Experimental Design in Ubiquitous Computing Staffan Bjrk PLAY

Experimental Design in Ubiquitous Computing Staffan Björk PLAY Interactive Institute

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Slow Technology, cont.

Ubiquitous Gaming

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

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

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

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

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