Paper Reading #6: Blowtooth: Pervasive Gaming in Unique and Challenging Environments

Commentary

See what I have to say about Ryan's and Chris's work.

References

Linehan, C., et al. (2010). Blowtooth: pervasive gamine in unique and challenging environments. Proceeding of the Acm conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 2695-2704). Atlanta: http://www.sigchi.org/chi2010/.

Article Summary

Linehan and his associates studied the concept of pervasive gaming, in which one utilizes the real world to fuel interactions in a virtual environment. In specific, they tried to map the success of pervasive games and their applicability to various environments. They created a game called Blowtooth, a virtual drug smuggling game in which players dumped virtual contraband onto unsuspecting "mules" in international airports to get their stash through security, only to meet up with the mule once past security to retrieve the stash. An airport was chosen for the context of the game because it is a readily accessible real environment to which the concept of the game relates well. For this reason, Blowtooth is also a critical game, one which encourages the player to think critically about the ethical and societal concerns of the game and its implications.

The game works by searching for the unique ID of discoverable Bluetooth-enabled devices, storing them on the player's device, and then enacting a wait period before the player is allowed to "retrieve their stash," i.e. rediscover previously discovered devices. Non-players have no other role in the game than to possess a discoverable Bluetooth-enabled device. The players were later questioned on how appropriate they felt the environment was to the game, their level of satisfaction, increased levels of awareness of security and other passengers, and anxiety. The concept of "it's just a game" influenced the low levels of anxiety and concern for security, but the game did succeed as a critical game as reported by the players.

Discussion

Mwahaha! I love this game! Seriously, I want to play it myself. I feel that this game has very subversive undertones, regardless of whether or not they were addressed, but I understand that subversion isn't the point of the game. Anything that integrates a virtual world with reality so well is an immediate success in my book, especially as far as HCI is concerned. I would think that the recent focus on cloud computing will be the next big widespread pervasive technology advance, and this game really brings to light some of the implications of pervasive technologies. How easy it is already to drag-and-drop a file on your desktop into your Dropbox and then pull it up on your mobile device which is attached to a projector in a presentation, and then send the file out to everyone in the room with basically the click of a button. What's next?

Games, like art, serve no practical purpose, other than to provide a tangible link to ideas, emotions, history, and the like. I mean, clearly this is not the first time that this idea has been explored:

Image courtesy of Alidade Incorporated

But it is the first time that the pervasive, real world element has been included in the mix. This does not mean that the importance of art can just be discounted; on the contrary, more care must be taken to create and preserve representations of the intangible than the tangible. Physical devices are tangible; our interactions with them can be tangible and intangible; how we are engaged and affected by those interactions is intangible.

Blog Entry #5: Dance.Draw

References

Latulipe, C. and Huskey, S. (2008). Dance.draw: exquisite interaction. Proceeding of HCI 2008 (pp. 47-51). Liverpool: http://www.bcs.org/category/14372.

Article Summary

Dr. Latulipe's Dance.Draw project is part of a project called Exquisite Interactions, in which she explores the interaction of an artist with technology as they create their art. Dance.Draw specifically focused on creating visualizations based on the choreography of a dance for a single dancer controlling a single object, a single dancer controlling two objects, and three dancers controlling a single object. The merit of this system is its portability and accessibility: it uses three sets of two wireless computer mice and their USB receivers, a Mac computer, and a projector; it also costs around $1000, which is much cheaper any other system of its type.

Dr. Latulipe had exhibited this system three times in 2008, each time in a different environment with different restrictions on the display of the choreography and the display of the visualizations. It was well received by both the audience and the dancers at each venue. This systems holds promising potential for future research in the area, according the the choreographer. Some areas that may be explored further include mouse-related choreography, i.e. learning how to deal with the fact that the dancers are holding mice, and alternative sensors to make the performance more organic.

Discussion

I found this application of technology to the field of art very interesting. We have electronic music as a performance art, and graphic design as an artistically-influenced field, but dance has never really presented itself as desirous of the option for technology interaction. To be fair, if there are laser shows at rock concerts, why can there not be visualizations based on a dancer's movements at a dance exhibition? It will be fun to see what doors will be opened by the inclusion of different types of sensors and the accuracy and precision with which the sensors detect the dancers' movements. We could project live-action fantasy movies with real-time renderings of monsters and such... Exciting :)

Paper Reading #5: A Multi-Touch Enabled Steering Wheel - Exploring the Design Space

Commentary

See what I have to say about Brian's and Pape's work.

References

Pfeiffer, M., et al. (2010). A multi-touch enable steering wheel - exploring the design space. Proceeding of the Acm conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 3355-3360). Atlanta: http://www.sigchi.org/chi2010/.

Article Summary

Pfeiffer and his associates sought the extend the concept of steering wheel controls and generalize them with a multi-touch interface. They were motivated by the complex "infotainment" systems in most modern cars and their often distracting interfaces, and by the desire to extend previous work in this area. They created a working model of an input device that would take intuitive commands from the driver while allowing the driver to focus on the road and his driving.

The model steering wheel; input areas are indicated in white.

The driver was placed in a simulator that allowed him to experience the interface while actually keeping a car on the road and avoiding obstacles. He was asked to complete tasks such as "start playing music" or "open the navigation system" via thumb gestures, using either one or both thumbs. He did not have to search for the proper button on the steering wheel: he was simply asked to create a gesture that he felt would complete the task at hand. The researchers found that many of the same mental models already in place for other touch interfaces were utilized by the drivers to complete tasks, e.g. drawing a triangle to play music or using the pinch and pull techniques to zoom in and out of a map. They hope to extend the work to allow users to create customizable gesture sets and interfaces and be able to load them into other steering wheels in other cars.

