Jason Procyk

To Beam or Not to Beam: A Study of Remote Telepresence Attendance at an Academic Conference

Attending and presenting at conferences is a core part of academic and industrial research. Yet it can sometimes be challenging to attend conferences due to travel restrictions, time limitations, or accessibility challenges. To understand how people may be able to attend conferences remotely, we explored the use of commercial telepresence robots called Beams at Ubicomp/ISWC 2014. Seven people attended the conference remotely and used Beams to attend presentations, ask questions, and participate in break mingling activities. We collected data of their activities and conducted an online survey with the broader set of conference attendees. Results show that telepresence robots supported attendance at a basic level and even empowered those with accessibility challenges. However, issues related to identity, interaction, navigation, and privacy emerged. We present recommendations for future telepresence attendance at conferences focused on balancing these concerns with the benefits participants received.

GEMS: the design and evaluation of a location-based storytelling game

It is now possible to capture geotagged photos and videos and share them with family and friends. Yet the reality is that applications for capturing and viewing this information are not particularly rich offering little more than maps and simple textual information about a location. Given this, we wanted to explore this design space to find new and exciting ways for people to document and share their experiences. We designed a location-based game called GEMS to support storytelling amongst family members and close friends. The game narrative and mechanics prompt players to reflect on meaningful places from their past and create geolocated digital memory. Other players can then visit the locations to collect and view the records. A user study revealed that location can provide a rich foundation for storytelling activities. We learned that location-based storytelling strategies often elicit a sense of discovery through exploration, sharing, and conscious reflection.

'alksjdf;Lksfd': tumblr and the fandom user experience

A growing trend is the participation in online fandom communities through the support of the blogging platform Tumblr. While past research has investigated backchannels-chatter related to live entertainment on micro-blogging sites such as Twitter-there is a lack of research on the behaviours and motivations of Tumblr users. In our study, we investigate why fandom users chose Tumblr over other social networking sites, their motivations behind participating in fandoms, and how they interact within the Tumblr community. Our findings show that users face many user interface challenges when participating in Tumblr fandoms, especially initially; yet, despite this, Tumblr fandom communities thrive with a common sense of social purpose and exclusivity where users feel they can present a more authentic reflection of themselves to those sharing similar experiences and interests. We describe how this suggests design directions for social networking and blogging sites in order to promote communities of users.

GEMS: a location-based game for supporting family storytelling

GEMS is a location-based game designed to support the telling and sharing of stories and to enhance knowledge of place among family members and close friends. The game narrative and mechanics prompt players to reflect on meaningful places from their past and to travel to those places and create geolocated digital memory records that capture the personal significance of the places in question. Other players can then visit the locations to collect and view the records.

Postulater: slowing the pace of media sharing

Personal media sharing (text, photos and video) has become a spectacle of the immediate, yet it may come at the cost of meaning and significance we attribute to our media and experiences. To explore this design space, we created a new tool, Postulater, for time-delayed photo and video sharing. Adopting principles of Slow Technology, Reflective Design and Communication Practices, we seek to understand how communication tools should be designed, and how they might be used, if users are able to select notions of delivery time explicitly. We imagine how such a tool, aided with the dimension of time, could bring new utility and meaning to how we share and communicate.

Shared geocaching over distance with mobile video streaming

Shared geocaching is an outdoor activity where pairs of individuals geocache together but in different locations. Video streaming allows two players to see each remote persons view and converse during the activity. This allows players to help each other out while searching for geocaches. We envision that shared geocaching will provide a way for family or friends to share experiences together over distance where they are both participating in the same activity at the same time, only in different locations.

Mobile Video Conferencing for Sharing Outdoor Leisure Activities Over Distance

Video communication systems work relatively well for family members and friends when they want to converse with each other between their homes. Yet it is much more challenging to share activities using mobile video conferencing in outdoor settings. We explored the design of mobile video conferencing systems that focused on allowing family and friends to participate in outdoor leisure activities together over distance. We created and studied two technology probe setups: shared geocaching and shared bicycling. Both used mobile cameras and streamed audio and video between remote family members or friends as they participated in the activities. Through these design and study explorations, we explore how family and friends make use of mobile video during leisure activities, what elements are important for the design of such systems, and how mobile video for outdoor leisure activities compares and contrasts to video calling in the home and, more generally, while mobile. Our research points to design considerations around camera views, when and how audio and video should be presented, and the privacy concerns of users and how to balance them with the benefit of the technology.

The Gauntlet: The Design of a Community Challenge Platform

Many people in present culture have a desire to improve themselves in some way, be it increased physical fitness, healthy eating, better sustainable practices, etc. Yet it can often be difficult to follow through with self-improvement goals. To address this, we designed the Gauntlet, a platform for creating and sharing user-generated challenges that can be carried out in real-world settings. We describe the participatory design activity we used to inform our design followed by the final design of the Gauntlet user interface. We also propose how this platform can be used to support personal goal and community improvement.

tApp: A Tumblr Analytics System

In this paper we present the Tumblr analytics system, tApp. tApp is designed based on findings from a prior study we completed on Tumblr and fandoms [2, 3]. Within, we describe an overview of seven sections of the system, reasoning behind the design, current prototype screen shots, one use case scenario and proposed future work.