Studio 9 | Prototyping pervasive computing

What challenges to prototyping does pervasive computing present?

Prototypes can be expensive to develop. One way to overcome this is to use approximation of functions within the prototype.

Experience prototyping, where researchers and designers become actual users helps:

• Mitigate the participating researchers' bias toward the technology.
  
• Designers to distinguish between problems with the prototype and problems with the design.

Wizard of Oz prototyping, where the system appears to be a complete, functioning system to the user, but sacrifices detail/accuracy (only an approximation), is also suggested by the document, but:

• Impractical for longer-term uses, since requires 'wizards' behind the scenes controlling the system.
• Only incomplete/rough applications of the system which aren't suitable for end-users.

Successes in prototyping pervasive computing

The document details the use of Coordinated Views software to prototype a handheld peer-to-peer communication/orientation system for use during the 'City Chase' race, however, the researchers permitted use of alternative resources. They found that the software was little used. Subsequent to the race, in interviews with the participants, the researchers learned that the system was only really used whilst the participants were stationary (i.e. riding transport). Also, they were able to ascertain that the participants were hesitant to use the system in the rain.

The first Marked-Up Maps prototype worked by attaching RFID tags to the back of a paper map. A user could then hold a PDA up to the front-side of the map and view information about the place they were hovering over. Originally intending to help guide the group of researchers to a conference, the prototype's glitches were not solved and so they were left with one user touring the city alone. Even so, this type of experience prototyping did prove to be in their favour, since the researcher/user was able to overlook problems which were solely due to the prototype's limitations.

Studio 8 | Identifying research activities and methods

Research Activities

Four workshops, all videotaped with 'key utterances' transcribed. Also, a school fieldtrip.

Workshop 1 focused mainly on interview -- the curators pointing out key locations and points of interest through the use of a map. This helped to solidify researchers' ideas of requirements for the system.
Workshop 2, consisting of three guided tours of the grounds, in succession, by three different curators. Researchers observing to try to solidify knowledge of requirements even more. Also, video and audio recording were made which could be used with the system.
Workshop 3's main purpose was to convince the curators of the power of the new system; new ideas for tours, i.e. dynamic tours led by the end-user as opposed to static, linear tours led by the curator.
School fieldtrip, again, helped to convince curators of the power of the system. Observations by researchers helped to test the system's capabilities.
Workshop 4 aimed to wrap up the other workshops and further convince curators of how the system can develop. Curators show developed understanding of technology.

In the initial interviews, the research team were confronted with the curators' preconceptions that a tour should be fixed and a lack of understanding of how technology could be applied to change this. To change this, the research team used several prototypes to demonstrate the capabilities. Firstly, reorganising previously recorded audio clips and running a 'Wizard of Oz' prototype. Later on, a practical demonstration involving end-users was used (the school fieldtrip). A video of previous applications of similar technology was also employed, showing the 'Ambient Wood' project.

Through discussion and observation, both in real-time and by analysing recorded video and audio, the team were able to gain a picture of how the tours were currently being led. This, in combination with more discussion, developed into ideas for a ubiquitous system.

All research methods used were qualitative.

Studio 6 | Identifying research methods (1): Reading

With respect to usability testing of ubiquitous computing, ethnography entails:

• Testing 'in situ' or 'in the wild', i.e. within the situations which it would be used.
• Gathering of internal evidence, i.e. 'text messages... generated by users in their interactions together', as well as the more traditional external evidence such as observational recording of interactions.
  

The paper describes four ubiquitous computing systems which were analysed using ethnography:

• Can You See Me Now?, which involved online players interacting in a 3D model of the world with performers in the real world using GPS and WiFi technologies. The idea was that the performers had to catch the online characters by interpreting the GPS data.
• Uncle Roy All Around You, following on from the previous game, where the players were both in the streets and online. The goal of the game was to find 'Uncle Roy' by interpreting location-based clues and interacting with performers on the street.
  
• Savannah, an educational game designed to teach children about lions in the African savannah by overlaying a virtual environment on a school playfield using handheld computers, GPS and WiFi technologies.
  
• Treasure, where teams of players interact with handheld computers using GPS to pick up virtual coins. However, in order to store the coins, players have to take their handhelds within a WiFi hotspot. If an opposing team gets within their range before they reach the hotspot then their coins can be stolen.

When analysing Treasure, the observers recorded various information both on the game server and on the players' handheld computers which was then compared with recorded video and audio of the event. Using specialised tools, they were able to view each piece of evidence in synchrony with another. Interestingly, this allowed them to ascertain that the logged GPS position on the handheld device was often radically different to that which was logged on the game server.

Studio 2 | Reading Week 2

1 & 2: The idea of being 'usable-in-life' is that, although something may seem impressive in an abstract situation, i.e. usable-in-itself, the technology should be tested within the context of its everyday use.
3: According to the article, the iPod is designed to be as simple to use as possible, yet responsive in all situations. The paper cites the example of being able to increase the volume of the music whilst the user is jogging as evidence for usability-in-life. 'Excellent mappings' and 'consistency' are cited as reasons for the usability-in-itself of the iPod,

Studio 2 | iPod Usability Explorations

Re-write of Schneiderman's '8 Golden Rules of Interface Design'

Strive for consistency

Always make sure that the same actions produce the same (or similar) results. For example, rotating the iPod's wheelpad clockwise will always scroll menus down/right and counterclockwise will always scroll menus up/left.

Enable frequent users to use shortcuts

The iPod allows for the user to customise which items appear on the main menu screen to provide quicker access to common tasks.

