Magnus Bång

Evaluation of a pervasive game for domestic energy engagement among teenagers

In this article, we present Power Agent—a pervasive game designed to encourage teenagers and their families to reduce energy consumption in the home. The ideas behind this mobile phone-based game are twofold; to transform the home environment and its devices into a learning arena for hands-on experience with electricity usage and to promote engagement via a team competition scheme. We report on the games evaluation with six teenagers and their families who played the game for ten days in two cities in Sweden. Data collection consisted of home energy measurements before, during, and after a game trial, in addition to interviews with participants at the end of the evaluation. The results suggest that the game concept was highly efficient in motivating and engaging the players and their families to change their daily energy-consumption patterns during the game trial. Although the evaluation does not permit any conclusions as to whether the game had any postgame effects on behavior, we can conclude that the pervasive persuasive game approach appears to be highly promising in regard to energy conservation and similar fields or issues.

The PowerHouse: a persuasive computer game designed to raise awareness of domestic energy consumption

Persuasive technologies can be useful to modify behaviors related to energy usage. In this paper, we present the PowerHouse a computer game designed to influence behaviors associated with energy use and promote an energy-aware lifestyle among teenagers. This prototype game aims to influence a set of target activities in the home using several persuasive techniques. Employing the format of a reality TV show (docu soap), the game informs implicitly and explicitly about various energy-efficient actions. We discuss our overall game design and its advantages and disadvantages in relation to the methods we have employed in the game.

Promoting new patterns in household energy consumption with pervasive learning games

Engaging computer games can be used to change energy consumption patterns in the home. PowerAgent is a pervasive game for Java-enabled mobile phones that is designed to influence everyday activities and use of electricity in the domestic setting. PowerAgent is connected to the households automatic electricity meter reading equipment via the cell network, and this setup makes it possible to use actual consumption data in the game. In this paper, we present a two-level model for cognitive and behavior learning, and we discuss the properties of PowerAgent in relation to the underlying situated learning, social learning, and persuasive technology components that we have included in the game.

Paper remote: an augmented television guide and remote control

The television (TV) is one of the most common entertainment devices in homes. Searching and finding TV programs is a common task and using TV guides is one way of performing this. This paper presents three studies that are focused on examining audiences’ TV habits and TV guide usage, evaluating a new concept based on linking paper and pen with TV technology, and studying the audiences’ attitudes toward and anticipated interest in the future guide. The results of our first study emphasize the value of using paper based TV guides and also identify the deficiencies. We also found indications that the advantages and disadvantages of paper-based TV guides are related to the physical properties of paper. Thus, we suggest a solution that uses digital pen and paper technology to offer a new interaction method for TV. A research system “Paper Remote”, is developed and used in the two subsequent studies. Viewers tick designated areas on the paper-based guide to perform actions such as channel switching. However, this solution is not a substitute for the remote control device. We argue that these user studies on linking digital paper to the TV for everyday information navigation illuminate the possibilities of providing innovative solutions also for home information systems also.

Distributed user interfaces for clinical ubiquitous computing applications

OBJECTIVES Ubiquitous computing with multiple interaction devices requires new interface models that support user-specific modifications to applications and facilitate the fast development of active workspaces. METHODS We have developed NOSTOS, a computer-augmented work environment for clinical personnel to explore new user interface paradigms for ubiquitous computing. NOSTOS uses several devices such as digital pens, an active desk, and walk-up displays that allow the system to track documents and activities in the workplace. RESULTS We present the distributed user interface (DUI) model that allows standalone applications to distribute their user interface components to several devices dynamically at run-time. This mechanism permit clinicians to develop their own user interfaces and forms to clinical information systems to match their specific needs. We discuss the underlying technical concepts of DUIs and show how service discovery, component distribution, events and layout management are dealt with in the NOSTOS system. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that DUIs--and similar network-based user interfaces--will be a prerequisite of future mobile user interfaces and essential to develop clinical multi-device environments.

