Danae Stanton Fraser

Ubi-learning integrates indoor and outdoor experiences

Digital augmentation dissolves many of the physical barriers to learning by offering tools to integrate data and discoveries that travel with students as they explore new terrain.

Instrumenting the city: developing methods for observing and understanding the digital cityscape

We approach the design of ubiquitous computing systems in the urban environment as integral to urban design. To understand the city as a system encompassing physical and digital forms and their relationships with peoples behaviours, we are developing, applying and refining methods of observing, recording, modelling and analysing the city, physically, digitally and socially. We draw on established methods used in the space syntax approach to urban design. Here we describe how we have combined scanning for discoverable Bluetooth devices with two such methods, gatecounts and static snapshots. We report our experiences in developing, field testing and refining these augmented methods. We present initial findings on the Bluetooth landscape in a city in terms of patterns of Bluetooth presence and Bluetooth naming practices.

Turn it this way: grounding collaborative action with remote gestures

Remote gesture systems have been shown to provide a significant enhancement to performance in collaborative physical tasks, an effect ascribed to the ability of remote gestures to help ground deictic references. The argument that this effect works by replacing complex referential descriptions with simple pointing behaviours has been drawn into question by recent research. In this paper we significantly unpack the effects of remote gesturing on collaborative language, arguing for a more complex role for remote gestures in interaction. We demonstrate how remote gestures influence the structure of collaborative discourse, and how their use can also influence the temporal nature of the grounding process. Through generating a deeper understanding of these effects of remote gesturing on collaborative language we derive implications for the development and deployment of these technologies.

MobGeoSen: facilitating personal geosensor data collection and visualization using mobile phones

Mobile sensing and mapping applications are becoming more prevalent because sensing hardware is becoming more portable and more affordable. However, most of the hardware uses small numbers of fixed sensors that report and share multiple sets of environmental data which raises privacy concerns. Instead, these systems can be decentralized and managed by individuals in their public and private spaces. This paper describes a robust system called MobGeoSens which enables individuals to monitor their local environment (e.g. pollution and temperature) and their private spaces (e.g. activities and health) by using mobile phones in their day to day life. The MobGeoSen is a combination of software components that facilitates the phone’s internal sensing devices (e.g. microphone and camera) and external wireless sensors (e.g. data loggers and GPS receivers) for data collection. It also adds a new dimension of spatial localization to the data collection process and provides the user with both textual and spatial cartographic displays. While collecting the data, individuals can interactively add annotations and photos which are automatically added and integrated in the visualization file/log. This makes it easy to visualize the data, photos and annotations on a spatial and temporal visualization tool. In addition, the paper will present ways in which mobile phones can be used as noise sensors using an on-device microphone. Finally, we present our experiences with school children using the above mentioned system to measure their exposure to environmental pollution.

The effects of remote gesturing on distance instruction

In this paper, we describe an experimental research study, investigating the impact of varying communication media on the quality of learning. Our study investigates remote instruction using an object assembly task. The between-subjects independent-measures study compared instruction via audio only, with instruction via a remote gesturing system. Measures included assembly speed and assembly accuracy and were recorded during instruction and post-instruction at 10min and 24hr intervals. Perceived Instructor presence and other interpersonal variables were assessed via questionnaire. Results showed that remote gesturing during instruction led to significantly faster self-assembly 24hrs post instruction (t (13) = 1.73, p≤ 0.05). Whilst the use of gesture reportedly reduces communicative rapport, we conclude that gesture-based remote instruction improves the overall efficiency of remote collaboration.

The SENSE project: a context-inclusive approach to studying environmental science within and across schools

This paper describes a project designed to provide children with a context-inclusive approach to collecting scientific data. The term context-inclusive refers to the collection of data which records the process of scientific data collection itself. We outline the design process carried out within two partner schools with the aim of engaging children in taking part in, and reflecting upon, the scientific process involved in collecting and analysing scientific data. We provided children with the ability to share and compare their data with children at their own and other schools. Our contextinclusive approach involved the design of tailored sensors and a bespoke interface displaying video data synchronised with environmental pollution data. Through evaluation of the data collection, analysis and sharing sessions, we describe how the context-inclusive approach impacts on childrens understanding of the scientific process. We focus on childrens discussion and reflection around understanding the constraints of measuring. We argue that the collection and presentation of contextual data engenders reflection on constraints, and may enable improved understanding of that process.

Limitless or pointless? An evaluation of augmented reality technology in the school and home

Augmented reality technology appears to offer great potential to engage learners and to enhance the process of knowledge construction. However, very little work has undergone formal evaluation, resulting in a lack of a deep and systematic understanding of how AR can enhance learning. We report an extensive evaluation of an AR application developed by the BBC for young learners. This evaluation involved over 300 participants in their homes and school classrooms. Our findings support the claim that AR has the potential to promote learning and to motivate children to engage with learning activities. There is evidence that specific skills can be improved, that learners were motivated and challenged through the interactive problem solving activities and that the technology offered many opportunities for collaboration. Developers will however need a rich skill set in order to create applications that offer the necessary learner control, challenging interactivity and experience coherence.

Measuring trust in wi-fi hotspots

Pervasive systems provide services that are situated within specific contexts. An everyday example of this is Wi-Fi hotspots. Factors such as branding and presentation are known to affect whether users are prepared to invest trust in services, but little is known about trust in situated services. This paper describes an experiment to measure de facto trust in Wi-Fi hotspots in public places, as opposed to examining trust behaviour in a simulated lab setting. We investigated two hypotheses about the effect of location-specific images in the hotspots pages on trust behaviours, compared to images of non-specific locations. We found a significant result which confirms that decisions to access an unfamiliar Wi-Fi hotspot can be affected by location-relevant images.

Who am I? Representing the self offline and in different online contexts

Influence of four offline and online contexts on self-disclosure is examined.Individuals disclose the more information offline than any online context.Type of online space influenced the amount and type of information disclosed.Contextual factors appeared more influential in disclosure than personality factors. The present paper examines the extent to which self-presentation may be affected by the context in which is it undertaken. Individuals were asked to complete the Twenty Statements Test both privately and publicly, but were given an opportunity to withhold any of their personal information before it was made public. Four contexts were examined: an offline context (face-to-face), an un-contextualized general online context, or two specific online contexts (dating or job-seeking). The results suggested that participants were willing to disclose substantially less personal information online than offline. Moreover, disclosure decreased as the online context became more specific, and those in the job-seeking context disclosed the least amount of information. Surprisingly, individual differences in personality did not predict disclosure behavior. Instead, the results are set in the context of audience visibility and social norms, and implications for self-presentation in digital contexts are discussed.

Understanding mass participatory pervasive computing systems for environmental campaigns

Abstract Participate was a 3-year collaboration between industry and academia to explore how mobile, Web and broadcast technologies could combine to deliver environmental campaigns. In a series of pilot projects, schools used mobile sensors to enhance science learning; visitors to an ecological attraction employed mobile phones to access and generate locative media; and the public played a mobile phone game that challenged their environmental behaviours. Key elements of these were carried forward into an integrated trial in which participants were assigned a series of environmental missions as part of an overarching narrative that was delivered across mobile, broadcast and Web platforms. These experiences use a three-layered structure for campaigns that draw on experts, local groups and the general public, who engage through a combination of playful characterisation and social networking.