Offer informative feedback

This means the system does something in response to the user's action which gives him/her information about what s/he has done. For example, rotating the wheelpad on the iPod results in a volume scale going up and down telling you you have changed the volume. And you can hear it too.

Design dialogs to yield closure

The user should easily be able to tell when a task has been completed. For example, when selecting a menu item with the iPod Video, the screen animates the old menu scrolling off the screen and the new menu shifting in from the right.

Allow 'undo'

The system should allow for any input to be reversed. For example, if you select an unwanted song to play on the iPod, you can simply press the 'menu' button and return to the list of songs again.

Usability Evaluation

The following evaluation method will test three of Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design:

• Offer informative feedback
• Allow 'undo'
• Reduce short-term memory load

The tester would be given an iPod playing a specific song, e.g. Meatloaf - Bat Out of Hell and asked some information about the currently playing song, then given the instruction to switch to a specific other song, e.g. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon.

The first heuristic ('offer informative feedback') should be covered by the first instruction (information about the song playing) and the further two heuristics should be satisfied by the user's ability to navigate to the new song. The "allow 'undo'" heuristic is satisfied by the task directly, since the task emulates that the user has chosen an erroneous song to play.

Studio 1 | Definitions and Images of Pervasive Computing

Definitions

Pervasive Computing

http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci759337,00.html:

Pervasive computing is the trend towards increasingly ubiquitous (another name for the movement is ubiquitous computing), connected computing devices in the environment, a trend being brought about by a convergence of advanced electronic - and particularly, wireless - technologies and the Internet. Pervasive computing devices are not personal computers as we tend to think of them, but very tiny - even invisible - devices, either mobile or embedded in almost any type of object imaginable, including cars, tools, appliances, clothing and various consumer goods - all communicating through increasingly interconnected networks. According to Dan Russell, director of the User Sciences and Experience Group at IBM's Almaden Research Center, by 2010 computing will have become so naturalized within the environment that people will not even realize that they are using computers. Russell and other researchers expect that in the future smart devices all around us will maintain current information about their locations, the contexts in which they are being used, and relevant data about the users.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/pervasive_computing.html:

The idea that technology is moving beyond the personal computer to everyday devices with embedded technology and connectivity as computing devices become progressively smaller and more powerful. Also called ubiquitous computing, pervasive computing is the result of computer technology advancing at exponential speeds -- a trend toward all man-made and some natural products having hardware and software. Pervasive computing goes beyond the realm of personal computers: it is the idea that almost any device, from clothing to tools to appliances to cars to homes to the human body to your coffee mug, can be imbedded with chips to connect the device to an infinite network of other devices. The goal of pervasive computing, which combines current network technologies with wireless computing, voice recognition, Internet capability and artificial intelligence, is to create an environment where the connectivity of devices is embedded in such a way that the connectivity is unobtrusive and always available.

http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=pervasive+computing&i=49146,00.asp:

Refers to the use of computers in everyday life, including PDAs, smartphones and other mobile devices. It also refers to computers contained in commonplace objects such as cars and appliances and implies that people are unaware of their presence. One of the Holy Grails of this environment is that all these devices communicate with each other over wireless networks without any interaction required by the user.

Ubiquitous Computing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitous_computing:

Refers to the use of computers in everyday life, including PDAs, smartphones and other mobile devices. It also refers to computers contained in commonplace objects such as cars and appliances and implies that people are unaware of their presence. One of the Holy Grails of this environment is that all these devices communicate with each other over wireless networks without any interaction required by the user.

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_fall/projects/say-cheese/marcia/mfinal.html:

Ubiquitous computing, or calm technology, is a paradigm shift where technology becomes virtually invisible in our lives. Instead of having a desk-top or lap-top machine, the technology we use will be embedded in our environment. From the ubiquitous computing page at Xerox PARC [UBPARC] we have the following description: imagine a world with hundreds of wireless computing devices of different sizes in the same room. In order to bring this type of computing out into the environment, among the things we need to rethink are user interfaces, displays, operating systems, networks, and wireless communications.

http://vdict.com/ubiquitous computing,6,0,0.html:

Computers everywhere. Making many computers available throughout the physical environment, while making them effectively invisible to the user. Ubiquitous computing is held by some to be the Third Wave of computing. The First Wave was many people per computer, the Second Wave was one person per computer. The Third Wave will be many computers per person. Three key technical issues are: power consumption, user interface, and wireless connectivity. The idea of ubiquitous computing as invisible computation was first articulated by Mark Weiser in 1988 at the Computer Science Lab at Xerox PARC.

Ambient Computing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_intelligence:

In computing, ambient intelligence (AmI) refers to electronic environments that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of people. Ambient intelligence is a vision on the future of consumer electronics, telecommunications and computing that was originally developed in the late 1990s for the time frame 2010–2020. In an ambient intelligence world, devices work in concert to support people in carrying out their everyday life activities, tasks and rituals in easy, natural way using information and intelligence that is hidden in the network connecting these devices (see Internet of Things). As these devices grow smaller, more connected and more integrated into our environment, the technology disappears into our surroundings until only the user interface remains perceivable by users.

http://www.ami-07.org/:

Ambient Intelligence represents a vision of the future where we shall be surrounded by electronic environments, sensitive and responsive to people. Ambient Intelligence technologies are expected to combine concepts of ubiquitous computing and intelligent systems putting humans in the centre of technological developments.

Analysis of Definitions

The definitions of pervasive and ubiquitous computing all appear to be referring to the same concept, that devices will interact with each other and become so integrated into the environment that users shouldn't notice they are there.

However, Ambient Computing (Intelligence) seems to take the idea that the devices should sense and respond to humans automatically without actual user intervention.