Oskar Juhlin

Driving and 'Passengering': Notes on the Ordinary Organization of Car Travel

We spend ever‐increasing periods of our lives travelling in cars, yet quite what it is we do while travelling, aside from driving the vehicle itself, is largely overlooked. Drawing on analyses of video records of a series of quite ordinary episodes of car travel, in this paper we begin to document what happens during car journeys. The material concentrates on situations where people are travelling together in order to examine how social units such as families or relationships such as colleagues or friends are re‐assembled and re‐organised in the small‐scale spaces that are car interiors. Particular attention is paid to the forms of conversation occurring during car journeys and the manner in which they are complicated by seating and visibility arrangements. Finally, the paper touches upon the unusual form of hospitality which emerges in car‐sharing.

Mobile collaborative live video mixing

We report on design research investigating a possible combination of mobile collaborative live video production and V Jing. In an attempt to better understand future forms of collaborative live media production, we study how VJs produce and mix visuals live. In the practice of producing visuals through interaction with both music and visitors, VJing embodies interesting properties that could inform the design of emerging mobile services. As a first step to examine a generation of new applications, we tease out some characteristics of VJ production and live performance. We then decide on the requirements both for how visitors could capture and transmit live video using their mobile phones and how this new medium could be integrated within VJ aesthetics and interaction. Finally, we present the SwarmCam application, which has been implemented to investigate these requirements.

Believable environments: generating interactive storytelling in vast location-based pervasive games

Generating content into vast areas is a relevant challenge in the field of location-based pervasive games. In this paper, we present a game prototype that enables children travelling in the back seat of a car to enjoy a narrated experience where gameplay combines with the experience of traveling through the road network. The prototype is designed to provide what we refer to as a believable environment. We propose four design characteristics to persuasively include a journey within a pervasive game. First, the story should refer to geographical objects with their everyday meanings. Second, the games scale needs to cover vast areas. Third, the application should provide sequential storytelling to make it fit with the journey experience, and finally it should provide interaction support where players can engage in gameplay and interact with the computer in various ways at the same time as they are looking out of the car window. We describe how these requirements have been implemented in the prototype and present an initial performance test.

Communication technology for human-dog interaction: exploration of dog owners' experiences and expectations

Whereas communication technology to connect people has long been an integral part of our everyday lives, it has only recently expanded to offer applications for dogs and dog-owners. In this paper, we present two explorative studies to understand the experiences and expectations of dog owners for communication technology to support their interaction with dogs. These studies look at two different user groups, hunters and pet owners, charting the lessons learnt from the current technology and exploring the aspects that should be taken into account when designing future applications and services. Our findings reveal that usability problems are still the dominant issue with current applications. We also suggest key design implications which can be utilized in the development of future human-dog interaction systems.

Watching the cars go round and round: designing for active spectating

Spectating at sport events is a common and popular leisure activity worldwide. Recently spectating has also become a topic of interest to CHI, particularly the design of technology for both performers and audiences. In this paper we describe an in-depth study of spectating, drawn from fieldwork of outdoor car rallies in the UK and Sweden. We describe three findings with relevance to design: the viewing paradox of spectating, active spectating and the role of sociability. We describe the MySplitTime prototype which address these issues while retaining the active sociable nature of the spectating experience.

Traffic encounters and Hocman: associating motorcycle ethnography with design

Brief encounters between acquainted and unacquainted motorcyclists are enjoyable moments. This truly mobile form of social interaction is difficult to study through traditional ethnographic fieldwork. However, the method is applicable when integrated into a design approach where the participants collaborate to integrate the field study, the design, and the evaluation. This has made it possible to generate a novel mobile service. The service, named Hocman, is a peer-to-peer application with mobile wireless ad hoc networking for PDAs. It enhances brief traffic encounters between bikers by playing a sound clip and automatically exchanging personal HTML pages. We have positively demonstrated through performance tests and field trials that it is successful in doing this, and that bikers enjoy such added value to biking, especially hearing the sound clip when meeting other bikers.

Lean collaboration through video gestures: co-ordinating the production of live televised sport

This paper examines the work and interactions between camera operators and a vision mixer during an ice hockey match, and presents an interaction analysis using video data. We analyze video-mediated indexical gestures in the collaborative production of live sport on television between distributed team members. The findings demonstrate how video forms the topic, resource and product of collabora-tion: whilst it shapes the nature of the work (editing), it is simultaneously also the primary resource for supporting mutual orientation and negotiating shot transitions between remote participants (co-ordination), as well as its end prod-uct (broadcast). Our analysis of current professional activi-ties is used to develop implications for the design of future services for live collaborative video production.

Hunting for fun: solitude and attentiveness in collaboration

The design of online collaborative computer games and pervasive games can learn from the everyday practice of deer hunting. We present an ethnographic study revealing how hunters fine-tune their experience through temporal and spatial organization. The hunt is organized in a way that allows the hunters to balance between forms of collaboration ranging from solitude to face-to-face interaction, as well as between attentiveness and relaxation. Thus, the hunters deal with the task -- hunting down the prey -- while managing issues of enjoyment. We argue that understanding these experiential qualities is relevant for collaborative gaming, and adds to our understanding of leisure.

Unpacking social interaction that make us adore: on the aesthetics of mobile phones as fashion items

We report on a study of fashionable peoples expressions of opinions on mobile phones in online fashion media, such as blogs and magazines. First, the study contributes to our understanding of the role of pragmatic philosophy, which is now dominating HCI both as a guide for design and as a guide when looking at social practices, in outlining the role of aesthetics in experience design. Fashion practices diverge from this theory, since here aesthetic appearances can be visual, ambiguous and incomplete although it still provides a lot of meanings for people. We argue that our findings should influence the discussion in HCI to consider a less theoretically oriented aesthetic approach, where instead empirical studies get at the forefront. Second, the study provides valuable insight on how we should design mobile experiences to attract more attention from people interested in fashion. Mobile phones, and their services, can for example be designed to relate to the visual appearance of the dressed outfit, or ensemble of a person.

Temporal hybridity: Mixing live video footage with instant replay in real time

In this paper we explore the production of streaming media that involves live and recorded content. To examine this, we report on how the production practices and process are conducted through an empirical study of the production of live television, involving the use of live and non-live media under highly time critical conditions. In explaining how this process is managed both as an individual and collective activity, we develop the concept of temporal hybridity to explain the properties of these kinds of production system and show how temporally separated media are used, understood and coordinated. Our analysis is examined in the light of recent developments in computing technology and we present some design implications to support amateur video production.