Ubicomp - Small Surfaces

Posts Tagged: ubicomp

computing, embedded, everyware, future, phd, research, trends, ubicomp, ubiquitous computing, urban — 2 Comments
2
Sep 08

Urban Computing and Locative Media

Anne Galloway, of Purse Lip Square Jaw, has published her PhD.

“The dissertation builds on available sociological approaches to understanding everyday life in the networked city to show that emergent technologies reshape our experiences of spatiality, temporality and embodiment. It contributes to methodological innovation through the use of data bricolage and research blogging, which are presented through experimental and recombinant textual strategies; and it contributes to the field of science and technology studies by bringing together actor-network theory with the sociology of expectations in order to empirically evaluate an area of cutting-edge design.”

Link: A Brief History of the Future of Urban Computing and Locative Media (purselipsquarejaw.org)

concept, docomo, embedded, future, ntt, society, trends, ubicomp, video — 3 Comments
27
Aug 08

NTT DOCOMO Future Concept Videos

One of the interesting things about this concept video (which isn’t particularly earth-shattering in itself), is comparing it with IDEO’s concept piece they produced for Intel. It’s interesting how the DOCOMO piece feels, just, well, more human.

“Mobile phones have evolved to become indispensable tools that have changed the way we lead our lives, and they are certain to continue to evolve and play an even greater role in both business and everyday life.”

Link: A mobile life in the near future envisioned by DOCOMO (nttdocomo.co.jp)

brucesterling, conference, future, spime, ubicomp, video — No Comments
15
Apr 08

Bruce Sterling talks about ubicomp

Video from the Innovationsforum Interaktionsdesign conference in Germany.

Bruce Sterling from Innovationsforum on Vimeo.

Link: Bruce Sterling (vimeo.com, via)

connectivity, design, guidelines, messy, metadata, research, resources, synchronization, ubicomp, userresearch — No Comments
24
Mar 08

When users “do” the ubicomp

Continuing with the idea that ubiquitous computing is messy, Antti Oulasvirta writes about his research in Interactions, which includes the following recommendations:

Minimizing overheads that create temporal seams between activities;
Making remote but important resources, such as connectivity or cables, better transparent locally and digitally;
Propagating metadata on migration of data from device to device;
Supporting ad hoc uses of proximate devices’ resources like projectors, keyboards, and displays;
Triggering digital events like synchronization of predetermined documents with physical gestures; and

Supporting appropriation of material properties for support surfaces
Link: When users ‘do’ the ubicomp (acm.org, also interactions.acm.org)

design, mobility, needs, paper, research, service, ubicomp — No Comments
6
Feb 08

Identifying people’s needs in ubicomp

“In large ubiquitous computing environments it is hard for users to identify and activate the electronic services that match their needs. This user study compares the newly developed service matcher system with a conventional system for identifying and selecting appropriate services. The study addresses human factors issues such as usability, trust and service awareness. With the conventional system users have to browse a hierarchical list of currently available services and activate the service that they think satisfies their current needs. With the service matcher users just enter their current need using natural language, after which a wizard, emulating an existing service matcher algorithm, searches for and activates a matching service based on the given need and the users’ location and gaze direction. This study shows that with the hierarchical list, only 66% of the tasks are solved correctly, and females score significantly worse than males. With the service matcher, the performance increases significantly to 84% correctly performed tasks and the gender difference disappears.”

Link: Improving service matching and selection in ubiquitous computing environments: a user study (springerlink.com)

ebook, mobile, ubicomp — No Comments
21
Nov 07

The Kindle is connected

Carlo Longino comments that the most interesting aspect of Amazon’s massively overpriced Kindle is connectivity. This is one of the first consumer devices beyond the mobile phone that has ubiquitous connectivity built in.

“The EV-DO service comes without the need for a subscription, and is provided by Sprint, who’s been saying that a major use of its WiMAX network will be to provide connectivity to a wide array of consumer electronics. This is a significant paradigm change, because it removes the need for a PC, or phone, or other networking conduit from devices. While the phone itself will take over the functionality of many ancillary pieces of electronics (like MP3 players and cameras), the inclusion of mobile connectivity in standalone devices offers new realms of possibilities for enhancement.”