Discussion

Alright, this is pretty cool. I am such a believer in the superiority of intuitive, touch-based interfaces over the standard push-button style stuff that we do these days. I personally believe that it just makes more sense, to interact with an interface in a physical manner like we would expect to interact with real objects in the real world. I do believe that some standard push-button type interfaces do have their place in the world, but I would just like to see more gesturing and tactile interaction going on.

For example, I think that part of the iPhone's initial success in the market was due to their interface. You don't have to scroll around the screen with a ball or wheel or button - just touch want you want to happen and it happens. Sure, touch screens and tablets and portable devices had been around forever, but the iPhone was practical and intuitive, head and shoulders above the competition. It will be a very short while before we see these kinds of interfaces popping up all over the place... I just don't know where yet... Sure, we might not replace the "Play" and "Eject" buttons on our Bluray players, and we probably will leave the standard up-down buttons or slide lever on our thermostats, but there has to be something out there that would benefit from a touch screen!

Paper Reading #4: There's A Monster In My Kitchen: Using Aversive Feedback to Motivate Behaviour Change

Commentary

See what I have to say about Keith's and Adam's work.

References

Kirman, B., et al. (2010). There's a monster in my kitchen: using aversive feedback to motivate behaviour change. Proceeding of the Acm conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 2685-2694). Atlanta: http://www.sigchi.org/chi2010/.

Article Summary

Kirman and his colleagues seek to incorporate some of the discoveries of behavioral psychology into a project in HCI that they call the Nag-baztag. The idea behind this system is to not only monitor power usage but provide feedback to the user in what they hope to be a more psychologically efficacious manner. The team outlines the concepts of positive and negative reinforcement, and how they will present each stimulus to the users of this system. In particular, the team aims to focus on aversive stimuli, such as punishment, for incorrectly performed behaviors or inconsiderate power usage. They address a concern about the applicability of a generalized psychological approach to different users by making their system adaptive, in that it will compare power usage statistics and how it thinks the user should respond based on the stimuli he has received and try to adjust its tactics to gain the desired result.

The system will deliver its stimuli to the user in the form of verbal comments, mostly as punishment for improper or imprudent use of power to perform everyday tasks in a kitchen. All electronic devices and even the sink will be monitored for usage. The system will "nag" the user for their poor choices in power management, and can interact with the user via Facebook, Twitter, or SMS. The system will be given enough control over the environment so as to be able to restrict the use of devices which have a history of improper use, or even take actions that will deliver negative consequences to the user in a real-life situation, such as not allowing the stove or the faucet to be used.

Discussion

I think that this is an interesting concept that might only see a very limited market. If you are given control over whether or not the system is in the house, what is stopping you from just pulling the plug when you get tired of hearing it complain? Granted, you never would have bought the system in the first place if you were not actually planning on using it, but it seems like it would take a very determined and motivated person to deal with not being able to use their sink or stove because of some angry appliance to not shut it off.

An angry refrigerator.

That being said, it is curious why they chose to go with punishment over reward. Research has shown positive reinforcement to be much more efficacious in creating lasting behavioral changes over punishment. This is not to say that a little reminder every now and again would not be warranted, e.g. "You used too much water in the kettle this time." I understand their desire not to focus directly on negative reinforcement for the obvious reason, but maybe if a more holistic analysis of the space was taken into account, they would be able to streamline every aspect of the environment and remove the need for an adaptive system. For example:

• Positive reinforcement: praise for using the optimal amount of water in the kettle for a cup of tea
• Negative reinforcement: a buzzer sounds continuously while the kettle is left on too long until it is removed
• Punishment: scolding for using too much water in the kettle
• Omission: the stove will not heat up as fast as a result of consistently using too much water

This sort of thinking could be applied to the whole system without too much more overhead as far as implementation goes (as far as I can tell, in any case). It seems the user might respond better to something like this that only to punishment.

Blog Entry #4: If I Were An Ethnography REDUX

After having talked through our ethnography ideas with Dr. Hammond and her friend (attribution to follow), we have a clearer idea of what we would like to propose as an ethnographical study.

Instead of observing only study habits on the first floor of Evans Library, we are planning on observing the first floor of Evans Library as a whole to see how people interact with in a space that has been traditionally set aside for study purposes.

The transformation of this space from one purely geared towards study to a more multi-modal space is made immediately apparent by the addition of an coffee bar at the front entrance. This had originally been a separate building, closed off from the library: now the walls have been opened and the entire first floor of the library has been revamped. There are plenty of tables at which to socialize or study in the coffee bar area; study couches, some with tables, just behind the coffee bar; and a new wing of modular study desks and individual chair and couches at various locations throughout.

Our original idea of observing study habits was much too restrictive, as Dr. Hammond's friend (attribution to follow) pointed out. How would we know if people were studying or not? Is Facebook an indicator of a study break or idle passing of time between classes? Should we be interrupting people who might be studying to ascertain the aim of their dubious activities? Instead, we are going to observe interactions in the library in order to evaluate the space and its culture, if you will, to better understand how the modern college student understands the first floor of the library. Some things we might observe could include:

• How many people are alone, or in groups of two, three, or more?
• How many people are interacting with technology, e.g. cell phone, portable music player, computer?
• Does apparent group size have any influence on technology use, i.e. where is the interaction focused?
• What are the levels of interaction in the different perceived areas of the space?

This study will allow us to interact in the environment while we observe, which will hopefully contribute to a more organic study rather than something more akin to an experiment. We will also be able to reflexively examine our own interaction in the space with each other and others as we observe.

All in all our goal is to try to enumerate the interactions on the first floor of Evans Library to discover how the space and its use has transformed from the traditional concept of a library.