Patrick Brundell

ExoBuilding: Physiologically Driven Adaptive Architecture

Our surroundings are becoming infused with sensors measuring a variety of data streams about the environment, people and objects. Such data can be used to make the spaces that we inhabit responsive and interactive. Personal data in its different forms are one important data stream that such spaces are designed to respond to. In turn, one stream of personal data currently attracting high levels of interest in the HCI community is physiological data (e.g., heart rate, electrodermal activity), but this has seen little consideration in building architecture or the design of responsive environments. In this context, we developed a prototype mapping a single occupant’s respiration to its size and form, while it also sonifies their heartbeat. The result is a breathing building prototype, formative trials of which suggested that it triggers behavioral and physiological adaptations in inhabitants without giving them instructions and it is perceived as a relaxing experience. In this paper, we present and discuss the results of a controlled study of this prototype, comparing three conditions: the static prototype, regular movement and sonification and a biofeedback condition, where the occupant’s physiological data directly drives the prototype and presents this data back to them. The study confirmed that the biofeedback condition does indeed trigger behavioral changes and changes in participants’ physiology, resulting in lower respiration rates as well as higher respiration amplitudes, respiration to heart rate coherence and lower frequency heart rate variability. Self-reported state of relaxation is more dependent on inhabitant preferences, their knowledge of physiological data and whether they found space to ‘let go’. We conclude with a discussion of ExoBuilding as an immersive but also sharable biofeedback training interface and the wider potential of this approach to making buildings adapt to their inhabitants.

Quisqualate-sensitive glutamate receptors of the locust Schistocerca gregaria are antagonised by intracellularly applied philanthotoxin and spermine

The effects of intracellularly and extracellularly applied synthetic analogues of delta-philanthotoxin (PhTX-433) and the polyamine spermine on the excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) of glutamatergic synapses and single channel currents gated by quisqualate-sensitive glutamate receptors (QUIS-R) on locust leg muscle have been compared. When applied extracellularly all 3 compounds reversibly antagonised the EPSC and the single channel currents. Antagonism was voltage independent, but use (agonist) dependent. Antagonism also occurred when they were injected into muscle fibres, but in this case it was not use dependent. It is proposed that spermine and the two toxins bind to the closed and open channel conformations of QUIS-R at a site near the intracellular opening of the channel gated by this receptor.

Act natural: instructions, compliance and accountability in ambulatory experiences

This paper uses a detailed ethnographic study of an ambulatory experience, where participants were invited to explore the perspective of two notorious terrorists, in order to discuss the nature of instruction-giving and, most particularly, the methodical ways in which such instructions are complied with. Four distinct layers of compliance are identified, as are three different kinds of accountability, all of which stand potentially at odds with one another. The paper examines the tensions created by this, tensions that are further aggravated by instructions usually being delivered down a thin channel, with considerable surrounding contextual complexity and little opportunity for repair, and uncovers some core challenges for future design in relation to providing instructions for, and orchestrating a range of possible activities.

Families and Mobile Devices in Museums: Designing for Integrated Experiences

This article presents an observational study of eight families engaging with a bespoke tablet experience produced for a space science centre. It documents the various ways in which family members orientate themselves to the usage of technology in this environment, with a particular focus on the work done to manage the tablet and facilitate the engagement of younger children with the narrative of the experience. These findings are considered in the broader context of the need to design experiences that cater to engagement by families as a whole. We conclude by motivating the need for technologies that are robust in light of regular disengagement and by family members, and which provide functionality to directly support facilitation work.

The gas mask: a probe for exploring fearsome interactions

We introduce an interface for horror-themed entertainment experiences based on integrating breath sensors and WiFi into gas masks. Beyond enabling the practical breath control of entertainment systems, our design aims to heighten the intensity of the experience by amplifying the users awareness of their breathing, as well as their feelings of isolation, claustrophobia and fear. More generally, this interface is intended to act as a technology probe for exploring an emerging research agenda around fearsome interactions. We describe the deployment of our gas masks in two events: as a control mechanism for an interactive ride, and to enhance a theme park horror maze. We identify six broad dimensions - cultural, visceral, control, social, performance and engineering - that frame an agenda for future research into fearsome interactions.

The network from above and below

Recently, the HCI community has taken a strong interest in problems associated with networking. Many of those problems have also been the focus of much recent networking research, e.g., traffic identification, network management, access control. In this paper we consider these two quite different viewpoints of the problems specifically associated with home networking. Focusing on traffic identification as a core capability required by much recent HCI work, we explore the mismatch between the approaches the two communities have taken, and suggest some resulting challenges and directions for future work.

The Challenges of Visual-Kinaesthetic Experience

Virtual reality experiences typically isolate the user from the real world. Notions of immersion are conventionally associated with the idea of convincing users that they are in another place, disassociated from physical reality. Given the user is however situated in that physical reality, kinesthetic bodily sensations often conflict with the virtual reality. In this paper we seek to elucidate the challenges associated with developing Visual-Kinaesthetic Experiences - experiences which provide related visual and kinaesthetic spectacle. Rather than use complex motion platforms, we submit here that physical reality is replete with interesting kinaesthetic experiences, which may be repurposed by the application of new visuals to create engaging hybrid experiences. We approach this by describing the development and deployment of Oscillate - a virtual reality experience that takes place on a swing, using it as an example to draw out what makes such experiences intrinsically interesting, and to construct three design challenges for this space.

House rules: the collaborative nature of policy in domestic networks

We draw on ethnographic studies to understand the collaborative nature of network policies or rules in domestic settings. We outline the technical nature of network policy in enterprise domains and how this contrasts with the social or collaborative nature of rules in everyday life. We then consider the deployment of network control and policy system interfaces in domestic settings, highlighting the ways in which household members collaboratively exploited these to support network governance. Our results suggest that an important feature of network policy in domestic contexts is that rules about network activity are shaped by and answerable to the moral reasoning that governs domestic life. This reframes our understanding of how rules are oriented to and used in the home and has significant implications for the design of home network policy systems.

From Front-End to Back-End and Everything In-Between: Work Practice in Game Development

This paper addresses a paucity in the literature of studies of actual game development. It presents the initial findings from a questionnaire addressed to game development companies together with an ethnographic case study that drills into how resources are actually used and how the workflow and coordination are actually accomplished. It finds a number of challenges that can be seen to confront the development of new game authoring tools, centred around the intensely co-present character of design-related interaction and collaboration in this domain. These findings are used to articulate a range of potential requirements.

Supporting the design of location-based experiences by creative individuals

This paper discusses the creative practice of independents and individuals and their requirements for tools to author location-based experiences (LBE), including location-based games (LBG). The work describes and presents initial findings from a questionnaire study and a workshop. Both studies focused upon the working practices of individuals and small independent artists, hackers and researchers, rather than designers or developers in large commercial companies or small to medium sized enterprises. A qualitative analysis of findings from the studies were used to inform user requirements and design of next-generation authoring tools through a process of co-design. It was identified that creative individuals typically used a complex and wide-ranging set of design and development tools. These often varied for each project, and were sometimes bespoke. Requirements for future creative design tools could be grouped into higher levels categories to support: flexibility and extendability of authoring tools; in-situ authoring and the seamless transition between desktop and mobile locations; improved positioning; and authoring beyond maps.