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 Competences 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 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.

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 Methods 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

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