Derek F. Reilly

Marked-up maps: combining paper maps and electronic information resources

Mobile devices have been used as tools for navigation and geographic information retrieval with some success. However, screen size, glare, and the cognitive demands of the interface are often cited as weaknesses when compared with traditional tools such as paper maps and guidebooks. In this paper, a simple mixed media approach is presented which tries to address some of these concerns by combining paper maps with electronic guide resources. Information about a landmark or region is accessed by waving a handheld computer equipped with an radio frequency identification (RFID) reader above the region of interest on a paper map. We discuss our prototyping efforts, including lessons learned about using RFID for mixed media interfaces. We then present and discuss evaluations conducted in the field and in a comparative, exploratory study. Results indicate that the method is promising for tourism and other activities requiring mobile, geographically-related information access.

The proximity factor: impact of distance on co-located collaboration

Groups collaborating around a large wall display can do so in a variety of arrangements, positioning themselves at different distances from the display and from each other. We examined the impact of proximity on the effectiveness and enjoyment of co-located collaboration. Our results revealed collaborative benefits when participants were positioned close together, and interaction with the display was felt to be more effective when participants were close to the display. However, clear tradeoffs were evident for these configurations. When at a distance to the display, the choice of direct versus indirect interaction revealed that interactions were easier when using direct input but the effectiveness of the collaboration was compromised.

Just point and click?: using handhelds to interact with paper maps

We present preliminary results from two studies examining the selection techniques suitable for paper maps using handheld computers or cellphones as interaction devices. An informal mockup exploration indicated a strong tendency toward point-and-click style interaction when participants were asked to envision how a range of queries might be expressed. A subsequent study involving a functional prototype and a short training session showed that participants were receptive to other interaction styles, including tracing paths, circling regions, constraining queries with paper menus, and selecting multiple non-adjacent map icons. The contrasting results underline the importance of using a range of design evaluation techniques when developing applications involving handheld devices as interactors.

Evaluating early prototypes in context: trade-offs, challenges, and successes

We would like to say that experience prototyping and Wizard of Oz prototyping, taken together, constitute a suitable alternative to true contextual evaluation for early prototypes, one gaining realism at the expense of impartiality, the other impartiality at the expense of realism. As our experiences show, however, each pervasive application design poses unique challenges that you must consider when applying these approaches. Regardless, its often a good trade-off to sacrifice some measure of realism to evaluate early prototypes. Evaluation of early pervasive computing prototypes in context is a pragmatic exercise, but one that is nonetheless informed by general approaches that reflect and adapt to the challenges of pervasive application development.

It's a jungle out there: practical considerations for evaluation in the city

An essential aspect of mobile and ubiquitous computing research is evaluation within the expected usage context, including environment. When that environment is an urban center, it can be dynamic, expansive, and unpredictable. Methodologies that focus on genuine use in the environment can uncover valuable insights, although they may also limit measurement and control. In this paper, we present our experiences applying traditional experimental techniques for field research in two separate projects set in urban environments. We argue that although traditional methods may be difficult to apply in cities, the challenges are surmountable, and this kind of field research can be a crucial component of evaluation.

TwinSpace: an infrastructure for cross-reality team spaces

We introduce TwinSpace, a flexible software infrastructure for combining interactive workspaces and collaborative virtual worlds. Its design is grounded in the need to support deep connectivity and flexible mappings between virtual and real spaces to effectively support collaboration. This is achieved through a robust connectivity layer linking heterogeneous collections of physical and virtual devices and services, and a centralized service to manage and control mappings between physical and virtual. In this paper we motivate and present the architecture of TwinSpace, discuss our experiences and lessons learned in building a generic framework for collaborative cross-reality, and illustrate the architecture using two implemented examples that highlight its flexibility and range, and its support for rapid prototyping.

Planners, navigators, and pragmatists: collaborative wayfinding using a single mobile phone

Shared use of mobile devices is increasingly prevalent in both research prototypes and in practice, however, little is known as to how to support best this interaction paradigm. In this paper, we present a study examining how pairs share a single mobile phone during a collaborative wayfinding activity. We provide a classification of strategies, role relationships and phone interactions employed to conduct the wayfinding activities in our study. While acknowledging that the factors determining how the phone was shared are nuanced and intertwined, our results illustrate how differences in the mobile application’s interface influenced shared use, wayfinding strategy and outcome.

“Need to know”: examining information need in location discourse

Location discourse involves the active or passive sharing of location information between individuals. Related applications include mobile friend locators, and location-dependent messaging. Privacy issues pertaining to location disclosure have been considered in research and relevant design guidelines are emerging, however what location information a user actually “needs to know” has received little systematic analysis to date. In this paper we present results from a questionnaire study and a diary study considering location information need. We provide a classification of location discourse and the factors which impact location need, showing that seemingly small changes in a scenario can yield drastically different location information needs. Finally, we summarize trends that are of interest to designers of location discourse applications.

PaperTab: tablets as thin and flexible as paper

We present PaperTab, a paper tablet computer that allows physical manipulation of windows embodied in multiple flexible displays. PaperTab offers the benefits of updating electronic information on the fly, while maintaining the haptic/kinesthetic feedback of tangible documents, as each document is a fully functional, paper-like E Ink display. We present windowing techniques for a paper computer that relies on multiple physical windows. Our between-display interactions are based on the proximity of a display to the user. They are categorized into hot zones, for active editing, warm zones for temporary storage, and cold zones for long-term storage. Our within-display interactions use pointing with a display as a focus+context tool.

Tweetris: a study of whole-body interaction during a public art event

We explore whole-body interaction with Tweetris, a game where two players competitively race to form Tetris shapes (tetrominos) with their body. We debuted Tweetris at an all-night, public art event, collecting 6000 winning body shapes made by more than 270 players. Tweetris employs a novel form of interaction cue we call a discretized silhouette: the mapping from physical continuous input is discretized to create a virtual body representation. Discretization creates an interesting set of properties: notably, players have a great deal of flexibility in how they create a given shape with their body. We classify and analyze successful player strategies as design input for whole body interaction, and present results showing how small differences in environment impacted player behaviour. We argue that our approach to eliciting and analyzing interaction in Tweetris has general utility to researchers and designers and we formalize it as the LoFi (Low-Fidelity) Elicitation Protocol.