to audible patterns, which are... more

This paper describes our research on feedback mechanisms of wearables for supporting indoor landmark identification in the context of blind pedestrians’ mobility. It contributes with a promising alternative to audible patterns, which are consistently related to the 'masking phenomenon'. It also contributes with many lessons and insights that could benefit the designer of wearables for blind users. We started from an observational study followed by co-creation workshops with designers and potential users. The resulting prototypes were used in two Case Studies. The first study investigated the occurrence of 'masking', a problem caused by technology that affects negatively the sensorial perception of the wearer. The second study investigated the usefulness of the wearables for the identification of landmarks. The wearable succeeded in both tests for the particular context in which it was used.

In less than a decade, smartphones have transformed how, when, and where people access information. We propose that turning to technology for information may lead individuals to miss out on opportunities to cultivate feelings of social... more

In less than a decade, smartphones have transformed how, when, and where people access information. We propose that turning to technology for information may lead individuals to miss out on opportunities to cultivate feelings of social connection. Testing this hypothesis, we asked participants to find an unfamiliar building and randomly assigned them to solve this everyday problem either with or without their smartphones. Compared to those who could not rely on technology, participants who used their smartphones found the building more easily but ended up feeling less socially connected. Although having access to smartphones improved participants' mood by making their task easier, this beneficial effect was diminished by the costs to social connection. Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that the benefits of pervasive connectivity may be undercut when technology supplants social interactions.

We present a ubiquitous service environment for teamwork, supported by Active Documents. The environment consists of a physically dressed conference room and a software architecture based on Java and Jini. At the application level, mobile... more

We present a ubiquitous service environment for teamwork, supported by Active Documents. The environment consists of a physically dressed conference room and a software architecture based on Java and Jini. At the application level, mobile agent technology provide Active Documents that utilize context information and distributed resources to support users. We also present a prototype and preliminary results from observations in a meeting scenario.

Abstract. This paper introduces a novel way to allow non-expert users to create smart surroundings. Non-smart everyday objects such as furni-ture and appliances found in homes and offices can be converted to smart ones by attaching... more

Abstract. This paper introduces a novel way to allow non-expert users to create smart surroundings. Non-smart everyday objects such as furni-ture and appliances found in homes and offices can be converted to smart ones by attaching computers, sensors, and devices. ...

Sonic City is a project exploring mobile interaction and wearable technology for everyday music creation. A wearable system has been developed that creates electronic music in real-time based on sensing bodily and environmental factors -... more

Sonic City is a project exploring mobile interaction and wearable technology for everyday music creation. A wearable system has been developed that creates electronic music in real-time based on sensing bodily and environmental factors - thus, a personal soundscape is co-produced by physical movement, local activity, and urban ambiance simply by walking through the city. Applying multi-disciplinary methods, we have developed the wearable from a scenario-driven, aesthetic and lifestyle perspective. A garment has been crafted for 'trying on' interaction and wearabilty options with users on-site in the city. With this prototype, we have been able to expore and rapidly iterate context and content, social and human factors of the wearable application.

Ubiquitous computing technologies which are cheap and easy to use are more likely to be adopted by users beyond the ubiquitous computing community. We present an ultrasonic-only tracking system that is cheap to build, self-calibrating and... more

Ubiquitous computing technologies which are cheap and easy to use are more likely to be adopted by users beyond the ubiquitous computing community. We present an ultrasonic-only tracking system that is cheap to build, self-calibrating and self-orientating, and has a convenient form factor. The system tracks low-power tags in three dimensions. The tags are smaller than AAA batteries and last up to several years on their power source. The system can be configured to track either multiple near-stationary objects or a single fast moving object. Full test results are provided and use of the system within a home application is discussed.