Ubiquitous computing to support co-located clinical teams : Using the semiotics of physical objects in system design

OBJECTIVES Co-located teams often use material objects to communicate messages in collaboration. Modern desktop computing systems with abstract graphical user interface (GUIs) fail to support this material dimension of inter-personal communication. The aim of this study is to investigate how tangible user interfaces can be used in computer systems to better support collaborative routines among co-located clinical teams. METHODS The semiotics of physical objects used in team collaboration was analyzed from data collected during 1 month of observations at an emergency room. The resulting set of communication patterns was used as a framework when designing an experimental system. Following the principles of augmented reality, physical objects were mapped into a physical user interface with the goal of maintaining the symbolic value of those objects. RESULTS NOSTOS is an experimental ubiquitous computing environment that takes advantage of interaction devices integrated into the traditional clinical environment, including digital pens, walk-up displays, and a digital desk. The design uses familiar workplace tools to function as user interfaces to the computer in order to exploit established cognitive and collaborative routines. CONCLUSION Paper-based tangible user interfaces and digital desks are promising technologies for co-located clinical teams. A key issue that needs to be solved before employing such solutions in practice is associated with limited feedback from the passive paper interfaces.

Visualizing energy consumption of radiators

Heating is a significant expenditure of many households today but the actual power consumption of the heating devices are seldom recognized. To help people understand and reflect upon their domestic energy consumption, we have designed an electrical radiator that emits heat entirely from light bulbs. This appliance responds to temperature changes in the room via sensors. The idea was to combine the product semantics of lamps and radiators and direct focus on the latter neglected product category. We argue that by redesigning domestic appliances adding means to visualize energy consumption in engaging and interesting ways it is possible to make energy utilization less abstract and easier to comprehend.

Information infrastructure for inter-organizational mental health services: An actor network theory analysis of psychiatric rehabilitation

In the supply of mental health services to communities, data and information are managed not only by clinical organizations, but also by welfare state agencies and charities. The aim of this study is to use methods of analysis from actor network theory to identify organizational interventions necessary for the development of an information infrastructure for inter-organizational mental health services. Data was collected in a project aimed at developing an information system that supports inter-organizational psychiatric rehabilitation in a Swedish municipality. Three organizational interventions were identified: an integrated service policy defined by the national government, a common legal framework allowing sharing of high-level client data, and commissioned support for local inter-agency workspaces. It is concluded that organizational interventions must be regarded when configuring an information infrastructure for mental health services. Organizational interventions should also routinely be addressed in systems design methods to be used in inter-organizational settings.

Exploring place and direction: mobile augmented reality in the Astrid Lindgren landscape

This paper describes the design process and user evaluation of an outdoor educational mobile augmented reality application. The main goal was to enhance and augment the experience of a visit to a culturally significant place, the childhood home of the childrens book author Astrid Lindgren. Visiting sites of historical significance is not limited to the cultural experience itself, but can be seen as an opportunity for learning and exploring a place as it is now and as it has been in past times. By investigating the two design dimensions place and time, our application was conceived as a treasure hunt, where users activate content by moving between places and pointing the mobile device in different directions or at different markers. The application was field tested with mixed groups of children and adults. The evaluation indicates that the prototype did encourage both learning and exploring, which also was the design objective.

Persuasive Technology : Design for Health and Safety

The ABC framework provides determinants for leveraging the motivational power of online social networks with the determinants for promoting health behaviour changes. We designed VivoSpace, a medium fidelity prototype of an online social network to promote healthy behaviour changes based on the guidelines for incorporating these determinants. We evaluated the determinants of appeal, belonging and commitment using both direct and indirect methods with 36 adult subjects. Indirect evaluation methods included a helping game experiment, adopted from experimental behavioural economics to measure indirect reciprocity evoked by VivoSpace, which is an important factor in developing belonging. Similarly, an in-group experiment was adopted to evaluate group commitment. Our results show that VivoSpace’s design based on the ABC framework result in a strong degree of agreement with the appeal determinants with evidence for the promotion of belonging and commitment. Thus, we have evidence for the effectiveness of design elements for evoking behaviour change to improve health using an online social network.