Link: Amazon’s Kindle: Mildly More Interesting Than Other E-Book Readers, Thanks to a Mobile Radio (mobhappy.com)

academic, resources, ubicomp — No Comments
8
Aug 07

Ubicomp worth reading

Nicholas Nova lists out some of his recommended ubicomp reads.

“A reader of this blog recently asked me if I had tips about relevant paper to read concerning Ubiquitous Computing that has been released in the last 2 years…”

Link: Good reads on Ubiquitous Computing (liftlab.com)

presentation, ubicomp — No Comments
17
Jul 07

Current work in UbiComp

“My talk “Designing a new ecology of mixed digital and physical environments” was a critical overview of ubiquitous computing (slides as a pdf) based on current research in the field (showing what people like Paul Dourish or Genevieve Bell are discussing but also geographers such as Stephen Graham), art/start-up/research projects and alternative visions such as what I am doing with Julian Bleecker. As I said in the talk, lots of the aspects presented here as design challenges are messy to reflect the complexity of ubicomp design.”

Link: Designing a new ecology of mixed digital and physical environments (tecfa.unige.ch)

addiction, blackberry, communication, mobile, society, trends, ubicomp — No Comments
23
Apr 07

The cage of wireless freedom

A short NYTimes piece on psychological addiction and BlackBerries.

“Mr. Katz argues that participation gives people a sense of belonging, one traceable to the atavistic desire to congregate and cooperate for safety and survival. In addition, he said, the constant checking is an exercise in optimism, like being an explorer or a gambler. Eternal hope delivered in tiny bits while you’re on the go…Sometimes the habit is there even when the device isn’t. Users talk of phantom urges, like (no kidding) the feeling of a hip vibrating, as if to suggest a belt-hooked BlackBerry is buzzing when, in fact, the person is the shower. Others hear a beep in the night, say from outdoors or an alarm clock, and reach for the device.”

Link: It Don’t Mean a Thing if You Ain’t Got That Ping (nytimes.com)

future, mobility, research, seamless, ubicomp — 1 Comment
10
Apr 07

Ubiquitous computing is messy

Genevieve Bell and Paul Dourish suggest that the age of ubiquitous computing is not characterised by seamless, tidy, integrated experiences but rather a messier world of ad-hoc solutions.

“We have suggested that our failure to notice the arrival of ubiquitous computing is rooted (at least in part) in the idea of seamless interoperation and homogeneity. The ubicomp world was meant to be clean and orderly; it turns out instead to be a messy one. Rather than being invisible or unobtrusive, ubicomp devices are highly present, visible, and branded, but perhaps still unremarkable in the sense explored by Tolmie et al. Ubicomp has turned out to be characterized by improvisation and appropriation; by technologies lashed together and maintained in synch only through considerable efforts; by surprising appropriations of technology for purposes never imagined by their inventors and often radically opposed to them; by widely different social, cultural and legislative interpretations of the goals of technology; by flex, slop, and play.”

Link: Yesterday’s tomorrows: notes on ubiquitous computing’s dominant vision (ics.udi.edu, 240k PDF, via)

future, games, mobile, mobility, ubicomp — No Comments
5
Apr 07

All games, all the time

“Game designer Jane McGonigal has a vision for a new generation of network games that will pull players away from their lonely consoles, and get them out in the world, interacting with each other and changing their own lives, and society, for the better…In the next five years, the criteria used for evaluating personal technology will shift from things like cost and features. Instead, people will evaluate technology based on whether it improves their quality of life and happiness, she said.”

Link: Network Games That Change Their Users Lives, And The World, For The Better (informationweek.com, via)

awareness, ethics, everyware, mobile, presence, social, society, technology, trends, ubicomp — 1 Comment
19
Dec 06

Is presence good?

Some questions about whether sharing presence information is just a ‘cheap’ form of social interaction.

“”But some say the flood of information becoming available through mobile phones and other means is not always such a good thing. “I worry that people attribute too deep a meaning to raw information,” said Danah Boyd, who researches social media at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “An increased flow of information should not be confused with a deeper bond.””

Link: Wireless: Can mobile phones give you ‘presence?’ (iht.com)

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